Heikki Kovalainen

Name: Heikki Kovalainen
Born: October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Finland
Team: McLaren Mercedes
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Hobbies: Gym, cycling, cross-country skiing, golf.

Previous F1 Teams:
    * 2007 Renault
    * 2008 McLaren Mercedes

Victories: 0

Background:
Heikki impressed from go-karting up through the lower series of car racing. He finished second in the Finnish Super A karting championship in 1999 and 2000. That year he also won the Scandinavian championship and the prestigious international indoor race at the Bercy Stadium in Paris.

His Career Thus Far:
Heikki is part of the new generation of drivers who came to Formula 1 young. But with a full grid of drivers last season he spent a year at the Renault team learning the ropes as a test driver. Heikki was part of the Renault team's young drivers program. In 2001 and 2002 he was rookie of the year first in British Formula Renault and then in British F3. In 2003 he raced in the World Series by Nissan, where he finished second.

Famous Before His Time:
But it was in 2004 that Heikki came under the international spotlight. He won the World Series by Nissan in dominant manner, and then took part in the prestigious Race of Champions, at the Stade de France outside Paris. There Heikki raced against several other racing champions to win the event, beating Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari and Sebastien Loeb, the world rally champion, in the Frenchman's rally car. Heikki also beat David Coulthard and Jean Alesi. The following year, after leading the GP2 series in the first part of the season, he lost the title in the end to Nico Rosberg.

Heikki's Rookie Blues, With a Happy Move to McLaren:
Unfortunately, Heikki's first year in Formula 1 coincided with a down year for Renault. He became a full time driver at the world champion team just when it ran into a rough patch after losing Fernando Alonso to McLaren. Fortunately, Alonso did not have a good time at McLaren and he returned to Renault for 2008. Heikki was cleared out - along with Giancarlo Fisichella - and some people think it was because the Finnish driver might provide too big a challenge to Alonso. Heikki certainly got the good end of the deal, however, as he was immediately hired by McLaren. Finnish drivers have done well at McLaren, notably, Raikkonen and Hakkinen.
Character:
Heikki is a talkative and witty young man - who backs up his gift of the gab with speed. An all round racer and showman, his demonstrative celebrations after winning the Race of Champions - when he climbed onto the roof of his Ferrari and pumped his arms for the crowd - promise to please F1 fans. Throughout his rookie year at the reigning world champion team, although the car was not up to previous seasons, his demeanor remained even-keeled and Heikki never became discouraged. He scored a podium at the end of the season, show just how well he can perform under intense pressure at the pinnacle of racing over a full season.