Heikki Kovalainen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heikki Kovalainen
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Kovalainen in 2019
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| Born |
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen
19 October 1981 Suomussalmi, Kainuu, Finland
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| Spouse(s) |
Catherine Hyde
(m. 2014) |
| Children | 1 |
| Racing licence |  FIA Platinum |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Finnish |
| Active years | 2007–2013 |
| Teams | Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham, Lotus |
| Entries | 112 (111 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Career points | 105 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| First entry | 2007 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Super GT career | |
| Years active | 2015–2021 |
| Teams | SARD |
| Starts | 54 |
| Championships | 1 (2016) |
| Wins | 5 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2016 (GT500) |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2022–2023 |
| Rallies | 2 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Stage wins | 0 |
| Total points | 1 |
| First rally | 2022 Rally Japan |
| Last rally | 2024 Rally Japan |
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2013. Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with the McLaren team. He also won the Super GT championship in 2016 while racing in Japan.
Heikki was part of the Renault Driver Development program when he was younger. During this time, he won the World Series by Nissan championship. He also finished second in the GP2 Series. Renault hired him as a full-time test driver for 2006. Then, they gave him a racing spot for the 2007 season. He achieved his first podium finish by coming second in the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix that year.
He moved to McLaren for the 2008 season. There, he raced alongside Lewis Hamilton. In his second Formula One season, he got his first pole position at Silverstone. He also achieved his first victory at the Hungaroring. This made him the 100th driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. He stayed with McLaren for the 2009 season.
In 2010, he joined the new Team Lotus. He stayed with them for 2011 and 2012. The team was renamed Caterham F1 for 2012. This was Heikki's last full season in Formula One. Even though his cars were not very competitive, he was respected for doing better than other drivers in similar cars. Heikki raced in the last two races of the 2013 season for Lotus F1. He filled in for Kimi Räikkönen who was having surgery.
In 2015, Kovalainen moved to Japan. He competed in the GT500 class of Super GT with Team SARD. He won the championship in his second season, in 2016.
Contents
Early Racing Days
Karting Adventures (1991–2000)
Heikki Kovalainen was born in Suomussalmi, Finland. Like many race car drivers, he started his career in kart racing. He raced karts from 1991 to 2000. During this time, he finished second in the Finnish Formula A championship twice. In 2000, he won the Nordic championship. He also won the Paris-Bercy Elf Masters event. He finished third in the World Formula Super A Championship. Because of his success, he was named the Finnish Kart Driver of the Year.
Formula Renault (2001)
Kovalainen began racing cars in the British Formula Renault Championship. Another Finnish driver, Kimi Räikkönen, had won this championship in 2000. Räikkönen then went straight to Formula One. Heikki took a more traditional path through junior racing. He always used Renault engines in his cars. He finished fourth in the championship. He won two races, got two pole positions, and five podium finishes. He also had three fastest laps and won the Rookie of the Year award. He also raced in the Formula Three Macau Grand Prix, finishing eighth.
Formula Three (2002)
Heikki got support from the Renault Driver Development program. In 2002, he moved up to the British Formula 3 Championship. He raced for Fortec Motorsport, which used Renault engines. He became one of the best drivers in the second half of the season. All five of his wins came in the last nine races. He also had three pole positions and three fastest laps. Kovalainen finished third overall in the championship. He was again named Rookie of the Year.
He also did well in international races that were not part of the championship. He finished second in Macau and fourth at the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort.
World Series by Nissan (2003–2004)
Kovalainen joined the World Series by Nissan in 2003. This series was owned by Renault. He had a tough teammate, Franck Montagny. Montagny had already raced in the series for two seasons. He had won the championship in 2001. Montagny won the 2003 title with nine wins. Heikki won one race that year.
Kovalainen continued in the series in 2004. He moved to Pons Racing. He won the championship with 192 points and six wins. He finished ahead of Tiago Monteiro. Because of his success, Heikki received the Finnish Driver of the Year award.
GP2 Series (2005)
In 2005, Kovalainen raced in the GP2 Series. This was a new series that helped drivers get to F1. He drove for the Arden International team. He started the season strong, winning the first race in Imola. He then finished third in the sprint race. In Barcelona, he got his third podium in a row. He dominated the race in Monaco, starting from pole position. He led for the first 21 laps and set the fastest lap. But problems during his pit stop dropped him to fifth.
At the Nürburgring, he had his best race yet. He won from 17th on the starting grid. In the sprint race, another driver caused a crash that made Heikki retire. At Magny-Cours, he won again from fourth place. He came third in the sprint race. Later in the season, Nico Rosberg became his main rival. Rosberg started winning races. Kovalainen finished second in the series, 15 points behind Rosberg.
Formula One Racing
Renault Team (2004–2007)
Starting as a Test Driver
Heikki Kovalainen tested the Renault R23B F1 car in December 2003. He also tested for another team, Minardi. But Renault made him their second test driver for 2004.
Heikki became a full-time test driver for Renault in 2006. He drove over 28,000 kilometers in testing. Renault's main driver, Fernando Alonso, signed with McLaren for 2007. Renault decided to promote Kovalainen to a race seat. They announced this on September 6, 2006.
2007 Season Highlights
Kovalainen made his first race start at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. He made some mistakes and finished tenth. His team boss hoped he would do better next time.
He scored his first championship point in his second race in Malaysia. He then finished ninth in Bahrain and seventh in Barcelona. In Canada, he crashed in practice and qualifying. But in the race, he drove well and finished fourth. This was a great result for him.
At the 2007 United States Grand Prix, he qualified sixth. He led the race for a short time during pit stops. He finished fifth, which was a good result. The second half of the season saw him continue to score points.
A big moment came at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. Despite starting further back, he raced very well in wet conditions. He held off Kimi Räikkönen to take second place. This was his first podium finish in Formula One. In the final race in Brazil, he had his only retirement of the season. This meant he couldn't finish every race in his first year.
McLaren Team (2008–2009)
After the 2007 season, Fernando Alonso went back to Renault. Kovalainen had offers from Toyota and McLaren. On December 14, 2007, it was confirmed that Heikki would join McLaren Mercedes for 2008. He would race alongside Lewis Hamilton. He became the fourth Finnish driver to race for McLaren.
2008 Season: First Win!
Heikki started his McLaren career at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix. He was fastest in the first qualifying session. He started third on the grid. He finished fifth but set the fastest lap of the race. In Malaysia, he finished third, getting his first podium with McLaren.
At the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, Heikki crashed heavily. His front-left tyre suddenly went flat. He was taken to the hospital but was okay. He had a minor concussion but no serious injuries. He was able to race in Turkey.
At the 2008 British Grand Prix, Kovalainen achieved his first pole position. He led the race for the first four laps. He finished fifth despite spinning twice in the wet conditions.
The biggest moment of his career came at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. He won his first and only Formula One race! He became the 100th driver to win a Grand Prix. This happened after the race leader, Felipe Massa, had an engine problem with three laps left. Heikki said that changes to his car's setup helped him win. He finished fourth in the next race in Valencia. He ended the season in seventh place in the championship.
2009 Season
At the start of the 2009 season, McLaren's car was not very fast. Heikki and Hamilton struggled in qualifying. In China, he scored his first points of the season, finishing fifth. McLaren slowly improved the car. Heikki's results got better. He finished fourth at the 2009 European Grand Prix, his best result that year. He ended the season in 12th place with 22 points. On November 18, it was announced that Jenson Button would join McLaren. This left Heikki without a drive for 2010.
Lotus and Caterham (2010–2013)
2010 Season with Lotus
On December 14, 2009, it was announced that Kovalainen would drive for Lotus Racing in 2010. His teammate was Jarno Trulli. The team's car was not very fast. Heikki finished 15th in the first race in Bahrain. He had several retirements due to car problems. At the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix, his car caught fire on the last lap. He stopped the car and helped put out the fire himself, which the crowd cheered.
2011 Season
Kovalainen stayed with Lotus for 2011. He had a water leak in the first race. He finished 15th in Malaysia. He outqualified his teammates in 17 out of 19 races. The team boss was happy with his performance.
2012 Season with Caterham
Kovalainen stayed with the team for a third year. The team was renamed Caterham F1 for 2012. He raced alongside Vitaly Petrov. This season was more stable for Heikki. He finished almost every race.
2013 Season: Return to Lotus
Heikki was replaced by other drivers for the 2013 season. But he remained on good terms with Caterham. He became one of their reserve drivers. He took part in some practice sessions.
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On November 14, 2013, it was confirmed that Kovalainen would race for the Lotus F1 Team. He filled in for Kimi Räikkönen, who was having back surgery. Heikki raced in the 2013 United States Grand Prix and the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. He finished 14th in both races.
Life After Formula One
After his Formula One career, Heikki tested for the BMW Motorsport DTM team in 2014. In August 2020, Formula One, with Amazon Web Services, ranked Kovalainen as the 8th fastest F1 driver in qualifying from 1983 to 2020. This ranking was based on an algorithm that compared drivers' performance against their teammates.
Race of Champions Success
Kovalainen competed in the 2004 Race of Champions in Paris. He beat Formula One drivers David Coulthard and Jean Alesi. Then, he defeated Formula One star Michael Schumacher in the semi-finals. In the finals, he beat World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb. Heikki won even though he had never driven a rally car before. He became the first non-rally driver to win the "Champion of Champions" title. He also helped Finland finish second in the Nations Cup.
He returned to the Race of Champions in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he won the Nations Cup with Marcus Grönholm. In 2007, he and Grönholm reached the Nations Cup final again. They lost to the German team of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Heikki returned in 2010 but had to withdraw after a crash.
Super GT Championship
In 2015, Kovalainen moved to Japan to race in Super GT. He drove a Lexus RC F GT500 for Team SARD. In his first season, he raced with Kohei Hirate. The next year, in 2016, Kovalainen and Hirate won the Super GT championship! They started the final race from pole position and won it. This was Heikki's first championship win since 2004. He retired from the series after the 2021 season.
Rallying Adventures
Like many Finnish drivers, Kovalainen became interested in rallying. He said it was a "childhood dream." He made his first rally start in 2015 at the Arctic Rally. He finished third in his class.
Heikki started rallying in Japan in 2016. He entered four events of the Japan Rally Championship. He drove a Toyota GT86 CS-R3 for SARD. He returned to the series in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, he won the Chūbu-Kinki Rally. In 2021, he competed full-time in the JN2 class. He dominated the championship, winning all six races. He won the championship with a round to spare.
After leaving Super GT, Kovalainen focused on rallying full-time. He now drives a Škoda Fabia R5 in the JN1 class. He also plans to compete in Rally Japan, part of the World Rally Championship.
Extreme E Racing
Kovalainen made his debut in Extreme E in the 2023 season. He raced for the JBXE team. He was replaced after two rounds of the championship.
Personal Life
In 2014, Kovalainen married his English girlfriend, Catherine Hyde. They had been together since 2002. They live in Coppet, Switzerland. In June 2023, they welcomed their first child, a son.
In his free time, Heikki enjoys playing the drums and golfing. In November 2023, Heikki was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm. He had successful surgery to fix it and recovered to return to racing in a few months.
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See also
In Spanish: Heikki Kovalainen para niños
