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Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (born October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Kainuu, Finland) is a Finnish Formula One motor racing driver who previously drove for Caterham-Renault and Lotus-Renault in 2013, having previously raced for Renault, McLaren and the Malaysian Lotus team (now Caterham). Kovalainen has driven in F1 from 2007 to 2013 and has achieved his one and only win at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, while driving for McLaren-Mercedes. He is also the 100th driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix when he won it.

After a difficult season with McLaren in 2009, he was left without a drive after the 2009 World Champion Jenson Button signed for the team for the following season. On 14 December 2009, it was announced that he would be driving for the new Lotus team, alongside Jarno Trulli. Despite signing for Lotus and remaining with the team after its renaming to Caterham, he would never score any points again and was dropped at the end of 2012 in favour of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. He remained on good terms with Caterham, often doing free practice outings at various races during the 2013 season. In the last two races of the season, he replaced Lotus F1's Kimi Räikkönen for the final two races in the United States and Brazil, finishing 14th.

Kovalainen was without a drive in 2014, but even if he was linked as a test driver for Mercedes, it has not been officially confirmed by the team.

He is currently racing in the Japanese Super GT series.


Formula One Statistical Overview[]

Formula One Record[]

Year Entrant Team WDC Points WDC Pos. Report
Youth Career
2002 - 2005 Renault Driver Development
Senior Career
2003 Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault Test Driver
European Minardi Cosworth Minardi Test Driver
2004 Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault Test Driver
Minardi Cosworth Minardi-Cosworth Test Driver
2006 Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Renault Test Driver
2007 ING Renault F1 Team Renault 30 7th Report
2008 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren-Mercedes 53 7th Report
2009 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren-Mercedes 22 12th Report
2010 Lotus Racing Lotus-Cosworth 0 20th Report
2011 Team Lotus Lotus-Renault 0 22nd Report
2012 Caterham F1 Team Caterham-Renault 0 22nd Report
2013 Caterham F1 Team Caterham-Renault Test Driver
Lotus F1 Team Lotus-Renault 0 21st Report

Note: The Lotus team driven from 2010 to 2011 was the Lotus Racing team. The Lotus from 2013 is the Lotus F1 team.

Career Statistics[]

Entries 112
Starts 111
Pole Positions 1
Sprint Poles 0
Front Row Starts 5
Race Wins 1
Sprint Wins 0
Podiums 4
Sprint Podiums 0
Fastest Laps 2
Sprint Fastest Laps 0
Points 105
Laps Raced 5975
Distance Raced 30,197 km (18,764 mi)
Races Led 12
Laps Led 42
Distance Led 207 km (129 mi)

Race Wins[]

Win Number Grand Prix
1 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos
2007 Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of Bahrain Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of the United States Flag of France Flag of Great Britain Flag of Europe Flag of Hungary Flag of Turkey Flag of Italy Flag of Belgium Flag of Japan Flag of China Flag of Brazil 30 7th
10th 8th 9th 7th 13th 4th 5th 15th 7th 8th 8th 6th 7th 8th 2nd 9th Ret
2008 Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of Bahrain Flag of Spain Flag of Turkey Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of France Flag of Great Britain Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Europe Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Japan Flag of China Flag of Brazil 53 7th
5th 3rd 5th Ret 12th 8th 9th 4th 5th 5th 1st 4th 10th 2nd 10th Ret Ret 7th
2009 Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of China Flag of Bahrain Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Turkey Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Europe Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Japan Flag of Brazil Flag of the United Arab Emirates 22 12th
Ret Ret
[1]
5th 12th Ret Ret 14th Ret 8th 5th 4th 6th 6th 7th 11th 12th 11th
2010 Flag of Bahrain Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of China Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Turkey Flag of Canada Flag of Europe Flag of Great Britain Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Japan Flag of South Korea Flag of Brazil Flag of the United Arab Emirates 0 20th
15th 13th NC 14th DNS Ret Ret 16th Ret 17th Ret 14th 16th 18th 16th 12th 13th 18th 17th
2011 Flag of Bahrain Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of China Flag of Turkey Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of Europe Flag of Great Britain Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Japan Flag of South Korea Flag of India Flag of the United Arab Emirates Flag of Brazil 0 22nd
C Ret 15th 16th 19th Ret 14th Ret 19th Ret 16th Ret 15th 13th 16th 18th 14th 14th 17th 16th
2012 Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of China Flag of Bahrain Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of Europe Flag of Great Britain Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Japan Flag of South Korea Flag of India Flag of the United Arab Emirates Flag of the United States Flag of Brazil 0 22nd
Ret 18th 23rd 17th 16th 13th 18th 14th 17th 19th 17th 17th 14th 15th 15th 17th 18th 13th 18th 14th
2013 Flag of Australia Flag of Malaysia Flag of China Flag of Bahrain Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of Great Britain Flag of Germany Flag of Hungary Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of South Korea Flag of Japan Flag of India Flag of the United Arab Emirates Flag of the United States Flag of Brazil 0 21st
TD TD TD TD TD TD 14th 14th
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

Notes[]

  1. Race stopped after 31/56 Laps. Half points awarded
V T E Finland Heikki Kovalainen
Seasons
2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013
Season Reports
2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013
Teams
Renault (2007) • McLaren (2008-2009) • Lotus (2010-2011) • Caterham (2012) • Lotus (2013)
Teammates
Giancarlo Fisichella (2007) • Lewis Hamilton (2008-2009) • Jarno Trulli (2010-2011) • Karun Chandhok (2011) • Vitaly Petrov (2012) • Romain Grosjean (2013)
Other pages
Statistics • Teammate comparison • Category
V T E Renault Logo Renault F1
Notable Personnel
Carlos Ghosn · Jérôme Stoll · Cyril Abiteboul · Frédéric Vasseur · Flavio Briatore · Pat Symonds
Former Drivers
Daniel Ricciardo · Esteban Ocon · Nico Hülkenberg · Carlos Sainz, Jr. · Kevin Magnussen · Nick Heidfeld · Bruno Senna · Vitaly Petrov · Jolyon Palmer · Robert Kubica · Fernando Alonso · Nelson Piquet, Jr. · Romain Grosjean · Heikki Kovalainen · Giancarlo Fisichella · Jarno Trulli · Jacques Villeneuve · Jenson Button · Derek Warwick · Patrick Tambay · François Hesnault · Philippe Streiff · Eddie Cheever · Alain Prost · René Arnoux · Jean-Pierre Jabouille
World Champions
Spain Fernando Alonso (2005, 2006)
F1 Cars
RS01 · RS10 · RE20 · RE20B · RE30 · RE30B · RE30C · RE40 · RE50 · RE60 · RE60B · R202 · R23 · R24 · R25 · R26 · R27 · R28 · R29 · R30 · R31 · RS16 · R.S.17 · R.S.18 · R.S.19 · R.S.20
Season Reports
1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020
Full results
V T E McLarenLogo McLaren Racing
Founder
Bruce McLaren
Notable Personnel
Éric Boullier · Ron Dennis · Tim Goss · Jonathan Neale · Neil Oatley · Peter Prodromou
Former Notable Personnel
John Barnard · Gordon Coppuck · Pat Fry · Norbert Haug · Robin Herd · Paddy Lowe · Neil Martin · Teddy Mayer · Sam Michael · Gordon Murray · Adrian Newey · Steve Nichols · Jo Ramirez · Nicholas Tombazis · Martin Whitmarsh
Drivers
4. United Kingdom Lando Norris · 81. Australia Oscar Piastri
World Champions
Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi (1974) · United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton (2008) · United Kingdom James Hunt (1976) · Finland Mika Häkkinen (1998, 1999) ·
Austria Niki Lauda (1984) · France Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989) · Brazil Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991)
F1 Cars
M2B · M4B · M5A · M7A · M7B · M7C · M7D · M9A · M14A · M14D · M19A · M19C · M23 · M26 · M28 · M29 · M29B · M29C · M29F · M30 · MP4/1 · MP4B · MP4/1C · MP4/1E · MP4/2 · MP4/2B · MP4/2C · MP4/3 · MP4/4 · MP4/5 · MP4/5B · MP4/6 · MP4/6B · MP4/7A · MP4/8 · MP4/9 · MP4/10 · MP4/10B · MP4/10C · MP4/11 · MP4/11B · MP4/12 · MP4/13 · MP4/14 · MP4/15 · MP4-16 · MP4-17 · MP4-17D · MP4-18 · MP4-19 · MP4-19B · MP4-20 · MP4-21 · MP4-22 · MP4-23 · MP4-24 · MP4-25 · MP4-26 · MP4-27 · MP4-28 · MP4-29 · MP4-30 · MP4-31 · MCL32 · MCL33 · MCL34 · MCL35 · MCL35M · MCL36 · MCL60
Season Reports
1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023
Full results
V T E Caterham F1 Team 2014 logo
Notable drivers
Sweden Marcus Ericsson · Japan Kamui Kobayashi · Germany André Lotterer · United Kingdom Will Stevens · France Charles Pic · Netherlands Giedo van der Garde · Finland Heikki Kovalainen · Russia Vitaly Petrov
Notable personnel
Tony Fernandes · Collin Kolles · Manfredi Ravetto
Cars
CT01 · CT03 · CT05
See also
Team Lotus
V T E Lotus F1 Team logo Lotus F1
Notable Drivers
Finland Kimi Räikkönen · France Romain Grosjean · Venezuela Pastor Maldonado · Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio · Finland Heikki Kovalainen
Personnel
Éric Boullier · Nick Chester
Cars
E20 · E21 · E22 · E23 Hybrid
See also
Renault
V T E Teams and Drivers
2007 Teams and Drivers
Teams McLarenRenaultFerrariHondaBMW SauberToyotaRed BullWilliamsToro RossoSpykerSuper Aguri
Engines BMWFerrariHondaMercedesRenaultToyota
Drivers 1 Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica/Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz/Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed/Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers/Winkelhock/Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers AlbuquerqueAmmermüllerAndrettiAsmerBadoerBirdBourdaisBuemiChandhokChandhok
2008 Teams and Drivers
Teams FerrariBMW SauberRenaultWilliamsRed BullToyotaToro RossoHondaSuper AguriForce IndiaMcLaren
Engines MercedesRenaultFerrariBMWToyotaHonda
Race Drivers Räikkönen • 2 Massa • 3 Heidfeld • 4 Kubica • 5 Alonso • 6 Piquet, Jr • 7 Rosberg • 8 Nakajima • 9 Coulthard • 10 Webber • 11 Trulli • 12 Glock • 14 Bourdais • 15 Vettel • 16 Button • 17 Barrichello • 18 Sato • 19 Davidson • 20 Sutil • 21 Fisichella • 22 Hamilton • 23 Kovalainen
Other Drivers Badoer • Gené • Schumacher • Klien • Asmer • di Grassi • Grosjean • Yamamoto • Hülkenberg • Buemi • Kobayashi • Hartley • Wurz • Conway • Filippi • Liuzzi • Paffett • de la Rosa
2009 Teams and Drivers
Teams McLarenFerrariBMW SauberRenaultToyotaToro RossoRed BullWilliamsForce IndiaBrawn
Engines MercedesRenaultFerrariBMWToyota
Race Drivers Hamilton • 2 Kovalainen • 3 Massa • Badoer • 4 Räikkönen • 5 Kubica • 6 Heidfeld • 7 Alonso • 8 Piquet, Jr • 8 Grosjean • 9 Trulli • 10 Glock • 10 Kobayashi • 11 Bourdais • 11 Alguersuari • 12 Buemi • 14 Webber • 15 Vettel • 16 Rosberg • 17 Nakajima • 20 Sutil • 21/3 Fisichella • 21 Liuzzi • 22 Button • 23 Barrichello
Other Drivers Paffett • de la Rosa • Gené • Klien • di Grassi • Hartley • Coulthard • Hülkenberg • Davidson • Wurz
2010 Teams and Drivers
Teams McLarenMercedesRed BullFerrariWilliamsRenaultForce IndiaToro RossoLotusHRTBMW SauberVirgin
Engines MercedesRenaultFerrariCosworth
Race Drivers Button • 2 Hamilton • 3 Schumacher • 4 Rosberg • 5 Vettel • 6 Webber • 7 Massa • 8 Alonso • 9 Barrichello • 10 Hülkenberg • 11 Kubica • 12 Petrov • 14 Sutil • 15 Liuzzi • 16 Buemi • 17 Alguersuari • 18 Trulli • 19 Kovalainen • 20 Chandhok • 20/21 Yamamoto • 20 Klien • 21 Senna • 22 De la Rosa • 22 Heidfeld • 23 Kobayashi • 24 Glock • 25 Di Grassi
Other Drivers Paffett • Hartley • Ricciardo • Coulthard • Fisichella • Badoer • Gené • Bottas • Tung • D'Ambrosio • Charouz • Di Resta • Fauzy • Soucek • Razia
2011 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • McLaren • Ferrari • Mercedes • Renault • Williams • Force India • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Lotus • HRT • Virgin
Engines Renault • Mercedes • Ferrari • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Hamilton • 4 Button • 5 Alonso • 6 Massa • 7 Schumacher • 8 Rosberg • 9 Heidfeld • 9 Senna • 10 Petrov • 11 Barrichello • 12 Maldonado • 14 Sutil • 15 Di Resta • 16 Kobayashi • 17 Pérez • 17 De la Rosa • 18 Buemi • 19 Alguersuari • 20 Kovalainen • 21 Trulli • 21 Chandhok • 22 Karthikeyan • 22/23 Ricciardo • 23 Liuzzi • 24 Glock • 25 d'Ambrosio
Other Drivers Paffett • Fisichella • Bianchi • Gené • Davidson • Grosjean • Fauzy • Tung • Charouz • Bottas • Hülkenberg • Gutiérrez • Vergne • Razia • Valsecchi • Teixeira • Yamamoto • Wickens • Quaife-Hobbs
2012 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • McLaren • Ferrari • Mercedes • Lotus • Force India • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams • Caterham • HRT • Marussia
Engines Renault • Ferrari • Mercedes • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Button • 4 Hamilton • 5 Alonso • 6 Massa • 7 Schumacher • 8 Rosberg • 9 Räikkönen • 10 Grosjean • d'Ambrosio • 11 di Resta • 12 Hülkenberg • 14 Kobayashi • 15 Pérez • 16 Ricciardo • 17 Vergne • 18 Maldonado • 19 Senna • 20 Kovalainen • 21 Petrov • 22 de la Rosa • 23 Karthikeyan • 24 Glock • Pic
Other Drivers Buemi • Paffett • Turvey • Gené • Rigon • Fisichella • Bird • Hartley • Korjus • Bianchi • Daly • Guttiérrez • Bottas • Wolff • van der Garde • Rossi • González • Clos • Ma • Liuzzi • Chilton • de Villota
2013 Teams and Drivers
Teams Red Bull • Ferrari • McLaren • Lotus • Mercedes • Sauber • Force India • Williams • Toro Rosso • Caterham • Marussia
Engines Renault • Ferrari • Mercedes • Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel • 2 Webber • 3 Alonso • 4 Massa • 5 Button • 6 Pérez • 7 Räikkönen • 7 Kovalainen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Rosberg • 10 Hamilton • 11 Hülkenberg • 12 Gutiérrez • 14 Di Resta • 15 Sutil • 16 Maldonado • 17 Bottas • 18 Vergne • 19 Ricciardo • 20 Pic • 21 Van der Garde • 22 Bianchi • 23 Chilton
Other Drivers Buemi • Félix da Costa • Sainz Jr. • Gené • De la Rosa • Rigon • Paffett • Turvey • Magnussen • d'Ambrosio • Prost • Valsecchi • Hartley • Bird • Frijns • Sato • Sirotkin • Rossiter • Calado • Wolff • Juncadella • Kyvat • Rossi • Ma • Stevens • Razia • González • Ellinas
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