Video: New Lotus F1 Driver Heikki Kovalainen Preparing For Season

[Mark H]

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Spo...3A00%3A58%3A603

 

Heikki Kovalainen is up for the challenge of making Lotus' return to the Formula One grid a competitive one.

 

The 28-year-old saw his difficult two-year spell at McLaren end at the end of last season, with world champion Jenson Button taking his place alongside 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton for 2010.

 

But despite leaving such an established team, Kovalainen admits it was not hard for him to commit to Hingham-based Lotus' grand plan - once he knew what the project was all about.

 

"In the end it was quite an easy decision," the Finn said.

 

"At the beginning, when I got the first contact from Lotus it was already a few months before I signed with the team.

 

"At that point I was looking at the some other options, but then towards Christmas my feeling was that the other options I had were getting more unstable.

 

"So I had contact with Mike (Gascoyne, Lotus technical director) again and asked what this Lotus programme was all about, and I met Tony Fernandes (Lotus team principal) as well.

 

"And after meeting those guys I made a decision in a day.

 

"It became quite clear for me that this was actually the most stable opportunity for me and quite an exciting project, starting everything from scratch and having Mike involved on the technical side was a big boost as well.

 

"There are a lot of good people who are designing the car already.

 

"It probably won't be the quickest car off the grid, but we're going to have a solid car even at the beginning

 

"And I think we can expect good improvements towards the end of the season."

 

The Finn has been in Hingham this week for his seat fitting and acknowledged the surroundings are a little different to those he enjoyed at McLaren.

 

"Of course, it's very different from where I am coming from," he said.

 

"Being with McLaren they have everything up and running flat out and this team is just starting the operation, so it's a very different kind of project but we are pushing very hard to make sure that everything is ready for the first race and for the first test.

 

"It's a lot of hard work but I'm up for a challenge.

 

"I felt this was the best opportunity for me and that's why I'm here for this week - to meet the new people who are coming to work for the team."

 

Next month sees the first official test for Formula One's 2010 teams at Jerez, Spain, and technical director Gascoyne believes Lotus have pulled off something really special in lining up Kovalainen and experienced Italian driver Jarno Trulli for their first season on the Formula One grid.

 

Gascoyne said: "For a new team to have two race winning drivers is pretty extraordinary.

 

"These guys are race winning drivers, they have something to prove.

 

"I think the message it sends out to the whole of Formula One is that we're serious about this."