The momentum is building - Kovalainen
After a frustrating race for Heikki Kovalainen at Magny-Cours, the Finnish ING Renault F1 Team driver is looking forward to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend. It will be a special weekend for Renault as the team is celebrating thirty years in Formula One.
"Yeah, it was. It wasn’t a good day but you know, that’s racing. Sometimes you hit other cars, sometimes they hit you. Jarno made a mistake, and it cost me the race, but that’s just the way it goes. It’s ancient history now. I am still feeling positive about the car, my driving and our prospects. It will be nice to be back in action so soon."
What attitude do you approach the Silverstone race with?"We can go there in a good frame of mind. The test two weeks ago went very well, so we have a good baseline set-up for practice on Friday. As always, we will be looking to do the maximum, and I think we have a good opportunity to score points. France was a tough race, but I believe that our basic performance showed that we are gaining momentum all the time, as we improve the car. We are still recovering from the start to the season, and moving forwards. Hopefully that process will continue again this weekend."
Do you expect to be racing with, and beating, BMW?"It’s always hard to say before the event but if the trend continues, then they will be the ones we are looking out for. At the moment, it is very difficult to say if we are ahead of them or behind in terms of pure performance, but we are not focusing all our energy on BMW. We have to look beyond them, to McLaren and Ferrari, because we want to beat them too eventually. I know we will get there eventually, and keep on pushing to make sure we do."
You have lived in the UK for many years now. Does that make Silverstone even more special?"Of course. It’s an important race for the English side of the team, as all the mechanics have their families there, plus the people from the factory, so we want to do well for them. I have lived in England for a long time now as well, and I have lots of friends there, so it will definitely be a nice weekend."
Your track record here is pretty impressive as well…"I suppose so, yes. I won my first Formula Renault race here, and in 2002 won the Grand Prix support meeting in F3. I had two podiums in GP2 in 2005, but you know, none of that counts for anything in F1. You get results through hard work, and making sure you have the best car possible for every lap of the race. Nothing will come for free just because I have done well here in the past."
And finally, it’s a special weekend for Renault as well, celebrating thirty years of F1..."It’s a big milestone for Renault, no doubt, but it doesn’t change our weekend too much. Scoring a good result means doing the maximum, no matter where it is or what the occasion might be. That’s what we will be trying for again this weekend and well, if it is another nice milestone in our recovery, then that’s all the better I suppose!"
Source Renault
