Formula One news

Heikki enjoying 'good momentum'

Heikki Kovalainen raced aggressively from sixth on the grid to a fifth place finish at the American Grand Prix. After making up a position at the start, and leading Kimi Raikkonen throughout the first stint, the young Finn led a Grand Prix for the first time from laps 22 to 26 before making his first stop. He subsequently raced hard against Nick Heidfeld's, pushing the BMW to breaking point, and then brought the car home in a strong fifth place. This result comes off the back of a strong fourth at the Canadian Grand Prix and Kovalainen is now starting to feel an improvement.

Kovalainen said: "This was another strong result for me, and I am starting to get some good momentum now. I had a good start, and when the other cars went to the inside, I braked late on the outside line and managed to overtake Raikkonen. I kept him behind until the first stop, and when he pitted, along with Heidfeld, I tried to really put the hammer down and push home the advantage.

"I didn't even realise I was leading the race, until I came into the pits. Unfortunately, though, the tyre performance just wasn't there any more and I lost out to Heidfeld and Raikkonen coming out of the pits. I tried to pass Nick on the way into turn 4, but couldn't make it stick, and then the tyres started graining because I was sliding around in the slipstream. But I kept pushing him and when he retired, it was just a case of pushing the car and keeping the lap-times consistent.

"The balance felt really good on both types of tyre today, and it was nice to see that we can fight BMW on pure pace in race conditions. Ferrari and McLaren are still a step ahead, but we are moving in the right direction with the car. If we keep pushing like this, we will keep on making progress back towards the front."

Renault F1 managing director Flavio Briatore, who was the first to criticise the rookie driver after some lacklustre performances at the start of the season, was delighted with his display, saying: "This was a great race for Heikki, and he did a fantastic job at the end of a perfect weekend. He put pressure on BMW and was very competitive in every stint."

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