Formula One news
Kovalainen over the moon with second place
30 September 2007Heikki Kovalainen took Renault's first podium finish of the season. The team has been going through a rough season but the Japanese Grand Prix, where Kovalainen finished in second place, will make up for it.
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Kovalainen started from P11, and completed the first twenty laps behind the safety car until conditions were deemed good enough for the race to begin. After qualifying outside the top ten yesterday afternoon, the team had decided to fuel both cars for a one-stop strategy, and this paid off as they ran further than their rivals in front before pitting, and indeed the team's drivers ran one-two before they made their stops.
The safety car returned to the action when Fernando Alonso crashed heavily between turns 5 and 6 on lap 43, with Heikki running P4, and a collision between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel as they ran behind the safety car allowed him to climb to P2. The race resumed at the end of lap 48, and for the remaining 19 laps the Finn had to resist the attacks of Ferrari team-mates Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The battle with Raikkonen was particularly hard-fought but, just like in Spa two weeks ago, Heikki defended resiliently and was able to hold his second position to the flag.
Heikki Kovalainen commented on his race: "It has been a rollercoaster year for me, and it was like that again this weekend. We took a risk with the set-up yesterday, hoping for better conditions and when we got up this morning and saw the rain falling, we didn't expect to have a fantastic afternoon. But it just goes to show that no matter how bad you think the situation is, you never give up. The strategy worked perfectly today, and the team deserves at least one podium today! It is a fantastic feeling to score my first podium. Now, we need to try and maintain the momentum in Shanghai."
Kovalainen's podium finish was followed up by 5th position for team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian struggled with inconsistent handling in the low-speed corners, and recognising this, he let his team-mate past early in the race. Nonetheless, he drove strongly and consistently in difficult conditions to score more valuable points for the team, and cement its position in the constructors' championship. "It was one of the most difficult races I have ever driven, the conditions were just so wet all the way through, and it didn't seem to improve at any point," Fisichella said. "The main thing today was to keep the car on the track, and to avoid making mistakes. The balance was a bit inconsistent, particularly at low speeds, and it was aquaplaning on the straights as well. I don't think we achieved our potential today, but this was still a strong result in a race where a lot of other cars failed to finish."
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