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 |
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| 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 |
| Front Row Starts | 5 |
| Race Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Fastest Laps | 2 |
| 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 |
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| 1 | 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | Pos | |||
| 2007 | 
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30 | 7th | ||||||
| 10th | 8th | 9th | 7th | 13th | 4th | 5th | 15th | 7th | 8th | 8th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 2nd | 9th | Ret | |||||||||
| 2008 |
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53 | 7th | |||||
| 5th | 3rd | 5th | Ret | 12th | 8th | 9th | 4th | 5th | 5th | 1st | 4th | 10th | 2nd | 10th | Ret | Ret | 7th | ||||||||
| 2009 |
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22 | 12th | ||||||
| Ret | Ret [1] |
5th | 12th | Ret | Ret | 14th | Ret | 8th | 5th | 4th | 6th | 6th | 7th | 11th | 12th | 11th | |||||||||
| 2010 |
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| 15th | 13th | NC | 14th | DNS | Ret | Ret | 16th | Ret | 17th | Ret | 14th | 16th | 18th | 16th | 12th | 13th | 18th | 17th | |||||||
| 2011 |
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| C | Ret | 15th | 16th | 19th | Ret | 14th | Ret | 19th | Ret | 16th | Ret | 15th | 13th | 16th | 18th | 14th | 14th | 17th | 16th | ||||||
| 2012 |
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| Ret | 18th | 23rd | 17th | 16th | 13th | 18th | 14th | 17th | 19th | 17th | 17th | 14th | 15th | 15th | 17th | 18th | 13th | 18th | 14th | ||||||
| 2013 |
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| TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | 14th | 14th | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | 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[]
- ↑ Race stopped after 31/56 Laps. Half points awarded
| V T E |  Heikki Kovalainen
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|---|---|---|
| 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 | 
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|---|---|---|---|
Notable drivers Marcus Ericsson ·  Kamui Kobayashi ·  André Lotterer ·  Will Stevens ·  Charles Pic ·  Giedo van der Garde · Heikki Kovalainen ·  Vitaly Petrov
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| Notable personnel Tony Fernandes · Collin Kolles · Manfredi Ravetto | |||
| Cars CT01 · CT03 · CT05 | |||
| See also Team Lotus | |||
| V T E |  Lotus F1
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Notable Drivers Kimi Räikkönen · Romain Grosjean ·  Pastor Maldonado ·  Jérôme d'Ambrosio · Heikki Kovalainen
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| Personnel Éric Boullier · Nick Chester | |||
| Cars E20 · E21 · E22 · E23 Hybrid | |||
| See also Renault | |||
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