Heikki back with Caterham to help development

[John S]

He'll run FP1 in Bahrain & Spain to help with upgrade work.                   

Amazing how F1 is as hard to give up as smoking. 

Heikki Kovalainen, who was dropped by Caterham in favour of a pay driver, has rejoined the Anglo-Malaysian outfit as reserve driver.

Kovalainen's first duties will be to take part in FP1 at the forthcoming Grands Prix in Bahrain and Spain. The Finnish driver will take part in the sessions as part of a formal technical development role he is taking up with Caterham, helping support the introduction of the first performance updates to the 2013 car, an important milestone in the strategy the team are working to in the current season.

"It's obviously great news that I'll be on track in Bahrain and Spain," said Kovalainen, "and I'm really looking forward to getting back to work and helping the team as much as I can. I'll be taking part in the two FP1 sessions in Bahrain and Barcelona to give the team my input on the new parts we're bringing to those races, and I'll be working closely with the race drivers and the engineers on track and back at Leafield to help everyone get the most out of the new package.

Edited from article from Pitpass (http://www.pitpass.com):

Published: 17/04/2013
Copyright Š Pitpass 2002 - 2013. All rights reserved.

[Scott]

Good news for Heikki.  Maybe he'll get noticed by someone with a struggling driver.

[vintly]

Good news, he's a smiler 

[Monty]

I really rate Heikki. I know 'steady' and 'reliable' will never win a championship but it may win points and I would love to see him back in F1.

[cosworth151]

Glad to see him return. I hope he takes a fair chunk of the pay driver's money home with him.

[Alianora La Canta]

Caterham needs Heikki, whether it likes that or not. Don't be surprised to see Heikki in the car to race it in 2014 or earlier.

[Jericoke]

I wonder if there is a market for drivers like that, who miss F1 and still feel they have something to offer.

Would Villeneuve or Barichello be interested in putting in an hour on Fridays for struggling teams?  I should think that even MS might be coaxed into it (whatever one thinks of his sportsmanship, he has a reputation as an excellent tester)

[Irisado]

Caterham had to do something in my opinion.  They're behind Marussia in terms of development this year, and their driver line up never looked as good on paper as Marussia's to boot.  Kovalainen's return is great news.  I think that they are badly missing his experience.  I wouldn't be at all surprised for him to take over racing duties later this season if the team's performance doesn't improve.

[F1fanaticBD]

I have a feeling that Caterham wants Heikki as their driver in 2014, so they are offering him these FP1 so that he is touch with the team, and their way of development. If I am not wrong Caterham opted for 2014 season sacrificing 2013, thus they wanted two pay drivers in the seats, because they knew they didn't have much chance with Marussia this year. And Mr. Jules Bianchi has made their life much more difficult, because for the last three races he has shown how these not so fast machines can be pushed and give a scare to the midfield teams.

And if you look at this closely two rookies are race drivers, while a grand prix winning driver is your reserve. 

[John S]

And if you look at this closely two rookies are race drivers, while a grand prix winning driver is your reserve. 

If you look even more closely one of the drivers is not a rookie but a 2nd year driver who acquitted himself quite well against his very experienced teamate Glock, last year. 

[Irisado]

If you look even more closely one of the drivers is not a rookie but a 2nd year driver who acquitted himself quite well against his very experienced teamate Glock, last year. 

Yes, Pic is solid enough, but he doesn't have much in the way of experience to lead a team, so that's clearly why Kovalainen has been brought in.

I'm not convinced about Van de Garde at all though.  His GP2 record was, at best, inconsistent, so it's clear that money is the primary factor keeping him in his position.  Still, he'd be considered a good driver relative to some of the pay drivers we used to see in Formula 1 cars, so I don't want to be too critical.

[Jericoke]

Caterham had to do something in my opinion.  They're behind Marussia in terms of development this year, and their driver line up never looked as good on paper as Marussia's to boot.  Kovalainen's return is great news.  I think that they are badly missing his experience.  I wouldn't be at all surprised for him to take over racing duties later this season if the team's performance doesn't improve.

If one is conspiracy minded, this might be a way of getting a sponsor to pay up.  If Caterham has a driver ready to go the instant a cheque bounces, that's a good reason to keep the cheques coming.

[Irisado]

If one is conspiracy minded, this might be a way of getting a sponsor to pay up.  If Caterham has a driver ready to go the instant a cheque bounces, that's a good reason to keep the cheques coming.

I would say that this is one of those conspiracy theories that could be closer to the truth than we might think .  After all, there's no doubt in my mind that if either Pic or Van de Garde were to default on payment, the team would be more than happy to put Kovalainen in the car.

[Alonsofan]

In my opinion he will have a race seat by the end of the mid season break. Beating Marussia is crucial to Caterham.

[Monty]

If Heiki is to have any chance he will have to out perform Pic and VDG and at the moment he is 7 tenths of Pic's practice time! Come on Heiki!!