Heikki: Comeback harder than expected

[Dare]

Michael had a hard time with it but in all fairness to MS
the car wasn't up to snuff.So it makes Kimi's success
look even better

Heikki Kovalainen says he thought it would be easier to return to Formula One than it was as he brought his Lotus stint to an end without a single point.

Called up by Lotus to replace the injured Kimi Raikkonen, Kovalainen had hoped to help the team in their battle for second in the Constructors' Championship.

However, the Finn found his return more difficult than expected.

Car troubles in America cost him while on Sunday in Brazil a tardy start saw him drop places which he then failed to recover.

Kovalainen finished 14th - and a full lap down - in his final outing for Lotus.

"It has been a great opportunity to drive for Lotus F1 Team and I'm upset that I was not able to score any points for them," he said.

"I think the car is great, but I was not able to unlock the pace and make the most of it.

"I made some mistakes - probably through lack of routine - but I was anticipating it would be easier to come back and race competitively.

"My starts both here and in Austin were really poor, with procedural issues both times meaning I wasn't able to keep pace with everyone off the line.

"That was disappointing as it's such a big part of the race and it's very difficult to recover positions.

"I'd like to thank everyone at Lotus F1 Team for all their support during these two races."

[John S]

Perhaps it's Sayonara time for Heikki altogether.   

[F1fanaticBD]

So team Lotus could have ran David Valsecchi instead, as Heikki didn't rack up any points for them, so what was there to be lost. I am not blaming Lotus for trying Heikki, but I just feel David will feel a bit more pain for loosing out the prospect of running an F1 race.

[Irisado]

Would Valsecchi have scored any points though?  I doubt it, and had he been mired in the midfield it could actually have hurt his prospects of getting a race seat in the future, so I think that he was probably best served by not getting the chance.

It's very hard to get up to speed these days in Formula One when replacing another driver in an unfamiliar car.  Just look at how difficult Badoer and Fischella found it when they replaced Massa at Ferrari in 2009 for further evidence.

I'm sure that Kovalainen would have done better had he been driving the Caterham, but to step into the Lotus with no testing was always asking a lot.

[John S]

It's very hard to get up to speed these days in Formula One when replacing another driver in an unfamiliar car.  Just look at how difficult Badoer and Fischella found it when they replaced Massa at Ferrari in 2009 for further evidence.

Unless you're Kamui, he jumped into Glock's Toyota for the 09 Brazil & Abu Dhabi races' he got 6th in the Arab kingdom. 
The rest is as they say - history, sometimes you gotta take the bull by the horns. 

[Irisado]

Didn't Kobayashi have previous experience with that car though?  Didn't he run in some Friday sessions?

[F1fanaticBD]

Would Valsecchi have scored any points though?  I doubt it, and had he been mired in the midfield it could actually have hurt his prospects of getting a race seat in the future, so I think that he was probably best served by not getting the chance.

I think every racing driver will agree to the fact that any racing experience is much better than no racing experience. I am not questioning Lotus's decision, I think with the deal in the pipeline (It has been there for eternity) they have to look good in front of the potential investors, so picking Heikki was right choice (they were trying to put Hulk there, but due to some shadow deal, as well as the contractual obligation he could not make it work). All I am saying David will have thoughts in the end it didn't add up any points, so he could have got two races under his belt.

[Dare]

I think what hurt Badoer and Fisichella was the Ferrari
was a Mclaren style dog that year.MS was touted to
fill in for Massa but I think he was warned and suddenly had
a neck injury

[Irisado]

I'm still not sure what good those two races would have done Valsecchi.  Consider what happened to Grosjean in 2009 when he replaced Piquet.  He has improved since then, clearly, but his F1 career could have been over before it had even started.

Dare, yes the 2009 Ferrari wasn't all that great.  The problem with it was that it was exceptionally difficult to set-up, so Badoer and Fisichella found that, with such limited time in the car, it was a very tricky beast to tame.