Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO.

He competed in karting from 1991 to 2000, during which time he finished runner-up in the Finnish Formula A championship in 1999 and 2000.

In 2000 he won the Nordic championship and the Paris-Bercy Elf Masters event, as well as finished third in the World Formula Super A Championship, leading him to be elected as the Finnish Kart Driver of the Year.

Kovalainen began his car racing career in the British Formula Renault Championship, which fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen had won in 2000 before moving straight into Formula One with Sauber.

Kovalainen's apprenticeship in the junior categories of motor sport was more conventional, but he used Renault power at every step along the way.

He finished fourth in the championship with two wins, two pole positions, five podiums and three fastest laps, earning the Rookie of the Year award.

He also took part in the Formula Three Macau Grand Prix, where he finished eighth.

Montagny had already spent two seasons in the World Series and had won the championship in 2001.

Kovalainen attracted the support of the Renault Driver Development programme and in 2002 moved up to the British Formula 3 Championship with Fortec Motorsport who used Renault engines.

He became one of the most competitive drivers on the grid by the second half of the season and all five of his wins came in the final nine races.

With three pole positions and three fastest laps, Kovalainen finished third overall in the championship behind Robbie Kerr and James Courtney and he was again Rookie of the Year.

He also demonstrated strong form in the international non-championship rounds, with second place in Macau and fourth place at the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.

Kovalainen moved into the Renault-owned World Series by Nissan in 2003 – but faced a tough teammate at the Gabord team in Franck Montagny.

Montagny won the 2003 title with nine wins to Kovalainen's one.

Kovalainen continued in the series in 2004, but moved to Pons Racing, where he won the championship ahead of Tiago Monteiro, with 192 points and six wins.

With Kimi Räikkönen finishing seventh in Formula One and Marcus Grönholm fifth in the World Rally Championship, Kovalainen received the Finnish Driver of the Year award.

In 2005, Kovalainen entered the GP2 Series, the new 'feeder' series for F1 and the successor to Formula 3000.

Driving for the Arden International team, Kovalainen began the season with strong results by winning the first round of the championship in Imola and then finishing third in the sprint race.

In Barcelona he scored his third consecutive podium, but in the sprint race his car stalled on the grid.

He dominated the race in Monaco by claiming pole position, leading the race for the first 21 laps and clocking the fastest lap of the race.

Problems during his pitstop, however, dropped him down to fifth.

He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and Lotus F1 teams, scoring a single victory at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix.

His second season in Formula One saw him achieve his first pole position at Silverstone and his first victory at the Hungaroring, becoming the 100th driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

He remained with the team for the season.

In, he moved to the newly created Team Lotus where he also remained for and , with the team renamed Caterham F1 for 2012, Kovalainen's last full season in Formula One.

Although he didn't score points in the uncompetitive cars, he earned respect for outperforming drivers who were racing in similarly uncompetitive cars.

Kovalainen competed in the last two races of the season for Lotus F1 as a short-notice stand-in for regular driver Kimi Räikkönen.

After leaving Formula One, he raced in the Japanese Super GT series between 2015 and 2021, where he won the championship in 2016.

He was supported by the Renault Driver Development programme early in his racing career, during which he won the World Series by Nissan championship and finished runner-up in the GP2 series.

Renault signed him on as a full-time Formula One test driver for, and then promoted him to a race seat for.

He gained his first podium by finishing second in the Japanese Grand Prix that year.

He moved to McLaren for the season, where he partnered Lewis Hamilton.

In 2015, Kovalainen moved to Japan to compete in Super GT in the GT500 class with Team SARD.

He won the championship in his second season in the series in 2016.

Born in Suomussalmi, Finland, Kovalainen's career began in kart racing, much like that of many other race car drivers.

At the Nürburgring he gave his best performance yet, by winning the race from 17th on the grid.

In the sprint race José María López caused a collision which forced Kovalainen to retire.

At Magny-Cours he won again from fourth on the grid, and came third in the sprint race.

At this point in the season, however, a resurgent Nico Rosberg with his ART Grand Prix team seemed to find more speed and began scoring victories, emerging as Kovalainen's main rival for the championship.

Kovalainen and Arden fought back, scoring podiums and points positions in Silverstone, Hockenheim and Hungaroring, but were unable to find the necessary speed to beat Rosberg.