I'm reading something on motorsport-total.com at the moment and it's irritates me a bit Because Heikki crashed once during testing, ppl immidiately write about the risk Renault is taking by putting him in the driving seat this year. He should be too young and the risk of him making mistakes during the race should be big.
Heikki said about it:
"Of course I want to avoid mistakes, but I have to keep my position in the race. When I'm entering the race with the idea of avoiding mistakes, than I'm not driving agressive enough. It's far more important to make a mistake just once and get over it really quickly."

All I can say is: That's the spirit, Heikki!!!

First, thanks to Pormestari for the article, very interesting!
Second, I agree with you Tineke, people just wait for someone to make a little (or a huge) mistake to start bugging him about that later, which is not the way to decide upon this or that - at all! Especially when you were not following the driver before....

And third, I also agree with Heikki, I just love his attitude! Very 'Finnish racing driver' one
Faint heart never wins fair lady!!! (c)

And Heikki will get a lot of ladi..erm, I mean, trophies

Bahrain International Circuit - Bahrain 1 March 2007

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1 F. Massa Ferrari 01:29.989 45
2 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:30.384 61
3 G. Fisichella Renault 01:30.498 64
4 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:30.534 77
5 F. Alonso McLaren 01:30.564 113
6 R. Barrichello Honda 01:31.067 118
7 P. de la Rosa McLaren 01:31.354 90
8 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:31.500 124
9 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:31.589 66
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:31.720 83
11 M. Webber Red Bull 01:31.742 92
12 R. Kubica BMW 01:31.751 98
13 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:31.791 81
14 J. Button Honda 01:31.837 97
15 F. Montagny Toyota 01:32.264 119
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 01:33.357 53

*removes massa from the list*

Go Heikki
Luckily the crash doesn't seem to bother him at all

yes, I expected him to give it all today last day of testing before the season, and great result!!! well done, Heikki!

Here's some Kovalainen stuff from Saturday's

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. I'll put it here since it's still mostly about testing.


Heikki Kovalainen returned to Europe and his home area in Kainuu feeling good, although the night flight from Bahrain was long and delayed.

During the last test day on Thursday, Kovalainen proved that also the qualifying speed is now good. Renault's Finnish star did a 3-part qualifying practice, which went exactly as planned.

"The first one was a precise, good lap. Second one was slightly better. The third one was flat out - just like it should be in qualifying. That was the best lap, though I think I can still improve it."

Based on the Bahrain test, Ferrari are clearly ahead of the others.

"Ferrari looks strong. But I think we can fight the McLarens. In the second test week it looked like we have reached the pace of McLaren. Also BMW seems to be at the same level."

Qualifying speed has been found and also the last laps of long stints are competitive, so Renault can be happy about the progress. But in the race you must also get a good start.

"We practiced starts in Bahrain and they felt pretty good. I can't promise Renault's old incredible starts, but the team has now worked a lot on these things, because last year the starts weren't so great."

"We moved forward systematically in every area so we are happy. We got a lot of things done, even though my accident on Tuesday caused some delay."

"When I crashed I had all the parts of the new aero package in my car and they were totally destroyed. The team worked really hard so I could get back into the car just 24 hours later, but then I only had the old parts so the best times still came with the old package."

"That's why I believe we can still go a little bit faster in Melbourne."

Now Kovalainen has some Renault's PR things to do in Ruka and in Helsinki. Next Thursday it's already off to Australia's Brisbane, where Kovalainen and Fisichella have their final exercises and training before the first race.

Last year Renault was the favorite. Now it's Ferrari. Is it easier for Kovalainen to start his Grand Prix career, if Renault isn't the number one favorite?

"It doesn't change anything I do. Of course it would be nice if I had the best car in the first race. But then if you couldn't win, the team might be dissappointed. I'm confident that if the car is good, I can get good results."

"I'm happy with this car. Maybe last year we were in a better position. But we just need to catch up Ferrari's lead. It's easier trying to catch up someone than to be at the front and trying to keep that lead."

Thanks for the very interesting read!

Sepang day 2 - Malaysia 28 March 2007

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:35.268 61
2 A. Wurz Williams 01:35.705 114
3 D. Coulthard Red Bull 01:35.712 87
4 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:35.751 81
5 R. Kubica BMW 01:35.887 111
6 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:36.115 69
7 T. Sato Super Aguri 01:36.306 63
8 R. Barrichello Honda 01:36.563 36
9 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:36.578 86
10 J. Button Honda 01:36.617 24
11 A. Davidson Super Aguri 01:37.876 39
12 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:37.910 36
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:37.971 32

Heikki's first day on this track Hopefully he'll stay in a car for tomorrow as well

Sepang day 3 - Malaysia 29 March 2007

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1 L. Hamilton McLaren 01:35.918 57
2 M. Webber Red Bull 01:36.138 62
3 R. Schumacher Toyota 01:36.700 69
4 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:36.712 56
5 F. Massa Ferrari 01:36.947 64
6 N. Rosberg Williams 01:37.070 71
7 J. Button Honda 01:37.472 92
8 A. Davidson Super Aguri 01:37.606 44
9 N. Heidfeld BMW 01:38.551 35
10 H. Kovalainen Renault 01:39.654 20

That's just wrong.

*kicks Renault up the backside*

You're spoiling the look of the top three being all the way down there...

That's not really what I meant boys, but still - are things looking up for Heikki?

Autosport wrote:

Heikki Kovalainen finally had something to smile about this week after topping the times on the final day of pre-Malaysian Grand Prix testing in Sepang on Friday. The Finn, who had a disappointing F1 debut in Australia and was bottom of the timesheets on Thursday, set a confidence-boosting time that was four hundredths of a second faster that Ferrari's Felipe Massa. With drivers clearly trying out new tyre runs ahead of next weekend's race, Anthony Davidson was a surprise third fastest as Super Aguri's SA07 proved that the form it showed in Australia was not a flash in the pan. Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest for Williams, with the team having stated this week that they wanted to work on their pace over a single lap following their disappointing qualifying performance in Australia. Toyota's Franck Montagny was fifth quickest, ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Honda Racing's Jenson Button, who only took part in the morning session. Lewis Hamilton completed his pre-Malaysian GP preparation in the morning to set the eighth quickest time, before handing over his McLaren to Pedro de la Rosa in the afternoon. Today's times: Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:35.767 55 2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:35.808 72 3. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:36.787 68 4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:37.002 104 5. Montagny Toyota (B) 1:37.206 78 6. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:37.318 70 7. Button Honda (B) 1:37.326 37 8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:37.448 43 9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.338 42 10. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:38.542 56 11. Klien Honda (B) 1:39.176 25 12. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:39.303 24 All Timing Unofficial

That is GREAT news!!! Heikki will go into the next Grand Prix in the best frame of mind possible