Kovalainen: “The best choice”

Heikki, what made you decide to join Lotus? F1 Racing?
For me, there were several important factors. Tony (Fernandes, director) and Mike (Gascoyne, technical director) are two important people in this project, two leaders, with important support from the team. After talking to them both, I realized that this project has a lot of potential and the team has a great chance of performing well in the future. I see Lotus F1 Racing as the best choice to progress professionally, after examining several options available to me.

What have you seen from the team so far?
I visited the team?s facilities, and met Tony and Mike. I could see that everyone involved was very motivated, happy and eager to develop the program. The team has an ambitious plan for the future and everyone will see Lotus F1 Racing at the Bahrain Grand Prix (March 12-14, 2010) as a professional team, already competitive, supported by humble and intelligent people.

What do you think of your new teammate, Jarno Trulli?
I have known Jarno for many years now. I believe that together we can help the team improve quickly, developing our car and the team professionally.

Do you have specific objectives with the team?
I have always raced to win and I will act as if I can put the car on pole position. But we have to be realistic and stay focused on developing the team to a status where we can work like other F1 teams. It won't be easy and we will have some tough times at the start, but as long as we continue to improve throughout the year and gain the respect of the other teams, then we will have had a successful first year.