Q & A with Heikki Kovalainen

But the Finn reckons he knows where last season went awry and will recover his highly promising early-2008 form this season, as he told the media during the launch of the MP4-24 at the McLaren Technology Centre today.

Q. What are your thoughts on the challenges faced by all the drivers this season?

Heikki Kovalainen: Well obviously there are many big changes coming to the season and there are still a few unknown things like the qualifying format that could spice up the things. But I think it is a big challenge for everybody. The cars will feel a little bit different and we need to adjust and adapt the driving style a little bit. Maybe the set-up will be a little bit different, and there are a lot of questions we need to answer before Melbourne.

I think it is all good and if all these things end up improving the racing then fantastic. We had some good races last year, with some good overtaking and good fights, and if we can make that better then that is a bonus.

Q. What can you tell us about the reliability and driveability of the engine?

HK: The reliability of the engine has been very good. The people at Mercedes-Benz did an excellent job and the only real engine failure we had in the race was in Fuji, in a place where I hoped it wouldn't go - but it went. But overall I think we can be very satisfied.

Let's hope that carries on this year and we can continue that reliability through this year and, obviously the engine is to last a little bit longer. I am sure the team have done everything they can to keep up this momentum.

About the driveability, there is a lot of time to be found from driveability, and we worked a lot on it last year. As the engines are sealed it is very difficult to find big performance gains in terms of pure power, so these driveability issues are very vital.

We are continuously working on it here in the simulator in Woking and then when we go on the track, we always try to find ways to improve it, and to make sure we get the power through the wheels to the ground without wasting any energy coming out of the corners. We will see what we have managed to do over the winter, but it's been one of the issues that we have tried to improve.

Q. You had a fantastic win in Hungary, but some amazing pole positions. What have you taken out of 2008 that you will carry forward into this season?

HK: Obviously these good moments, they give me a good feeling, even now. Overall last year I still feel it was a positive year although there were some difficult races. To finish seventh in the championship was something that I was not planning to do, I wanted to be higher on the grid, but this year hopefully we can start the season and carry on throughout the season in a better shape.

I certainly know that the preparation has gone really well. I am much better prepared compared to this time last year. I know how the team operates and hopefully I can give a better feedback to everyone in the factory, give directions in how to develop the car to suit me even better, and hopefully that will also show in the results.

Q. Looking forward to the season, which are some of the circuits that you are looking forward to?

HK: The start of the season in Melbourne is very exciting, to see how these new downforce levels and newly designed wings are going to work in traffic and in a race situation. That is going to be very interesting.

Then obviously Monaco, trying to adjust your racing line, getting close to the wall without knocking the front wing off is going to be quite interesting, and then another circuit I think in whichever car you go around is Spa. Even going around in a road car is good enough, but to go around in this sort of car should be good. It will be interesting to see what sort of speed we do through Eau Rouge. Whether we can still keep it flat-out, that is going to be interesting.

Q. There are quite a lot of extra things to operate this year - with the front wing and the KERS? Are you happy there will be enough time to concentrate on steering the car?

HK: That is a good point. It is certainly going to be a challenge, but it is something we have to get used to. We have to practice it in the tests. I don't feel it is going to be a problem. I think I will be able to handle it and there will be time to do the adjustments, although perhaps at places like Monaco you will do it a little bit less compared to other circuits where you have a bit more time.

I am confident we have found a solution that is giving me enough time to focus on the job and improve the performance for the new things we have on the car.

Q. One of the best ways of comparing a drivers' performance is against a teammate. Last season you did have an awful amount of bad luck. Given better luck and another season under your belt, how confident are you that you can take the challenge to Lewis?

HK: I am sure the starting point now is much better compared to last year, and we will see over the year how we get on.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about your goals for the year ahead?

HK: I think again we have to start the season and see how it goes, and not to get ahead of things too much. Of course the victory in Hungary was something I would like to repeat this year many times, but I will just keep the focus on the winter tests now and hopefully we can start this season as well as last year, if not better. And then we can carry on that momentum through the year, and we will see where we are at the end.

Q. Where do you feel you need to personally improve on that seventh place that you said was a disappointment?

HK: I think first of all I have to finish more races. It is going to be the key without any incidents, any problems, to score more points on Sundays is the number one issue. And then just to work with the team, I don't believe there are any magic tricks or any special area that I really need to improve. I hope we can improve every area and the results should be better.

Q. How does it feel having a world champion as teammate? Does it remove some of the attention away from you to help you, or does it affect you?

HK: I don't feel it makes any difference to me. Certainly the attention is more on Lewis, but I don't feel even if I had more attention it would be a problem for my work. I think I can draw a line (between) work and the rest to keep a good balance.

It is just good to have a strong teammate, a good teammate. He is a quick driver, he is a very good character, we get on well with each other and together we can push the team forward. That is the most important thing. Whether he is a champion or not a champion, I don't feel it makes any difference to me.

Q. If you compare your feelings last year to now. In what areas do you think you are in a better position now?

HK: Certainly I know the team better, and how it operates. I know the key people from every department better, so hopefully I can give better instructions and better direction for the team - the engineers and the designers about what I need from the car. Also I think I adapted my driving style to suit better the McLaren style compared to what I had previously. I think we have to start the season to see how we get on. I don't want to say any more than that.

Q. You showed good qualifying pace last year but perhaps struggled a bit on race pace. What have you been doing over the winter to rectify the problems, and are you confident you can challenge Lewis this season?

HK: Just to keep working with the team. Going over the details and analysing what happened last year. I think the last few races were not so bad, although the results might not show that.

The race pace was very competitive, so I already felt at the end of last year that we were definitely improving and we were on the right track. Hopefully we can just keep that consistently good. There is no other way than working with the engineers more and looking at all the details. That is the only way to go, I believe.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about what you did over the Christmas period. You had a holiday, but I know you were fairly active with Aki (team doctor) in training in Finland?

HK: I had a good break after the season. I had a bit of a holiday and it was a struggle not to do anything, but we had a good time. I did a couple of days of testing before Christmas and then back to Finland to see my parents, see the family, and luckily there was a lot of snow. I did quite a lot of cross country skiing, it is another sport that I really enjoy doing - sometimes as an exercise and sometimes to spend a day seeing the forest and nature.

So feel I recharged my batteries quite well. I feel physically and mentally in very good shape now, and I worked with Aki on the fitness side but I never felt it was a problem. You can always improve though, and it was just a matter of finding the right balance.

One thing for sure in my approach to this year is to not stress about everything as much as I did last year. I want to have a bit more relaxed approach, still working flat out but also enjoying the year more. Hopefully that will affect the feelings that you have throughout the year, and that will give you more energy - especially through the year.

Q. The new car is having a shakedown tomorrow at Algarve. It's a new testing circuit. What do you make of the venue?

HK: Honestly I haven't actually seen any of it yet! I haven't even seen it in the simulator, so I have no idea. But what I hear from Pedro and Gary who have been driving there is that is quite an exciting venue. There are a lot of uphills and downhills and undulations that are perhaps not so common on other circuits.

All the feedback has been positive, so I will drive next Thursday and I am just looking forward to seeing how it goes there, and hopefully we can have a good four days of testing next week.

Q. Last year one of the most controversial points was that you were heavier a lot of times than Lewis in qualifying. How it is possible to change this, and what is the procedure for the strategy?

HK: I think we always sit together with the team and the strategists who are working on that issue over a race weekend. We always find the best solution for the team and the best way that I can improve that situation is to be consistently better and consistently stronger. Then the team will make different decisions.

But I would say from the first year, as a rookie driver for McLaren and Lewis was in a better position to win the championship, it was quite understandable the way we did it. This year hopefully we can turn things around and hopefully I can have a stronger year. Also these kinds of things will change slightly, but I don't feel it is an issue for us. The most important thing is to keep the focus on driving and focus on performance, and keep them consistently high. Then things will work out.

Q. You have mentioned about not stressing about everything as you did last year, to make sure the season is more enjoyable, why was last season not so enjoyable and so stressful?

HK: I think I put perhaps too much expectation on myself, and sometimes I was too hard on myself if I didn't get the pole position or didn't win the race. I think looking back afterwards, I think I had some good really races. Even compared to Lewis there were many, many positives even though he managed to score more points and drove very well last year.

I don't think I have to take all the blame on myself. We can work as a team, and in that way I want the year to be more enjoyable and more relaxed. And if I have one session where I don't think I have maximised everything then, I am not going to get stressed about it. I think you just have to build the confidence to a level where if you have a bad session you can still be on pole position, still be competitive and still win a race. That is one of the targets I would like to get this year.

Q. Speaking of relaxing, with no testing are you looking forward to having more days off?

HK: I think we will be spending more time here in the simulator - so we will have sore eyes after a few days in the simulator looking at the screen. I feel and think the right way to approach that change is to spend the time somewhere else, trying to look for other things to improve the performance. We can spend more time here with engineers, designers, going through different things and going into detail myself in terms of what is going on with the engine guys, trying to give every detail to the engineers.

Q. You have said it make no difference to you that Lewis is the world championship, but he is and he is the youngest in history. What is it that makes Lewis so different?

HK: I think he is first of all a very talented driver. He is very fast, he works hard, he drives well and fights well, but there is no question that he has been with McLaren for a long time. It has been a fantastic school as he has learned a lot from great drivers and great engineers, and from the team.

He knows this place inside out and I am sure that gives him extra confidence for what he is doing. He knows how everything operates here, and he can get the last bit of energy into his driving rather than learning or looking at things that you don't really understand when you are new to the team. That makes a big difference and he makes full use of it. Combined, those things make him the world champion he is at the moment.

Q. You have mentioned you have had to adapt your driving style to the characteristics of the McLaren last year. How difficult was it, and how confident are you that the issues of overworking the tyres are behind you?

HK: Like I said, I felt already towards the end of last year the performances were quite good, even though I didn't manage to finish all the races in a good position.

That gives me the confidence going into this year, and also when I felt with the slick tyres, I felt perhaps a little bit more like I felt before when the results have been a bit more competitive. It should be a good direction and I learned a lot last year, and I will be more aware of those kinds of things - adapting the style for a certain situation if I have to, rather than thinking afterwards I should have done this or I should have done that. That should help us.