Kovalainen vows to push for points

With rain expected to hit the Sepang event at some point, Kovalainen believes that a bit of good fortune and some good calls from the pits could pay dividends in Lotus' home race.

When asked by AUTOSPORT what he reckoned was a realistic target in the Malaysian race after qualifying 15th, Kovalainen said: "I think anything is possible. If it becomes a session like qualifying it will be a matter of being out at the right time, doing the pit stops at the right moment and putting the right tyres on.

"If we nail them, and if other people do mistakes like they did in qualifying, then it is possible to be in the points. On the other hand, it is also quite easy to totally screw it up and be at the other end!

"I think we are going to go aggressive, we are going to take some chances and that is our chance to get a good result. Certainly I am going to go fighting, take risks and push every lap. I think we can do a good finish in the race.

"Hopefully we can get both cars to the finish and do that ahead of the new teams - that is still our main target. Anything other than that is a bonus - but it would be good to do even better than Melbourne."

Kovalainen believes that the rate of progress shown by Lotus in the first three races has already left him sure he took the right decision in joining the new team.

"I have been very impressed, and it has convinced me more that this is a very good choice for me," he said. "I've enjoyed working here and we have made significant steps forward.

"As a team, if you walk up and down the pit lane you would not recognise that we are a five or six month old team compared to the other professional outfits. Everything we do, preparing the cars, is running really, really well. There is no difference to any other team although obviously in performance terms we are a bit behind.

"We are exactly where we expected to be, and now we need to sort out the reliability to make sure the car is bulletproof, and then from Barcelona onwards we can move forwards."