Q & A with Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen: It is the right direction of course. It is better to do it that way than going off the track at this point of the season. The last five races I have scored points and I have already scored points in a lot of races already this season. So, I am quite happy with the way things have turned out now and we have been able to keep a consistent level of performance. And also the team, we have improved our car so I am fairly happy.

Q. The feeling must be so different from the start of the season, when with a few mistakes people were already putting the knife in?

HK: It wasn't too bad for me honestly. I kept my focus all the time and other people thought it was more difficult, and that it looked pretty bad at some point. I was quite calm in my mind. I was just hoping that they wouldn't sack me before I got the chance to turn things around.

And the team, honestly they supported me even through the difficult times. I was able to, as soon as we improved the car a little bit, to get back on track the performance. I never lost the confidence and I never lost the faith in my ability. I have done good races before and have struggled before, and I know how to get through that. It is important to learn through that and move on.

Q. What does it mean to you to race at Spa-Francorchamps? Is it a special circuit?

HK: Yes, the circuit is very nice. It is the best circuit I have driven on in an F1 car so far. As a place, it is as any track. You come here and you do your job. But the circuit layout is fantastic, so it gives you a little more of a kick when you are driving around.

Q. The Renault development is focused on next year's car now. Is it going to be easy to maintain these points scoring finishes?

HK: I think we can still get more out of our car without developing it. There won't be any new parts, or major updates coming any more, but I don't think we have been able to take the most of all the potential of our car in the last few races - except for Turkey. So with setup work and different strategies we can still get more out of the package and that is what we are going to focus on now with the race team. We can keep up the same performance towards the end of the season, even without these updates coming.

Q. What is the deal regarding next year's contract. When will it be confirmed or is it already sorted?

HK: No. I am still waiting on the decision that Renault will make. In any case, I focus on driving now. I am in a calm mode, so we just have to wait and see.

Q. Can you be calm when the team has just been dragged into this spy thing?

HK: Yes. I stay calm. I think Flavio said that there is nothing to be worried about. That is all I can say. To be honest, I don't know much about it. I think already many people are involved so I think it is better for me not to get involved. I am confident that everything is fine.

Q. Do you think a better understanding of tyres has helped improve your form during the season?

HK: Probably a little bit, yeah. At the beginning of the season I was attacking the corners a bit too much. I had a lot of confidence last year in the Michelin tyres and in the R26 car, the combination gave a lot of confidence. You could drive it anywhere you wanted and brake where you wanted and it always turned into the corner, and the lap times were always competitive. I have calmed down a little my driving style this year and I think the biggest reason for that is the tyres. So part of the results getting better is because of that.

Q. Do you think that is something you should have realised earlier?

HK: It probably would have been better to realise it in Melbourne. But I didn't realise it until we got our car a little bit better. The combination of a lack of grip at the front of the car and the driving style that was causing a lot of mistakes and inconsistent performances. I think when we improved the aerodynamics at the front of the car, that also helped me to realise the problem.

Q. So you only realised your problem when the car was good enough for you to analyse it?

HK: Yeah. When we got the front of the car working better I realised that I needed to calm down my driving style a little bit and look after the tyres a bit better. It is actually quicker than way, so obviously if I already realised that in Melbourne I would have been able to change it in Malaysia, but I didn't realise it.