Q & A with Heikki Kovalainen

Here the Finn explains how he is philosophical about his fortunes so far this year and why he knows he can turn his season around.

Q. Can you look back on Monaco with any positives after you had to start from the pitlane?

Heikki Kovalainen: "It's very difficult to make up lost time in Monaco, but the positive thing is I managed to score a point. That is better than nothing, but it's still disappointing. You have to move on, I can't change it anymore. I try not to think about it too much."

Q. What was the reaction of the team - did they feel they'd let you down?

HK: "Yeah, but I don't feel like that. It's a part of motor racing that happens sometimes. There's no need to apologise, it's not anyone's fault and I'm not blaming anyone. I've made some mistakes sometimes, it's just unfortunate, we just have to ensure we don't make the same mistakes again."

Q. You showed great pace again, potentially race-winning speed, but what's missing at the moment that's keeping you from a first win?

HK: "It's just the way things are, and it's just small things that have prevented myself from scoring more points. The most important thing is not to lose focus, and start to fuss about it too much. I've got to put myself in the position to win a race, and we will overcome these problems eventually, so I've just got to keep my focus."

Q. At some points in Monaco your times were really good...

HK: "At the end of the race I had no traffic and nothing to lose. I had two laps, with no-one in front of me, and it was very good. I'll always push until the end, and there was the chance of a point, so I took some risks. It paid off with a point, so I was happy with that."

Q. Through not much fault of your own you've slipped out of the championship equation, can you fight your way back into the title fight?

HK: "It's not over, I'm not going to give up, that's for sure. We saw last year that a big gap, like Kimi had, he was able to fight back. In Formula 1, you never know. I'll keep pushing the same as before and try and score as many points as possible. At the end, we'll see. At the moment, it doesn't look good."

Q. Has the team asked you to support Lewis, because of that points gap between you now?

HK: "No, absolutely no instructions like that. I can do exactly the same as I did before, and that's exactly what I'll do. I will attack as much as I can. We will work as a team... I'm not planning to crash into him! He's not my number one target, and I don't want to take points off him, but I want to beat everyone on the grid."

Q. So it's maximum attack now to catch up that lost ground?

HK: "Yeah, obviously it's difficult to come from behind, it's not easy because the cars are so reliable - people don't blow up at every race. You never know, a couple of bad races for the guys in front, a couple of good ones for me, it could look much better again. I'm staying optimistic and I'll keep pushing, keep focused, and not worrying too much about the points."

Q. Do you think this race is going to extra-tough on brakes this weekend, with the loss of driver aids?

HK: "It will be more difficult under braking, especially with the low-ish downforce. The car is more loose. You'll have to pay attention under braking, and especially if there's some rain. The circuit is low-grip to start with."