Q & A with Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen: The penalties for me are only because we have made some mistakes. As a team and as a driver we have to do a better job to avoid some mistakes. That's all. Otherwise I have no problem with the penalties.

Q. What are your expectations for this weekend?

HK: Obviously it's always difficult to predict too much. My feeling is that we had a very good test here. The car felt very strong, we made some improvements and I hope we can challenge for victory here.

Q. Is it frustrating to be halfway through the season but still not have that first win?

HK: No. It's not frustrating. Of course, I'd have liked to score more points but I just haven't been able to put together any weekends without problems, without incidents. The most important thing to do now is to keep the focus the same and keep pushing forward and eventually it will arrive. No doubt about that.

Q. What are the chances of you getting your first F1 win here this weekend just as you had your first F3 win here six years ago?

HK: Yes. There's always a possibility. But there's still a long way to go and we have to keep focusing on every practice session and make sure the balance of the car and the confidence going into qualifying is on the level that means we can attack maximum. That's the priority.

Q. What do you feel the difference is between McLaren and Ferrari on the car?

HK: For me it's very difficult to say. Looking at this year, some of the circuits in some of the slower sections perhaps we have lost out to Ferrari. But then it seems in the faster sections we have gained a little bit. In France we weren't able to show the full potential of our car due to the starting position. It's difficult to say. The only thing we know is they are going to be strong everywhere and it's going to be difficult to beat them.

Q. The potential of the car in Magny-Cours could be the same here?

HK: I believe so. I have no reason to believe why it wouldn't be.

Q. What's your impression of the changes that have been made to the car?

HK: We tested back to back last week. My feeling is we put a little bit more grip in the car, perhaps improved the efficiency a little bit in the straightline so it's a step forward. In terms of laptime it's not a big step, but they never are. You're only talking about a tenths each time. Last week I felt more grip in the car. That's positive.

Q. Could that also help in terms of tyre useage?

HK: Yes. It helps everywhere. If we are able to put more downforce in the car without losing any straightline speed it's always going to be more beneficial in the long-term. In terms of laptime one or two tenths but by the end of the race it could be worth a few seconds.

Q. Do you think Ferrari showed its full potential in the test?

HK: Well, I don't know. The pace varied quite a lot. On the first morning Massa was 1.5 seconds faster than we were. Then the first afternoon on the second day they were slower! I haven't seen the laptimes from the last day in detail but it looks like they were slower. For me, this indicates they were probably running different things at the test. I wouldn't expect us to be one second faster than Ferrari this weekend. It's going to be close but it suggests to me we were approaching the test differently. We were not chasing lap times, we were running normal fuel that we would always run in race conditions. That lap times were just quite good.

Q. The weather conditions are quite changeable, how does that affect things?

HK: The wind doesn't make a huge difference, it just makes it a bit more difficult for everybody but in the end everybody will catch up with the conditions and adapt their driving and the lap times will be in the normal sort of order. But if it rains or there are showers and it dries out then it can make a significant difference. You can win in those sort of conditions but then again you can lose out. If it's constant rain I think there will be less of an issue. In stable weather you've got to plan everything right. If you can adapt to conditions and prepare some difference strategies for different scenarios that would help.

Q. Has there been any change in the way it has worked within the team as the drivers' championship for you probably isn't possible. You're equal number ones but could you be moved into a supporting role?

HK: No. Absolutely not. for me the championship is not over yet. It might be over for you, but not for me. There are still many races to go. I still believe in my own ability and McLaren has never put a driver in a supporting role in the past. That will not be the case this year and I'm not willing to do that. So I'm pushing for myself.

Q. What about Lewis? He has faced some criticism, do you feel any pressure on him or change in his behaviour?

HK: I have seen nothing with him change. I don't know exactly what's been going on but he's fully focused and doing a strong job as always. I get along with him. I try to push him on the track and I will do everything I can to beat him but he will do the same! Ultimately, we just try to push the team forward and make sure the team gets quicker and goes in the right direction.

Q. Now is the time for the teams to decide where to focus. Do you focus on the car for this year or for next year?

HK: We still are focusing 100% for this year, in fact pushing even more than normal. The whole technical group is flat out improving this year's car because we are still in a fight for the championships. Of course, we need to put some effort for next year's technical changes as well but that's been going on for a little while. We're doing a bit of both I think.