Q & A with Heikki Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen: "No, not really! I made a few mistakes, which makes it look even worse, but we were clearly too slow. I think a low 1:39 was possible but on my first set of tyres there were yellow flags, and there was not enough grip on the second lap, so it was too slow.

"The second set there were mistakes on both laps - the first lap at the first corner I went out straight away, so I went around slowly and then the next lap went pretty okay until the third last corner after the back straight, when I just outbraked myself there."

Q: Is it tough to get a good set-up here, considering there's no data?

Kovalainen: "No, not really - it's not the first time that we didn't do so well in qualifying, because it happened everywhere else except Monaco. We sort of thought it might be difficult, and we're not exactly sure why we're struggling a little bit, because if we knew then we'd change it, but I think the lap times look worse than they really are - I think it would have been seven or eight tenths gap to pole if we didn't have any problems.

"I don't think it's any harder to get a set-up here - it's hard for everyone - but I expect to be competitive tomorrow, because it seems that we always are in the race. Whether we'll be strong enough I don't know, but we should be stronger."

Q: With Nico Rosberg on pole and getting another two points, it's not really what you wanted for the Championship.

Kovalainen: "No - in fact it's quite bad! I try not worry about it too much - all I can do is my best, and although I made a few mistakes today, at least I tried. We just need to improve and move up - sometimes these things happen, and it's better not to let it get you down."

Q: And there's a lot of scope for overtaking here, so that will be good for your race.

Kovalainen: "Yeah - I have no doubt I can make a good race, I'm sure I can make a strong race, but whether or not it will be enough to win? Maybe not, but who knows? With a little bit of luck, maybe it can happen - I'm sure we'll be up there eventually. Well, I hope!"

Q: You usually seem to get up there somehow!

Kovalainen: "Normally, yeah! I'm not giving up - I'm going to push again tomorrow, and tomorrow is another day - forget tomorrow, and try to improve."