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It has been an easy first day for Heikki Kovalainen in Hungary though the Finn would have definitely wished things were different. Instead of running stints and test programme in the afternoon waiting was the name of the game in the second practice. Heikki lost time waiting for the team to fix the hydraulics problems on his Lotus. What was meant to last about 20 minutes cost Kovy almost the whole afternoon session, only five laps and a time of 1:27.705, thus P24 was the result. Heikki still managed to find some positive points, referring to the practice in the morning.

After difficult start to his race weekend at Hockenheim and a disappointing qualification the race which followed on Sunday was equally disappointing. He did not just make it to the end if the race, the reason for his early retirement was subject to a caution issued to him by the FIA.

Yesterday was the day of qualification in Hockenheim, Germany, and a disappointing one for Heikki Kovalainen it turned out to be. For the reasons that neither the driver nor his team could explain the Finn lost 3 tenths of a second comparing to his team mate Jarno Trulli, and therefore his best achievement was P19 on the grid.

To say it was a neither fish nor fowl race for Heikki this afternoon in Silverstone would not be entiryly fair since the Finn was trying his best during the last laps to get past Timo Glock in the Virgin Racing machine, but P17 in the end was not the biggest reward of the season. At least one wish was fullfilled – both cars got to the checkered flag.

The qualifying session in Silverstone once again proved one thing for Lotus – it is easier to make the first big leap forward than those small steps that allow you to finally gain the desired position. Heikki ended his quali again with P19, in front of the other new teams, but he also admitted that it had not been the best qualification of the season. Mike Gascoyne blamed the traffic while Kovy said he was not entirely happy with the balance. 

"The first sector of the circuit is the best sector on the whole F1™ calendar - lots of fast bits that require maximum commitment“ - this was Heikki’s opinion of the English track, well at least before the first two practice sessions in Silverstone 2010. Having completed the practice Heikki’s opinion changed a bit – he was not too excited about the new layout. “The new layout is nothing like the old circuit – now it feels like it’s pretty straightforward. It’s quite bumpy, and the corners are pretty simple, not like the old circuit where you got on the throttle and could find a really good line through the corners. I have no problem with the circuit, I just preferred the old one.“ Heikki was was in the minority, and it is interesting that usually it is the motobike riders who moan about a new track layout, but even they did not moan when they raced in Silverstone back in June.

Lotus Racing’s European Grand Prix Qualifying session ended with Jarno Trulli in 19th and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in 20th, comfortably ahead of their fellow new teams, and, again, a respectable distance from the midfield. With Colin Chapman’s son Clive in the garage, in Spain to help the team celebrate the 500th Grand Prix Lotus has competed in, the team will be satisfied with a good performance in the Mediterranean heat, and will be looking to carry the good reliability they have enjoyed on track in Valencia through to tomorrow’s race, aiming to bring both cars home in what should be an exciting race.

Heikki's race against the clock did not actually start on Friday morning during the 1st practice for the Grand Prix in Valencia, but on Thursday afternoon when he was hit with the problems with his flight from Geneva to Valencia. Due to the strikes in France Heikki’s flight was not able to fly through the French airspace, and since Heikki unfortunately is not in possession of the magic shoes which transfer one to any destination, he had to go by car – 1200km!