Heikki Kovalainen has been living in the shadow of McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the past two seasons, finishing well off the 2008 champion's pace in his second and third seasons in Formula One.

The McLaren stint came after a debut F1 season with Renault, alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. He was a product of the Renault Driver Development programme, and had been testing for the team for three years. The constructor seemed bound to Kovalainen, who drove Renault-powered cars almost exclusively through his ascent to F1.

His climb through the sport was fairly linear, contrasting with fellow Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, who was launched straight from Britain's Formula Renault into a F1 drive. Kovalainen progressed from the same competition to the GP2 Series, via Formula Three and the World Series by Nissan, before finally making his F1 debut in 2007 at the age of 25.

Having joined the team as a driver, after three years' testing, he seemed the logical man to take the seat after world champion Fernando Alonso jumped ship to McLaren. Despite his testing experience he failed to fill Alonso's boots, however, and finished seventh before joining McLaren in a swap with Alonso, following in the Spaniard's footsteps to make his own McLaren switch.

McLaren seemed a better fit, with Kovalainen accumulating a respectable 53 points on the way to another seventh-place overall, including his one and only race win in Hungary. The 2009 season was somewhat of a backwards step, and despite both drivers struggling with an under-performing car, Kovalainen still remained very much in the shadow of team-mate Hamilton.

Strengths and Weaknesses
He has proved to be one of the sport's most consistent performers, having scored points in 29 of the 43 races he has finished. Despite that record he has never really lived up to the raw talent he showed in the lower formula. 2010 is the year he must convert good qualifying into wins if he wants to avoid fading into obscurity in the sport.

Career High
Profiting from a late retirement by Felipe Massa, Kovalainen scored his first F1 race win in Hungary in 2008.

Career Low
A strong start to the 2008 season came crashing to a halt - literally - as Kovalainen went flying into a tyre wall at the Spanish Grand Prix. He was taken to hospital but escaped without serious injury, although his form dropped after that accident.

Quotes
"It was always difficult to accept that Lewis was always the first to receive the new parts. I have never wanted to make a big deal out of it, but it would have been nice to just once to have the new parts on my car." Kovalainen bemoans McLaren's McLaren's favouritism towards Lewis Hamilton, 2009

"Heikki's performance? I think everyone could see on TV and I don't need to protect anyone, it was rubbish. What else can I say? If I tell you it was good then I'm a complete idiot." Renault boss Flavio Briatore was unhappy with Kovalainen's F1 debut in 2007

Trivia
He is the only F1 driver who has won the individual event at the Race of Champions, where drivers from various motorsport disciplines gather to compete. After his solo triumph in 2004 he also won the team championship for Finland in 2006 with rally driver Marcus Gronholm.

Brett Taylor November 2009