Halfway through Lap 26 of the British Grand Prix will mark the central point of the 2010 Formula 1 season. Before visiting a new-look Silverstone, GPUpdate.net reviews each driver’s performances, including highs and lows, from the first nine races of a highly dramatic championship.
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A really good start to the season for Kovalainen. After experiencing a difficult second year with McLaren when nothing seemed to work out, he’s completely changed his approach and pressed the ‘reset’ button with Lotus.
From pre-season testing to the European Grand Prix, Heikki has very much remained one of the most smiley people in the paddock. Even when experienced team-mate Jarno Trulli has let frustration get the better of him at times, the Finn has remained very much the most optimistic Lotus driver in what is a positive all-round environment.
There have been very few mistakes made and he’s grabbed any opportunity which has been put down in front of him – making it through to Q2 qualifying in Malaysia proves that, as Kovalainen made the most of Ferrari and McLaren’s silly strategic errors.
The friendly man has again shown great performances the likes of which we saw with Renault in 2007; however, he’s now already got three years of F1 experience under his belt, so if you consider this as the starting point to his ‘new’ career then it’s looking good. He and Lotus are likely to stay united for several years to come.
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Highlight: Progressing to Q2 qualifying at Sepang, an ideal situation for Malaysian Team Principal Tony Fernandes and his many corporate guests
Lowlight: Hit by Mark Webber as closing speeds prove deadly in Valencia
Championship position: Not classified (127 points off lead)
Grid positions: 21-19-15-21-20-18-20-19-20
Average grid position: 19th
Finishing positions: 15-13-R-14-R-R-R-16-18
Average finishing position: 19th
Retirements: 4 (Malaysia – damages car in collision with di Grassi, Spain – gearbox breaks after selecting two gears at once, Turkey – hydraulics problem, Europe – hit by Webber and collides with barriers in heavy Turn 12 shunt)
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