Heikki Kovalainen is confident Caterham will be more competitive at this weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim - if they understand their updates better.
Caterham driver confident team will be quicker in Germany
Heikki Kovalainen is confident Caterham will be more competitive at this weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim - if they understand their updates better.
The British-based team were bullish about making a major step forward at last week's British GP, but the Finnish driver feels the bad weather prevented them from displaying the true extent of their increased pace.
The 30-year-old struggled to get a balance he was happy with at Silverstone, and is hopeful of rediscovering the pace that saw him comfortably make the second part of qualifying in Valencia.
"At Silverstone we didn't really see an improvement in our pace. I think the conditions on Friday made it very tricky for us to asses our improvements as we tried to tune them in and I think there is more to come this weekend," the Caterham driver told
Sky Sports.
"There is work that can still be done on the update package to try and optimise it, but I am confident there is more to come.
"At Silverstone we were not able to show the full effect of that, the car was quite out of balance for the weekend. So once we balance the car we can get more out of it.
"I hope this weekend we can get to a level similar to what we had in Valencia, where we are racing with a few cars ahead of us and out-qualifying the Toro Rosso.
"That is the kind of trend we want to see towards the end of the season, and on all the different kinds of circuits, not just on street circuits. If we get the most out of the update package and the balance of the car, then we should be able to do that."
Milestone
This weekend will be Kovalainen's 100th Grand Prix, although he has only started 99 races after missing the 2010 Spanish GP due to a gearbox failure. However, the Caterham driver is not concerned with the landmark and instead remains focused on delivering a strong result.
"I don't think I will celebrate at all. It is not something that means that much to me. Hopefully there will be many more Grands Prix to come. Helping the team improve the car and move forwards will be the only focus for me."
Kovalainen's team-mate, Vitaly Petrov, missed the race at Silverstone after stopping on the way to the pre-race grid with engine issues. The Finn, though, is certain the team will not see a repeat of those problems in Germany.
"In motor racing things can happen. Renault have looked into it and understand it and there is nothing to be worried about.
"I think overall we haven't had any issues for a long time with Renault and Renault usually have very few failures. So hopefully it was just a statistical one, you are going to have them now and again, and hopefully now both cars are functioning 100%."
Tyres have been a major talking point this season and Pirelli will be making their Hockenheim debut when the cars roll out for first practice on Friday. Kovalainen is backing the Italian manufacturer's tyres to stand up to the challenge.
"I don't think it will be a huge issue. Over the year and a half that Pirelli have been with us I think they have learned a lot and I think everybody understands that when we go to new venues, compared to the start of last year, we can be quite confident in the tyres they have selected, that they will work well and that we won't have anything unusual."
