Kovalainen’s bad start (Lotus race review)

Posted on

| Written by

A good result for Kovalainen in qualifying was the highlight of Lotus’s weekend.

Jarno TrulliHeikki Kovalainen
Qualifying position1513
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)2’01.491 (+0.148)2’01.343
Race position1916
Average race lap2’05.741 (+0.519)2’05.222
Laps43/4443/44
Pit stops13

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Jarno Trulli

Had to run wide to avoid his team mate at the start. A high-speed spin at Pouhon late in the race dropped him from 15th to 19th:

At the restart I was following the other cars but obviously the visibility was very poor and I made a bit of an error on a high speed corner, touched the white line with the rear end of the car and it just slipped away from me, which meant I lost places. I continued, but then the race was over from there.
Jarno Trulli

Compare Jarno Trulli’s form against his team mate in 2010

Heikki Kovalainen

Started from 13th – the team’s best qualifying position this year – but things went wrong quickly:

I had a bit of a problem at the start when the engine bogged down, and I activated the anti-stall, but I was already being passed by the time I could get up to speed.
Heikki Kovalainen

That left him last, but he worked his way past Sakon Yamamoto and the two Virgins. Trulli’s spin elevated him to the best of the new teams’ drivers.

Compare Heikki Kovalainen’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Belgian Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Belgian Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    5 comments on “Kovalainen’s bad start (Lotus race review)”

    1. Charles Carroll
      30th August 2010, 13:07

      It would be nice if these guys could get it together next year.

    2. I was a bit bummed for Heikki, I had high hopes he could magically hold his position starting from 13th and with a few lucky retirements ahead, would somehow get a point.

      1. I suppose it was just the kind of race for that, wasn’t it? Shame it did not work out.

        1. I hope he doesn’t repeat the pattern from his time at McLaren where he tended to waste about every great starting position he had. Or maybe that was just an impression I got?

    3. That’s two guys with this problem here in Spa, both in a pretty good starting position (Webber and Kovi).
      Is it the weather that makes for these problems with the start sequence for cars, or just bad work by the team or driver (nervousness anyone)?
      Shame about the late spin for Trulli, he did get thanked for it by Virgin though. That’ll cheer him up :-)

    Comments are closed.