Heikki Kovalainen's bets with Hamilton, his sole F1 win and rollercoaster career

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

News, Leisure, Sports News, Sports, Automotive

4.7 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2020

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tom welcomes one-time Grand Prix winner Heikki Kovalainen onto the show to discuss the ups and downs of his Grand Prix career, which began with Renault in 2007 and took in 111 starts, with stops at McLaren, Caterham and Lotus. The amiable Finn discusses the challenges of going up against an all-time great in Hamilton – their sporting bets and what separated them on the race track – and looks back on his only F1 win in Hungary in 2008. There are also stories on his breakout defeat of Michael Schumacher at the Race of Champions, that massive crash at Barcelona in 2008, the struggles that saw him end up at the back of the grid and much, much more…

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Elevate your summer nights with all the indulgence of the new Magnum Double Star Chaser.
0:07.0	It crack in chocolate, popcorn flavor and rich caramel sauce for the night.
0:15.0	Pleasure is always on. Magnum, true to pleasure.
0:20.0	Hello everyone, this is Heikiko Valainen and you're listening to Beyond the Great Podcast.
0:31.0	Hi everyone and welcome once again to your favourite corner of podcast land.
0:36.0	Beyond the grid with me Tom Clarks.
0:39.0	Here's hoping that you're all fitting well and ready to hear from another cracking guest.
0:44.0	Because this week I'm chatting to a man who was hugely popular back in the day for his relaxed, easygoing persona.
0:51.0	Heikiko Valainen and he was no slouch either. Heikiko won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix.
0:57.0	But that was to be his only win in a career that spanned 111 races for Renault, McLaren, Caterham and Lotus.
1:05.0	His talent probably deserved to win more races but for various reasons, which we look into in this extremely fascinating and candid chat, that didn't happen.
1:15.0	It wasn't the machinery at his disposal, at least when he was at McLaren because his teammate Louis Hamilton won the World Championship in the same MP423.
1:24.0	The thing is, except for that win in Hungary, which Heiki inherited after Felipe Massa retired late in the race, he rarely got the rub of the green.
1:33.0	Yes, in this business you often make your own luck, but if there was bad luck to be had, Heiki was usually on the receiving end.
1:39.0	And throughout his Formula 1 career there were management issues and all sorts of other drains on his energy and focus.
1:45.0	Yet Heiki makes no excuses.
1:48.0	His sense of perspective is remarkable and he remains one of the most articulate and unassuming drivers ever to sit in a Formula 1 car.
1:56.0	And don't forget that he was bloody quick on his day. His pole lap at Silverstone in 2008 was one of the great laps of that season and a reminder to Louis Hamilton and the like of his fabulous speed.
2:08.0	These days Heiki races GTs in Japan, but he lives in Finland and sunny Abu Dhabi.
2:14.0	We caught up remotely and he regaled me with fascinating tales about what it was like to be teammates with arguably the best driver of all time.
2:22.0	That massive Spanish Grand Prix crash he had in 2008, why his Formula 1 career took the twists and turns that it did and much much more.
2:31.0	I hope you enjoy our conversation.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from karenellenbevan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of karenellenbevan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.