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RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
04/11/2007 - 07:00 PM
Sepang, Malaysia
Kovalainen had a much better weekend in Malaysia, outqualifying Fisichella and scoring his first F1 point. (LAT Photo) ยป More Photos
Heikki Kovalainen says he is trying to keep the Renault team motivated and encouraging everyone to keep pushing for quicker progress.
The Finn made a big step forward in Malaysia after his frustrating debut in Australia three weeks earlier. Although he missed the top-10 session, he outqualified teammate Giancarlo Fisichella and then ran just behind the Italian for most of the race, with Jarno Trulli's Toyota sandwiched between them. He scored his first point with eighth place.
"There are a lot more positive things from this race than Melbourne," he told SPEEDtv.com. "I feel that I am driving on my own level now. I lost out a little bit through the first two corners. I had a very good initial start, but then I ended up in a situation where Trulli inside of me in Turn 2 and Fisi was outside of me, and the last thing I wanted to do was have a shunt or lose my front wing, so I was a bit cautious there.
"Webber passed me there as well, but I passed him back on the first lap, and after that I was behind Fisi and Trulli, and the pace wasn't there to make a move. So that was it. It was an incident free race, apart from a couple of little moments on the curbs, but nothing dramatic.
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"Fisi is always very good at Sepang, and my fastest lap time was half a tenth faster than his best. I just lost out at the start. I think with better luck through the first few corners I probably could have finished in his position. In any case, I was close to them all the time, giving it everything in difficult conditions, and I managed to cope reasonably well.
"I'm not totally satisfied, but it's been a difficult weekend for everyone, with engine problems and fuel pump problems, so to come out with a few points means everyone can be happy."
Typically, Kovalainen played down his achievement in beating Fisichella in qualifying.
"The pace was good, and it's always nice to be faster than you're teammate. We want to be higher up. If we are 11th and 12th I'm not going to go and tell everybody that I've beaten my teammate.
"We want to be somewhere near the top, and that's what everyone is focused on. I've told all the mechanics to keep their heads up and keep pushing, even if times are a little bit difficult right now. We have to fight through, and we'll come out stronger eventually."
