Zoom A new season, a new challenge for Kovalainen

A year ago Heikki Kovalainen was about to embark on his debut season with Renault. After a solid second half of the season, the young Finn has joined McLaren Mercedes where he lines up alongside Lewis Hamilton...

What are your aims for the 2008 Formula 1 season?
"Of course joining a very ambitious team I have to be aiming for a competitive season and to be able to fight for a good position in the Championship. However the priority for me in the build up to the season is to get to know the team and understand how they work. The aim is to get to Melbourne and when the lights go off be as prepared as I can be, so that at the end of the race, whatever the result, we are able to say that there wasn’t anything more that we could have done better. So my main aim is to prepare and then from there start to improve and score as many points as I can."

There will be two new circuits in Valencia and Singapore – both street circuits – are you looking forward to racing on these and visiting new cities?
"Yes absolutely. I have been in Valencia before obviously with Formula 1 testing, but the street circuit will be a welcome addition to the calendar. I am sure it will be exciting as they are always challenging. In Singapore it should be interesting especially with it being a night race. It will be something that we have never done before and both circuits should be good experiences. "

2008 will see the inclusion of a night race in Singapore for the first time – what are your thoughts on this?
"It’s a good thing to do as long as everything is safe and the lights are very good, Formula 1 is quite different to football and it will have a much bigger effect if a light fails. Obviously they have people working on that side of things, so as long as they can guarantee it all, it should be a very good thing for Formula 1. Also with the race being later we might be able to sleep a little longer."

You get to travel to some amazing places during the Formula 1 season, do you get to see much of the places you stay in?
"I usually fly back home on the Sunday night so it is very difficult to see anything anywhere. Having said that some of the flyaways are very interesting places, many which I have never been to before with different cultures like China and Malaysia. However I have no time for sightseeing so it doesn’t make too much of a difference where we are."