Heikki Kovalainen has admitted that he held back from charging for a maiden podium on Sunday because he feared crashing for a third time at the Canadian event.
While fellow rookie Lewis Hamilton raced to a flawless first experience to the sport this year, Finn Kovalainen has struggled with media criticism accusing him of making too many mistakes, struggling under pressure, and failing to live up to the reputation of his predecessor at Renault, world champion Fernando Alonso.
In the closing stages of the race in Montreal on Sunday, the 25-year-old found himself behind Williams’ Alex Wurz and at the wheel of a quicker car — with the final podium placing as the prize.
“I thought I could pass him,” Kovalainen admitted in his column for the BBC.
“To be honest, if I hadn’t had such a tough weekend I would’ve had a bigger go and taken more risks, but I didn’t want to risk a third crash of the weekend.”
He crashed twice through the practice and qualifying sessions, and lined up at the back of the grid following an engine blow-up.
Kovalainen said: “It was important for myself and the team to show that we could do a job and get some points when I had a good opportunity; that’s why I decided to be conservative rather than go for one extra point.”
