Heikki Kovalainen has revealed that he had other options after leaving McLaren, but chose to join new team Caterham over a mid-field outfit.
The Finnish driver failed to impress at McLaren and struggled to keep up with team-mate Lewis Hamilton. After two seasons he left and joined start-up Lotus Racing (now known as Caterham), where he has regained his confidence.
Whilst he admits he had offers from ‘middle of the pack’ teams, he believes his decision to join Caterham was the right one.
“I had other options, but not with any big teams, teams that were in the middle of the pack,” he told TotalRace. “I didn’t see any great opportunity and so I preferred to go with a brand new team.
“It was a risky move, but I don’t see how I’d be in a much better situation had I chosen a mid-field team.”
It’s clear Kovalainen has impressed at Caterham – often progressing through to Q2 on merit alone. When probed on whether a similar move for the struggling Felipe Massa could also benefit him and help him to rediscover his racing form, the Finn responded: “I chose to restart from scratch, changing many things – my routine, my training, everything basically,” he said. “For me, choosing to start with a new team made me a better person, a better driver. Maybe Felipe’s situation is different to mine, I don’t know if my plan would work well for him.”
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