Heikki Kovalainen would be in a better position to secure a seat at Caterham for a fourth season, if he had shown greater respect toward the team. That is the view of chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne.
The Finnish driver looks unlikely to land a seat with any of the 11 teams on the grid in 2013, bringing an end to his six consecutive seasons in the sport.
Kovalainen says he was surprised not to have secured a seat with a more competitive team after impressing at Caterham.
“It was slightly surprising, I thought after last season and the last couple of years I thought I’d be in a better position on the market,” he told Autosport.
Meanwhile, Gascoyne says Kovalainen’s eagerness to leave Caterham for a ‘top team’ and his unwillingness to raise funds to aid the team, hasn’t done him any favours with the bosses.
“It is actually a great shame,” he told Crash.net. “Heikki is a very talented driver but, last year, his management did not handle him very well and he has not done himself any favours.
“It is a tough environment out there for everyone. He has had three years with Caterham, was paid well, and he should have shown more respect about that.”
Caterham is yet to announce its second driver following confirmation that Charles Pic will race for them. It’s believed Vitaly Petrov and Giedo van der Garde are the prime candidates for the second seat.
