LONDON, Sept 6 - Heikki Kovalainen landed his dream drive on Wednesday
as replacement for Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso at Renault next
season.
While the team's announcement came as no surprise, with the 24-year-old
Finnish rookie graduating from the test driver role he has carried out all year,
he still has some big shoes to fill.
Not since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve arrived at former champions Williams at
the same age in 1996 has a driver with no previous Formula One race experience
been given such a golden opportunity.
Villeneuve, world champion in 1997, at least had a considerable reputation as
winner of the CART title and the Indy 500 in America before he crossed the
Atlantic in his late father Gilles' footsteps.
When Alonso was handed the race seat at Renault in 2003, after a year as test
driver and a previous season learning the ropes at tail-enders Minardi, the
French team were still a long way from being champions.
The Spaniard's first victory in Hungary in 2003 was also Renault's first
since they bought Benetton and returned as a full constructor in 2002.
Kovalainen steps up as partner to experienced Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in
a team that won both titles last year and could win both again this season.
UNDAUNTED
But the Finn said on Wednesday he was not daunted by the prospect.
"I think next year is a new start for me. There will be high expectations
straight away, but I will not look at it as extra pressure," he said in an
interview conducted by the team.
"I will be aiming to tick off my goals one by one: to finish my first race,
hopefully to do it in the points and to improve all year.
"We should have a car capable of bringing good results, and I need to deliver
them. But I will be starting the job in a calm, easy frame of mind."
Kovalainen was runner-up last season in the feeder GP2 series to Germany's
Nico Rosberg, son of Finland's first world champion Keke, who is now racing for
Williams and is also confirmed for next year.
A Renault development driver since 2002, the Finn won the World Series by
Nissan title in 2004 as well as beating Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Citroen
rally ace Sebastien Loeb in a 'Race of Champions' in Paris that same year.
"I am sure I will have a few butterflies in my stomach," said Kovalainen of
the prospect of lining up on the starting grid for the first time in Melbourne
next year.
"In reality, though, I will be going back to what I have done all my life,
which is racing.
"This year has been the unusual one, not being out on the track competing. So
on the grid, I'm going to be thinking about getting a good start, finding the
braking point for Turn One, and going from there.
"It will just be one race in the calendar, and if I do my normal job then I
should have a good result."
