F1 - Kovalainen: I can't wait for Turkey

Heikki flew off track at turn nine on lap 35

Heikki Kovalainen says he is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of his McLaren again in Turkey next weekend following his violent crash in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Finn was lucky to escape without serious injury when his MP4-23 ploughed head-on into a tyre barrier at the 145mph turn nine after its left-front tyre deflated.

Kovalainen, who was briefly knocked out by the impact, was kept under observation in a Barcelona hospital overnight and resumed training back in his native Finland on Thursday.

He will have to pass a mandatory FIA medical check prior to the race at Istanbul Park before he gets the green light to race, and ahead of that says he feels fit to resume his season.

"I am feeling good, the stiffness in my neck has pretty much gone and I have been back training,” he said on Friday.

“I left Spain on Thursday and went back to Finland, where I have spent some time working with the team doctor at our facility there on ensuring I am fit for the race.

“Initially during the week we were doing some light training before starting on my full programme just before the weekend.

“Lewis will also be here over the weekend doing his training before the race.

“Next stage for me is the fitness test at the track in Turkey on Thursday with the FIA.

“I can’t wait to get back into the car and race with the team next weekend, but at the end of the day that decision is out of my hands, the FIA will make it based on safety grounds only."

Despite the horrific scale of the accident, Kovalainen insists he has no worries about getting back into an F1 car again.

"None whatsoever, I want to get back racing as soon as possible, since the accident at Barcelona it has been my only focus,” he said.

“Everyone involved in the sport, the FIA in particular, is always working on improving safety for the drivers, but Formula 1 is a risky business.

“You know that as a driver, but you don’t think about it. If you worry about things like that, you lose focus; I guess it is just not in my psyche."


Kovy was rushed to hospital but was released the day after

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh says the 26-year-old will undergo further checks in Finland prior to flying out to Turkey, where the team is confident he will be cleared to compete.

"Heikki is fighting fit,” he said.

“Our team doctor has kept an eye on him during the week both in Spain and then at the Kuortane Sports Institute in Finland and there has been no development of any secondary symptoms so everything is positive on that front.

“Before travelling to Istanbul, we will organise a full neurological examination for Heikki with our specialists in Finland as a matter of course.

“He will then have the mandatory FIA evaluation on Thursday at the circuit, which is a routine neuro and physiological test completed after any concussion.

“Of course we have a plan in place should the FIA request Heikki sits this race out, as at all grands prix, but we have a race driver who is naturally impatient to get back out there and this is the aim of the team.

“That said, we will fully respect the decision of the medical professionals, they are the specialists.”

Whitmarsh added that if cleared to race, Kovalainen would be using the spare chassis currently being prepared at its factory and that the crashed MP4-23 was still under investigation to establish the cause of the tyre deflation.

“On the car front, Heikki’s car from Spain was transferred back to the McLaren Technology Centre arriving lunchtime on the Monday following the race,” he said.

“Every part was immediately quarantined whilst the forensic analysis into the cause of the incident is completed.

“This is usual practice and some components may be salvaged in due course.

“In the meantime, the spare chassis that was in Spain is in the process of being built into a complete MP4-23, which Heikki will race, all being well, in Turkey.”

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