Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was prohibited. They had the power to veto actions taken by magistrates, and specifically to intervene legally on behalf of plebeians. The tribune could also summon the Senate and lay proposals before it. The tribune's power, however, was only in effect while he was within Rome. His ability to veto did not affect regional governors. Because it was legally impossible for a patrician to be a tribune of the plebeians, the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, was offered instead all of the powers of the tribunate without actually holding the office (''tribunicia potestas''). This formed one of the two main constitutional bases of Augustus' authority (the other was ''imperium proconsulare maius''). It gave him the authority to convene the Senate. Also, he was sacrosanct, had the authority to veto (''ius intercessionis''), and could exercise capital punishment in the course of the performance of his duties. Most emperors' reigns were dated by their assumption of ''tribunicia potestas'', though some emperors, such as Tiberius, Titus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius had already received it during their predecessor's reign. Marcus Agrippa and Drusus II, though never emperors, also received ''tribunicia potestas''. By extension from the technical Roman governmental usage, some modern politicians have been called "tribunes of the people."

Plebeian Tribune

In 494 BC, the city was at war, but the Plebeian soldiers refused to march against the enemy, and instead seceded to the Aventine hill. The Patricians quickly became desperate to end what was, in effect, a labor strike, and thus they quickly agreed to the demands of the Plebeians, that they be given the right to elect their own officials. The Plebeians named these new officials Plebeian Tribunes (''tribuni plebis''), and gave them two assistants, the Plebeian Aediles (''aediles plebi'').

Since the Plebeian Tribunes and Plebeian Aediles were elected by the Plebeians (non-aristocrats that owned land) in the Plebeian Council, rather than by all of the People of Rome (Plebeians, the Patrician nobility, and the ''capite censi'', landless commoners), they were technically not "magistrates". While the term "Plebeian Magistrate" (''magistratus plebeii'') has been used as an approximation, it is technically a contradiction. The Plebeian Aedile functioned as the Tribune's assistant, and often performed similar duties to those of the Curule Aediles. In time, however, the differences between the Plebeian Aediles and the Curule Aediles disappeared.

Since the Tribunes were considered to be the embodiment of the Plebeians, they were sacrosanct. Their sacrosanctity was enforced by a pledge, taken by the Plebeians, to kill any person who harmed or interfered with a Tribune during his term of office. All of the powers of the Tribune derived from their sacrosanctity. One obvious consequence of this sacrosanctity was the fact that it was considered a capital offense to harm a Tribune, to disregard his veto, or to interfere with a Tribune. The sacrosanctity of a Tribune (and thus all of his legal powers) were only in effect so long as that Tribune was within the city of Rome. If the Tribune was abroad, the Plebeians in Rome could not enforce their oath to kill any individual who harmed or interfered with the Tribune. Since Tribunes were technically not magistrates, they had no magisterial powers ("major powers" or ''maior potestas''), and thus could not rely on such powers to veto. Instead, they relied on the sacrosanctity of their person to obstruct. If a magistrate, an assembly or the senate did not comply with the orders of a Tribune, the Tribune could 'interpose the sacrosanctity of his person' (''intercessio'') to physically stop that particular action. Any resistance against the Tribune was tantamount to a violation of his sacrosanctity, and thus was considered a capital offense. Their lack of magisterial powers made them independent of all other magistrates, which also meant that no magistrate could veto a Tribune.

Tribunes could use their sacrosanctity to order the use of capital punishment against any person who interfered with their duties. Tribunes could also use their sacrosanctity as protection when physically manhandling an individual, such as when arresting someone. On a couple of rare occasions (such as during the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus), a Tribune might use a form of blanket obstruction, which could involve a broad veto over all governmental functions. While a Tribune could veto any act of the senate, the assemblies, or the magistrates, he could only veto the act, and not the actual measure. Therefore, he had to physically be present when the act was occurring. As soon as that Tribune was no longer present, the act could be completed as if there had never been a veto.

Tribunes, the only true representatives of the people, had the authority to enforce the right of ''provoco ad populum'', which was a theoretical guarantee of due process, and a precursor to the common law concept of habeas corpus. If a magistrate was threatening to take action against a citizen, that citizen could yell "''ego te provoco''!", which would appeal the magistrate's decision to a Tribune. A Tribune had to assess the situation, and give the magistrate his approval before the magistrate could carry out the action. Sometimes the Tribune brought the case before the College of Tribunes or the Plebeian Council for a trial. Any action taken in spite of a valid ''provocatio'' was on its face illegal. In this capacity, the Tribune was the principal, and often the only, guarantor of the civil liberties of Roman citizens against arbitrary state power. The degree of liberty afforded to Roman citizens by the Tribune through the power of Provocatio was unmatched in the ancient world.

Tribunes were required to be plebeians, and until 421 BC this was the only office open to them. In the late Republic the patrician politician Clodius arranged for his adoption by a plebeian branch of his family, and successfully ran for the tribunate. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla was dictator he severely curtailed the tribunes of the plebeians by invalidating their power of veto and making it illegal for them to bring laws before the ''Concilium Plebis'' without the Senate's consent. Afterwards, the tribune was restored to its former power during the consulship of Crassus and Pompey.

Throughout the Republic and its fall, powerful individuals used the tribunes for their personal glory and gain. Clodius and Milo were both tribunes who used violence in the courts and government in order to achieve the needs and requests of Pompey and Caesar. When the Senate refused to grant Caesar's veterans lands and a further governorship of Gaul, he turned to the tribunes with his demands and got them.

Roman military officers

===Tribune of the soldiers=== Each year the ''Tribal Assembly'' elected 24 young men in their late twenties with senatorial ambitions to serve as ''Tribunes of the Soldiers'' ''(tribunes militium)''. These 24 were distributed six to each of the consuls' four legions as the legions' commanding officers.

All middle-ranking officers of the legions were also titled tribunes, though they were unelected and junior to the ''tribunum militi.'' Messala, the villain in the 1880 novel Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace and its 1959 film, was a military tribune.

Tribune of the Celeres

The Tribune of the Celeres (''tribunus celerum'') was the commander of the personal bodyguard of the Roman King, the "Celeres", during the days of the Roman Kingdom. While the three original curia (Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres) were each headed by a Tribune, the Tribune of the Celeres did not lead any such curia. Rather, he was second in rank to the Roman King, could pass laws (''lex tribunicia''), and could theoretically preside over the Curiate Assembly in an attempt to deprive the king of his constitutional powers (his imperium), and thus his office. Occasionally, during a war, the Roman King might take command of the infantry, but delegate command of the cavalry to the Tribune of the Celeres. In this respect, the arrangement was revived after the fall of the monarchy, and during the years of the Roman Republic, between the Roman Dictator ("Master of the Infantry") and his Master of the Horse ("Master of the Cavalry").

Cohort commander

''Tribunus Cohortis:'' commander of military unit.

''Tribunus Cohortis Urbanae:'' urban cohort commander.

Tribune of the treasury

The duties of the tribunes of the treasury ''(tribuni aerarii)'' are somewhat shrouded in mystery. Originally they seem to have been tax collectors, but this power was slowly lost to other officials. By the end of the Republic it was a class of people slightly below the equites in wealth. In 70 BC the makeup of Roman juries was reformed, and 1/3 of all members were to be tribunes of the treasury.

Various offices

Tribunal: a raised platform in front of the HQ used for addressing the troops or administering justice.

: ''Tribunus'': senior officer. In the late Roman army, alternatively called a ''comes'', he was a commander of a cavalry regiment. The title survived in the East Roman army until the early 7th century, hellenized as ''tribounos''. : ''Tribunus angusticlavius'': "narrow-striped officer"; equestrian legionary officer, five to each legion. : ''Tribunus comitiatus'': officer elected as ''tribunus militum'' by the comitia. : ''Tribunus laticlavius'': "broad-striped officer"; senatorial legionary officer, second in command of a legion. : ''Tribunus militum'': senior legionary officer. : ''Tribunus militum a populo'': senior legionary officer appointed by popular assembly. : ''Tribunus rufulus'': officer picked by the commander. : ''Tribunus sexmestris'': tribune serving a tour of duty of only six months; note that there is absolutely no evidence at all to identify this officer as commander of the legionary cavalry as sometimes stated in modern literature. : ''Tribunus vacans'': Late Roman unassigned tribune; staff officer.

French revolutionary ''tribunat''

The "Tribunat", the French word for tribunate, derived from the Latin term ''tribunatus'', meaning the office or term of a Roman ''tribunus'' (see above), was a collective organ of the young revolutionary French Republic composed of members styled ''tribun'' (the French for tribune), which, despite the apparent reference to one of ancient Rome's prestigious magistratures, never held any real political power as an assembly, its individual members no role at all.

It was instituted by Napoleon I Bonaparte's Constitution of the Year VIII "in order to moderate the other powers" by discussing every legislative project, sending its ''orateurs'' ("orators", i.e. spokesmen) to defend or attack them in the Corps législatif, and asking the Senate to overturn "the lists of eligibles, the acts of the Legislative Body and those of the government" on account of unconstitutionality. Its 100 members were designated by the Senate from the list of citizens from 25 years up, and annually one fifth was renewed for a five-year term.

When it opposed the first parts of Bonaparte's proposed penal code, he made the Senate nominate 20 new members at once to replace the 20 first opponents to his politic; they accepted the historically important reform of penal law. As the Tribunate opposed new despotic projects, he got the Senate in year X to allow itself to dissolve the Tribunat. In XIII it was further downsized to 50 members. On August 16, 1807 it was abolished and never revived.

See also

Constitution of the Roman Republic

References

Notes

Sources

Bibliography

''Nouveau Larousse illustré'' (Encyclopaedia in French; undated, early 20th century)

''Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History'', Christopher S. Mackay, p. 135 for information on Tribunes of the Treasury

External links

The Use of the Tribunate for Reforms

Livius.org: Tribune

Category:Ancient Roman titles

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name	Heikki Kovalainen
nationality	Finnish
birth date	October 19, 1981
2011 car number	20
2011 team	Lotus-Renault
races	83 (82 starts)
championships	0
wins	1
podiums	4
points	105
poles	1
fastest laps	2
first race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
first win	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix
last win	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	20th (0 pts) }}

Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (born October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Finland) is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with the Lotus Racing team.

He was supported by the Renault Driver Development programme early in his racing career, during which he won the World Series by Nissan championship and finished runner-up in the GP2 series. Renault signed him on as a full-time Formula One test driver for , and then promoted him to a race seat for . He gained his first podium by finishing second in the Japanese Grand Prix.

He moved to McLaren for the season, where he partnered Lewis Hamilton. His second season saw him achieve his first pole position at Silverstone and his first victory at Hungaroring, becoming the 100th driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. He remained with the team for the season. In , he moved to Lotus Racing.

Early career

Karting (1991–2000)

Kovalainen's career began in kart racing, much like that of many other Formula One drivers. He competed in karting from 1991 to 2000, during which time he finished runner-up in the Finnish Formula A championship in 1999 and 2000. In 2000 he won the Nordic championship and the Paris-Bercy Elf Masters event, as well as finished third in the World Formula Super A Championship, leading him to be elected as the Finnish Kart Driver of the Year.

Formula Renault (2001)

Kovalainen began his car racing career in the British Formula Renault Championship, which fellow Finn Kimi Räikkönen had won in 2000 before moving straight into Formula One with Sauber. Kovalainen's apprenticeship in the junior categories of motor sport was more conventional, but he used Renault power at every step along the way. He finished fourth in the championship with two wins, two pole positions, five podiums and three fastest laps, earning the Rookie of the Year award. He also took part in the Formula Three Macau Grand Prix, where he finished eighth.

Formula Three (2002)

Kovalainen attracted the support of the Renault Driver Development programme and in 2002 moved up to the British Formula Three Championship with Fortec Motorsport who used Renault engines. He became one of the most competitive drivers on the grid by the second half of the season and all five of his wins came in the final nine races. With three pole positions and three fastest laps, Kovalainen finished third overall in the championship behind Robbie Kerr and James Courtney and he was again Rookie of the Year.

He also demonstrated strong form in the international non-championship rounds, with second place in Macau and fourth place at the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.

World Series by Nissan (2003–2004)

Kovalainen moved into the Renault-owned World Series by Nissan in 2003 – but faced a tough team mate at the Gabord team in Franck Montagny. Montagny had already spent two seasons in the World Series and had won the championship in 2001. Montagny won the 2003 title with nine wins to Kovalainen's one. Kovalainen continued in the series in 2004, but moved to Pons Racing, where he won the championship ahead of Tiago Monteiro, with 192 points and six wins.

With Kimi Räikkönen finishing seventh in Formula One and Marcus Grönholm fifth in the World Rally Championship, Kovalainen was awarded as the Finnish Driver of the Year.

Race of Champions

Kovalainen competed in the 2004 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. In the first two rounds he defeated Formula One drivers David Coulthard and Jean Alesi, and then Ferrari Formula One star Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari 360 Modena in the semi-finals. He then beat World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb in the finals using the Ferrari and a Peugeot 307 WRC car, although Kovalainen had never even sat in a rally car before, to become the first non-rally driver to win the ''Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy'' and earn the title "Champion of Champions". He also participated in the Nations Cup alongside countryman Marcus Grönholm, but they finished in second place after Kovalainen's Ferrari 360 Modena broke down in the finals, losing to the French team of Loeb and Alesi.

He returned to the Race of Champions in 2005, defeating Bernd Schneider and Felipe Massa, but was then knocked out in the semi-finals by Tom Kristensen. Kovalainen won the Nations Cup with Grönholm in 2006, but was eliminated in the individual event at the semi-final stage by Mattias Ekström by a mere 0.0002 seconds. In 2007, Kovalainen and Grönholm again made the Nations Cup final, where they lost to the German team of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Kovalainen beat Vettel in the individual race, before crashing on the finish line in the next round against Andy Priaulx. He crossed the line out of control, and Priaulx pipped him.

Kovalainen returned to the event in 2010, where he withdrew after suffering concussion in a crash after a heat race against Sébastien Loeb.

GP2 Series (2005)

In 2005, Kovalainen entered the GP2 Series, the new 'feeder' series for F1 and the successor to Formula 3000. Driving for the Arden International team, Kovalainen began the season with strong results by winning the first round of the championship in Imola and then finishing third in the sprint race. In Barcelona he scored his third consecutive podium, but in the sprint race his car stalled on the grid. He dominated the race in Monaco by claiming pole position, leading the race for the first 21 laps and clocking the fastest lap of the race. Problems during his pitstop, however, dropped him down to fifth. At the Nürburgring he gave his best performance yet, by winning the race from 17th on the grid. In the sprint race José María López caused a collision which forced Kovalainen to retire. At Magny-Cours he won again from fourth on the grid, and came third in the sprint race.

At this point in the season, however, a resurgent Nico Rosberg with his ART Grand Prix team seemed to find more speed and began scoring victories, emerging as Kovalainen's main rival for the championship. Kovalainen and Arden fought back, scoring podiums and points positions in Silverstone, Hockenheim and Hungaroring, but were unable to find the necessary speed to beat Rosberg. In Istanbul's feature race Kovalainen finished tenth due to engine problems, but in the sprint race held in wet conditions he returned to his winning ways. At Monza Arden were fast again, and Kovalainen snatched his second pole of the season and won the feature race. In the sprint race he could only manage fifth position, however, and this meant that with four races left in the season, Kovalainen was leading Rosberg by only four points.

After a chaotic weekend at Spa affected by rain and Safety Cars, Rosberg took the lead from Kovalainen. In the final two rounds in Bahrain, Rosberg and ART seemed to be unmatched again, and he secured the championship by winning the feature race with Kovalainen finishing third. Retiring from the last sprint race, Kovalainen finished runner-up in the series, 15 points adrift.

Formula One

Renault (2004–2007)

2004–2006

Kovalainen, Franck Montagny and José María López tested the Renault R23B F1 car at Barcelona in December 2003. Kovalainen also tested for Minardi, but Renault made him second test driver alongside Montagny for .

Kovalainen was promoted in Montagny's place at the end of and spent the season in a full-time testing role, logging over 28,000 km of testing.

Renault's lead driver Fernando Alonso had signed for McLaren for the season, and Renault elected to promote Kovalainen in his place, which they confirmed on September 6, 2006. Team boss Flavio Briatore said: "With Kovalainen, I hope to find the anti-Alonso."

2007

Kovalainen made his race debut at the . His season got off to a rough start; he made several mistakes during the race, finishing tenth. Flavio Briatore felt it was a disappointing debut for the young Finn and hoped the real Kovalainen would show up next time.

Kovalainen scored his first World Championship point in his second Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, and followed this with a ninth place in Bahrain. He then secured seventh place in Barcelona, outperforming team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, but finished down the order in Monaco, finishing 13th.

In Canada he made mistakes throughout practice, including one at the exit of turn 7, and hit the barrier. He crashed at the first chicane in qualifying, and damaged his rear wing significantly, and failed to make it through to the second qualifying session. In the race he made progress early on, and then halted. He had luck with the strategy and the Safety Car, and a podium was within his grasp, but he could not find a way past Alexander Wurz of Williams, who had also started towards the rear of the pack. Kovalainen was pulling away from the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen in the closing stages, which was a real confidence booster for the team.

In the at Indianapolis he qualified in sixth position, and a good start saw him go past Räikkönen into fifth place. He held Räikkönen off, and led the race at the end of his first stint when the cars ahead of him made their pit stops. He re-joined behind Räikkönen and looked comfortable in sixth place until Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber broke down in front of him, and thus, Kovalainen finished fifth, while team-mate Fisichella failed to score points.

The second half of the European season failed to produce equally strong results, but it did keep the points tally ticking over. During the at Magny-Cours, he was battling with Fisichella until the sharp Adelaide hairpin, when Jarno Trulli's Toyota made an optimistic lunge up the inside of Kovalainen which wrecked both drivers' races. Kovalainen had to pit for repairs and eventually finished 15th. Seventh place at the was no disaster, with Fisichella finishing behind him.

Kovalainen scored a point at both the Nürburgring and the Hungaroring, and scored three more in Turkey, with Kovalainen coming ahead of Robert Kubica. Kovalainen again led the Grand Prix when cars ahead of him made their pit stops. Seventh place at Monza was a fair result. The team took a gamble in the next race at Spa-Francorchamps, with Kovalainen on a one-stop strategy while his challengers for the rear end of the points were all on two-stop strategies, which included the BMW's of Heidfeld and Kubica (who was docked ten places down the grid due to an engine change), Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber. A good start from Kovalainen saw him become a mobile chicane for all of them except Webber. The gamble did not pay off, although Kovalainen held off Kubica in the closing stages to secure the final points position. Better was to come at the at Fuji Speedway, where, despite not making it through to the final qualifying session, Kovalainen raced well. While most of his rivals got into trouble one way or another in the hazardous wet conditions, Kovalainen did not and held off Kimi Räikkönen in the closing laps to take second place and his first podium in Formula One.

After finishing ninth in the , Kovalainen made a mistake in qualifying in Brazil and was left 17th on the grid. At the start of the race his team-mate Fisichella was involved in a collision with Sakon Yamamoto, which in turn caused Ralf Schumacher to collide with Kovalainen, forcing him to pit. On lap 36 he felt a vibration at the left rear, and suddenly the back end of the car snapped, launching Kovalainen into the barriers. The retirement, possibly caused by damage from the collision with Schumacher, was his first of the season, meaning he lost the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of becoming the first driver to finish all of the races in his first season. As it stands, he shares the record for most consecutive finishes from start of career with Tiago Monteiro, both having finished 16 races.

McLaren (2008–2009)

At the end of the 2007 season Fernando Alonso returned to Renault, and Kovalainen was left with offers from Toyota and McLaren. On 14 December 2007 it was confirmed that Kovalainen would replace Alonso once again and drive for McLaren Mercedes in , alongside Lewis Hamilton. Kovalainen joined Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen as Finnish drivers that have driven for McLaren.

2008

After his first official testing session occurred on 9 January 2008 at Jerez, Kovalainen made his McLaren race début at the , where he was quickest in the first qualifying session and started third on the grid behind Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica. He overtook Fernando Alonso on the final lap, but then accidentally hit the pit lane limiter granting fourth place to Alonso, himself finishing fifth, but Kovalainen did set the fastest lap of the race.

In Malaysia he was penalised five places for blocking Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber in the latter stages of qualifying, dropping to eighth. Kovalainen finished the race third as Hamilton faced problems in the pits, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa retired due to a spin. In Bahrain he flatspotted a tyre on the first lap and was consequently well off the pace of the Ferraris and the BMW Saubers. Towards the end he improved and recorded the fastest lap of the race again, coming home fifth.

At the , Kovalainen had just taken the lead, when his front-left tyre suddenly deflated and his car crashed into the tyre wall on lap 22. Kovalainen's car was almost completely buried under the tyres. The Safety Car was deployed for six laps as the debris was removed, and he was finally removed from the car and placed on a stretcher, at which point he gave a "thumbs-up". He was then taken by helicopter to a Barcelona area hospital for further tests. His final condition was a minor concussion, whilst also complaining of a sore elbow and neck. Kovalainen apparently did not lose consciousness at any point, according to the people who assisted him at the scene, but he himself had no memory of the accident nor of giving the "thumbs-up". The first thing he remembered was waking up at the hospital and the team doctor telling him what had happened. Kovalainen was released from the hospital two days later and he was able to race in Turkey. The cause of the accident was later determined to have been a production error on the wheel rim.

In the , evidence of the different driving styles used by the two McLaren drivers became apparent. Hamilton's more aggressive driving style meant that he had to adopt a three-stop strategy for the race due to concerns over his tyres' durability at Istanbul Park, while Kovalainen was able to use a two-stop strategy. Kovalainen qualified in second place, but suffered a puncture during a fight with Kimi Räikkönen in the first corner and dropped back to finish the race in 12th place.

More disappointment was to follow in Monaco when a software glitch stalled his car on the grid. He was able to start from the pitlane after the mechanics changed his steering wheel, and he made his way up to score a point for eighth place. In Montreal, Kovalainen experienced difficulties with his tyres, as they seemed to degrade much more rapidly than Hamilton's, and the team was forced to tell him to take it easy in order to avoid a puncture. He finished ninth, and later described his race as a total catastrophe, suspecting the tyre issues had something to do with his driving style. At the Kovalainen started tenth on the grid, after being docked five places for blocking Mark Webber in qualifying, and finished the race in fourth.

At Silverstone, Kovalainen achieved his first pole position, and led the race for the first four laps, before Hamilton passed him at Stowe. Despite two spins due to losing grip on the wet circuit, Kovalainen finished fifth. After the race Kovalainen reported similar tyre problems that he suffered in Canada; after a few laps the rear tyres were completely degraded and had lost their grip.

At the Kovalainen finished fifth. In the week leading up to the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren confirmed that Kovalainen would remain with the team for . He won his first race at Hungary and became the 100th driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix after race leader Felipe Massa retired due to an engine failure with three laps remaining. After the race Kovalainen commented: "In previous races my driving was too hard on the tyres. For this race we made somewhat radical changes to the set-up, and they were definitely a step in the right direction." He finished the following race in Valencia in fourth position, which moved him into the top five in the championship.

In September Kovalainen elaborated on the tyre issues for Autosport. The problem seemed to be indeed caused by his different driving style compared to Hamilton, particularly the way he enters corners, uses brakes differently and then accelerates. Hamilton turns the car in a shorter time whereas Kovalainen is trying to make the corners more round, inadvertently causing more wear on the tyres. They had made progress by adapting the car and working on his driving style.

In Belgium he qualified third, but lost eight places at the start. On lap ten he collided with Mark Webber and was given a drive-through penalty, which dropped him to fifteenth place. He worked his way back up to seventh, but on the final lap had to retire due to a gearbox failure, which left him outside the points. At the he qualified second behind Sebastian Vettel in the tricky wet conditions. In the race Kovalainen developed brake temperature problems, however, and could not match Vettel's pace, finishing in second place, but was disappointed at the lost chance for a win.

In Singapore, Kovalainen qualified fifth, and tried to overtake Kubica for fourth place at the start of the race, but they made contact at Turn 3, causing Kovalainen to lose two places to Glock and Vettel. During a Safety Car period, both McLarens pitted at the same time and Kovalainen had to queue up behind Hamilton, dropping him down the order to 14th. He ultimately finished tenth.

Prior to the Kovalainen discussed his driving style and the tyre problems in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, feeling they had now solved the issues. He explained his driving style was now very close to Hamilton's, as well as his car set-up. Hamilton's aggressive driving style seemed to work the best with the McLaren MP4-23, allowing the tyres to last longer. Hamilton hits the brakes harder and turns the car more quickly into the corner, while Kovalainen's softer driving style would be to drive with a longer curve into the corner, going easier on the brakes and accelerating halfway through the corner. Since the McLaren was harder on the tyres than the Renault and the Bridgestones were not quite as robust as the Michelins, that driving style now led to excessive tyre degradation. In Japan Kovalainen qualified third behind Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen. During the initial tussle between Hamilton and Räikkönen, Kovalainen was pushed off the track along with several other cars. Kovalainen was running in third when on lap 17 his car suffered an engine failure.

At the on his 27th birthday, he qualified in fifth position despite leading the timesheets in the initial part of third qualifying. In the race, Kovalainen's first set of front tyres had been marked incorrectly, so the left tyre was installed on the right-hand side of the car and vice versa, meaning the tyres were spinning in the wrong direction, causing understeer. He reported the understeer on the radio, and during his first pit stop the mechanics tried to improve the situation by raising the front-wing angle. Now that he also had correctly marked tyres, however, meant that the front-wing was now causing oversteer and making the front of the car heavier. This possibly caused the puncture to his front right tyre on lap 35, forcing him to pit and drop down to 17th, before he finally retired on lap 49 due to a hydraulics problem.

Going into the , Kovalainen qualified fifth on the grid, leading many to believe that the McLarens were fuelled heavier than the other frontrunners, having set the pace earlier in the weekend. Kovalainen eventually finished seventh.

2009

At the start of the season McLaren were struggling for pace. Both Kovalainen and Hamilton failed to get into the top ten in qualifying for the first two races.

In the , Kovalainen retired due to a collision with Mark Webber in the first corner and in Malaysia he spun off on the first lap while fighting for position with Hamilton and Massa. In China he scored his first points of the season by finishing fifth. He ended the season with 22 points having had five retirements, this left him in 12th position in the championship. On 18 November it was announced that recently crowned world champion Jenson Button had been signed on a multi year deal as Hamilton's team mate leaving Kovalainen without a 2010 F1 drive.

Lotus (2010–)

2010

It was announced on 14 December 2009, that Kovalainen would drive for Lotus Racing in 2010 along with Jarno Trulli. The team made their debut at the on 14 March 2010. The car was off the pace in pre-season testing, due to a lack of downforce caused by the need for a conservative initial design. Kovalainen finished in fifteenth position in the race, two laps down on winner Fernando Alonso.

In Australia, Trulli did not start the race and Kovalainen finished 13th. In Malaysia, Kovalainen retired with 10 laps to go, and followed this up with fourteenth in China, while in Spain Kovalainen failed to start with gearbox problems. He retired in Monaco with steering problems, and in Turkey with hydraulic problems. Kovalainen finished 16th in Canada, 2 laps down.

At Valencia on lap 9 Mark Webber's Red Bull hit Kovalainen's Lotus and went over the top, before landing and skidding into the barrier. Kovalainen recovered to the pits but retired from the race. A 17th place finish at Silverstone and a fourteenth in Hungary sandwiched his fourth retirement of the season in Germany, due to damage caused by a collision with Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa. He retired yet again at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix after his car caught fire in the final lap, although his decision to not go into the pit lane and instead stop at the side of the track and tackle the blaze himself was met with applause from the crowd.

2011

Kovalainen remained with Lotus in . At the season-opening , he was forced to retire after a water leak, before recording his first finish of the season in Malaysia where he finished 15th, before a 16th place finish in China. He finished 19th in Turkey and crashed out in Spain, having started from 15th on the grid, outqualifying the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil. He finished 14th in Monaco and 19th at the , with further retirements in Canada and Great Britain.

Personal life

Kovalainen has a British girlfriend Catherine Hyde who studies sport psychology. They planned to marry on October 10, 2010.

Racing record

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
2001	align=left		13	2	2	3	5	243	4th
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	8th
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	25th
2002	align=left		26	5	2	3	12	257
	1	0	0	0	1	N/A
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	14th
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
! 2003	align=left		18	1	3	1	4	134
! 2004	align=left		18	6	10	8	11	176
! 2005	align=left		23	5	2	1	12	105
! 2006	align=left	align=left
! 2007	align=left	align=left	17	0	0	0	1	30	7th
! 2008	align=left	align=left	18	1	1	2	3	53	7th
! 2009	align=left	align=left	17	0	0	0	0	22	12th
! 2010	align=left		19	0	0	0	0	0	20th
! 2011	align=left	align=left	12	0	0	0	0	0*	24th*

Season in progress.

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

! DC

! Points

! Arden International

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Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

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! 17

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! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

!

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! 7th

! 30

ING Group

! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

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! 7th

! 30

McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-23>MP4-23

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! 7th

! 53

Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

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! 7th

! 53

McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-24>MP4-24

!

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! 12th

! 22

! [[Lotus Racing">Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines

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! 12th

! 22

! [[Lotus Racing

! Lotus Racing

CA2010 2.4 V8 engine>V8

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! 20th

! 0

Lotus Racing>Team Lotus

! Lotus T128

!

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! 24th*

! 0*

Season in progress.

References

External links

Heikki Kovalainen's Official Website

Heikki Kovalainen on [[Twitter">Renault F1

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References

External links

Heikki Kovalainen's Official Website

Heikki Kovalainen on [[Twitter

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:People from Suomussalmi Category:Finnish racecar drivers Category:Finnish Formula One drivers Category:Renault Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:GP2 Series drivers Category:British Formula Three Championship drivers Category:British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers

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