Heikki has often been compared to Mika Hakkinen, and in some ways has shown the qualities of the Flying Finn. After a brief stint at the Woking based McLaren-Mercedes, Heikki now steps out from under the shadow of Lewis Hamilton to join the new team, Lotus-Cosworth. With Mike Gascoyne spearheading the technical front of the team, Lotus looks to churn out a decent ride for the 2010 season. Heikki has always been blessed with a competitive ride, first with Renault and later with McLaren, but has always churned out mediocre results. The fact that with a ride as good as McLaren under his control, he couldn't register a single podium in the 2009 season, is a disturbing one indeed. Now that he has a new team backing him, Heikki will be looking to take off again.

Heikki started his career with karting before he moved to the British Formula Renault championship. Hopes were high since fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen had won the previous year before moving straight into Formula 1. Heikki's time in the junior categories was more conventional, but was remarkable in that he used Renault power at every step along the way. He finished fourth in the championship with two wins, two pole positions and three fastest laps, and earned the Rookie of the Year award.

Among his other achievements, Heikki competed in the 2004 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. He was the first non-rally driver to win the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and earn the "Champion of Champions” title when he beat World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb in the finals.

Heikki, along with Montagny and Jose Maria Lopez tested the Renault R23B F1 car in December 2003. Heikki had also tested for Minardi, but Renault made him second test driver alongside Montagny that year and he had stepped into the highest level of motor sport.

Heikki entered Formula 1 with the Renault, which had won the previous two championship seasons. It surely was an immense pressure to match up with a Championship winning driver in a Championship winning car. The rollercoaster ride with Renault ended in a 7th place finish with 30 points scattered through the season. The season was surely humdrum with just a single podium finish, 2nd in Japan. The season was unique in a way, as Heikki finished 16/17 races in his rookie season, becoming the only second driver to do so. Tiago Monterio was the only other driver to do so. If he would've finished all the races, he'd been the only driver in the history of F1 to do so.

The next season he exchanged his seats with Fernando Alonso, who switched back to Renault to vacate a seat at McLaren. For a young driver like Heikki it was the perfect opportunity to prove his mettle at McLaren. He was the fourth Finnish driver to race for McLaren, following Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.

In his debut race with McLaren, the Australian GP, he managed to finish in points, in fifth position behind Fernando Alonso. In the next race in Malaysia, Heikki pleased his fans with a podium finish. The next few races were not strong finishes, but thankfully he managed to score some points in most of them. Hungary GP, 2008 was a milestone moment for Heikki, when he went on to win from second position in qualifying. Massa suffered an engine failure with three laps to go, which gift-wrapped the victory for Heikki! In Italy, Heikki managed to finish second, only to finish the season with a couple of points from Brazil. His tally of 53 points bagged him the 7th position on the Drivers Championship Standings. The season was more of a learning lesson, and McLaren hoped that he'd be more than race-ready for his next season.

In his second season with McLaren, Heikki Kovalainen fizzled out faster than he expected. With more retirements in one season than his previous two combined, he'd want to forget 2009 season and relegate it to a bad memories section! The season was devoid of podiums and strong finishes. He could only manage to bag fourth in the European GP, disappointing Finn fans who love their racers tremendously. Finishing the season with lowly 22 points could only manage to bring home the 12th position on the Drivers Championship Standings.

After losing his seat to Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen now moved to Lotus-Cosworth. He surely hoped to move up from his mediocre performances and prove his position on the grid. But 2010 was in regards to points his worst season ever for Heikki as he failed to claim a single point.

Will 2011 be similar to 2010? Or will he be able to grow out of his mediocre performances? Only time will tell.