Heikki Kovalainen is looking for Caterham to move into the midfield, according to his new management company.

Having handled his own career in the wake of Flavio Briatore’s demise, Finn Kovalainen recently signed up with IMG, the sports and entertainment management giant.

The 30-year-old has rebuilt his reputation since 2010 in the wake of mixed tenures for top teams Renault and McLaren.

According to IMG Motorsport’s head of clients Martin Anayi, Kovalainen is now regarded by formula one team bosses up and down pitlane as among the top best drivers.

“He is a great guy,” Anayi is quoted by Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“Heikki’s potential is obvious and he definitely wants to succeed.”

There have been rumblings in the paddock that Kovalainen is disappointed that, despite being consistently the best of F1′s new teams since 2010, Caterham is yet to break into the midfield.

“This is only the team’s third season, so there are still some growing paints,” IMG’s Anayi acknowledged.

“Heikki has a strong desire to compete, and not just with his teammate Vitaly Petrov. The team’s boss Tony Fernandes wants to get in with the middle group.

“This means that the team needs to regularly get into the Q2 stage of qualifying and in the race be aiming for the points,” he insisted.

 Heikki Kovalainen has admitted to relief after signing on with well-known management stable IMG.
The Finn has been handling his own career on and off the tracks since splitting in 2009 with Flavio Briatore in the wake of the ‘crashgate’ affair.

According to the broadcaster MTV3, Briatore did not give up Kovalainen without a fight.

“We have had a battle with Flavio for a couple of years,” revealed the 30-year-old Caterham driver. “In the meantime, we had to take care of things ourselves.”

Kovalainen admitted that with his current contract up at the end of this year, his future for 2013 and beyond is open.

“Either we continue with Caterham or pursue at some other place, so in either case this (signing with IMG) is the right solution,” he said.

England’s Court of Appeal has reversed the High Court decision of last year ordering sponsors to pay millions in damages to Force India.

The Abu Dhabi companies Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties were ordered to pay $4.7m to the Silverstone based team late last year.

They agreed a three-year deal worth $20m in 2007 when the team was known as Spyker, and were found to have breached contract by switching a year later to Ferrari.

But the court of appeal this week ruled that the companies were entitled to cancel the deal.

Etihad argued that the promotion of a rival airline – Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher – was not allowed in the contract, and Aldar argued that Mallya’s promotion of an alcohol brand was a breach.

And both companies were contractually guaranteed the status as the team’s most prominent sponsors, appeal judge Sir Bernard Rix ruled.

“In my judgment … Force India rode roughshod over all these rights and protections,” he said.

The Abu Dhabi companies will follow up their court victory with a claim for damages.

McLaren team figures believe the recent flexible bodywork saga will have taken the shine off Red Bull’s earlier dominance.

At F1′s last outings in Spa and Monza, where new FIA compliance tests came into effect, the RB6 was no longer the stand-out dominant package it had been at earlier events.

But Red Bull already expected to struggle at those high speed circuits, due to its less powerful Renault engines.

In light of the team’s dominance on twisty tracks like Monaco and Hungary, therefore, this weekend’s racing on the Singapore street circuit might be seen as a litmus test of the true effects of the FIA’s flexibility clampdown.

“I think a lot has changed since that race in Budapest — not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility,” said Jenson Button.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh agreed: “Singapore is likely to give us a much clearer idea of the respective pace of the leading teams after two less-representative events in Belgium and Italy.”

Chief race engineer Phil Prew is also hoping Red Bull will be closer to the rest of the field in Singapore this weekend.

“The legality clarification and changes that we’ve all made in response to that could well influence it (the pecking order),” he said during Wednesday’s Vodafone phone media conference.

“We’re optimistic that the gap, which was massive by formula one standards, should well have reduced,” added Prew.

He said he now feels all the teams are racing on a level playing field.

“The advantage that was felt to be gained by Red Bull and Ferrari in Hungary will be harder to exploit,” confirmed Prew.

The intended configuration of Red Bull’s car for the Italian grand prix failed the FIA’s more stringent floor flexibility tests.

It emerged earlier this weekend at Monza, where Sebastian Vettel was ultimately the team’s highest placed finisher in fourth, that the key competitors all passed the tougher tests.

Indeed, the RB6, as well as the Ferrari and McLaren, were tested by official FIA scrutineers at various points on Friday and Saturday and were all deemed legal.

But it has emerged that, prior to the official tests, Red Bull and McLaren – who both admitted to making modifications before travelling to Monza – asked to use the FIA’s new testing equipment and methods in the scrutineering bays.

McLaren’s MP4-25 passed, but Red Bull’s car failed by a small margin, according to the BBC.

The team reportedly made overnight modifications, and after Mark Webber qualified fourth on Saturday, the RB6 was re-tested and officially passed the new tests.

F1 rookie Lucas di Grassi has bought into the GP3 arm of the Spanish GP2 outfit Addax.

Now a Virgin driver, the Brazilian has become a minor shareholder of the team that he and Vitaly Petrov drove to the GP2 constructors’ title in 2008, according to multiple Portuguese-language sources.

“We are convinced that with his tremendous seriousness and professionalism, he will make an important contribution to the success we expect to achieve in a short time,” said owner Alejandro Agag.

“After driving for the team, I’m offering my services in the sports area,” Brazilian di Grassi, 26, is quoted by publications including Terra, R7 and UOL.

“I am eager to work on a project that is a genuine platform for young drivers and will try to help them prepare technically and tactically,” he added.

GP3, a feeder series for GP2, was launched in 2010, and also features a team part-owned by Mark Webber.

Lotus will reportedly confirm its switch to Renault engine power for the 2011 season during the August break.

The new Malaysian-backed team is currently equipped with Cosworth engines, but Italia Racing believes a team announcement is due within two weeks.

But just a week ago, Renault engine technical director Rob White said an announcement about the French marque’s plans for 2011 is not imminent.

“We have the capacity to supply additional teams in the future and would be willing to do so if it was good for Renault and for the sport as a whole,” he said.

“There has been speculation in the press, with different teams mentioned from time to time, but no announcement is imminent,” added White.

The original Lotus team was powered by Renault engines between 1983 and 1986.

Norbert Haug has joined McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh in admitting he is not a big fan of the August shutdown.

Due to a cost-reducing agreement between the teams, every outfit in pitlane must close their factories for a full two-week period during the month-long gap between Hungary and Spa-Francorchamps.

“I would love not to have a shutdown and be ploughing on,” Whitmarsh admitted in Hungary on Sunday, in the hours before the team’s Woking headquarters closed its doors.

Also keen to keep working on its 2010 car is Mercedes GP.

“This is actually a forced vacation,” the German marque’s competition director Haug is quoted by DPA news agency.

“Particularly when you’re in a catching-up phase, you do not want to be interrupted,” he said.

Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg does not agree.

“The summer break is the same for everyone,” said the rookie.

“I will have a little holiday, a little bit of time at home and a little bit of training,” added Hulkenberg.

And Adrian Sutil said his colleagues at Force India deserve a break.

“I think it’s good because the team works so hard.  It’s a tough job for the engineers and mechanics and extremely tiring.  It’s good for them,” said the German.

Nico Rosberg is planning to use his spare time to make his triathlon debut.

“I’ve never done one before,” said the Mercedes driver.  “It’s a new passion.”

But unlike Jenson Button, who is raising money for charity with his participation in the London Triathlon this month, Rosberg wants to keep his passion under wraps.

Asked how spectators can watch him in action, the 25-year-old answered: “I don’t want to say.”