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.

The drama stepped up a notch even after the chequered flag in Barcelona.

A couple of hours after Williams’ first win since 2004, something exploded in the British team’s garage, triggering a major fire.

Team members and fire crews battled the blaze as paddock regulars scrambled away from the heavy smoke and police arrived on the scene.

The Telegraph’s Tom Cary said on Twitter there are “multiple injuries”.

It is believed Williams, Force India and Caterham staff – some of whom bravely fought the fire – are being treated in the medical centre, some for smoke inhalation.

An emergency helicopter will ferry others to hospital.

“Couple of our guys got injuries, burns and maybe one broken wrist, no news on Williams guys I hope they’re ok,” wrote Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen on Twitter.

Rumours indicated the fire could have been caused by a KERS explosion, or possibly fuel, as a burned fuel rig was pulled from the gutted garage.

Heikki Kovalainen has admitted some disappointment about Caterham’s progress in 2012.

In its third season of formula one, and despite being clearly more impressive than its direct rivals Marussia and HRT, the Tony Fernandes-led team intended to take a step forwards this year.

Caterham took some upgrades to the Mugello test last week, but according to Finnish sources Turun Sanomat and MTV3, not all of them worked.

“The car has a pretty good balance, but the lap times are not good enough,” Finnish driver Kovalainen is quoted as saying.

“It’s good to drive but it’s just too slow,” he insisted.

“We did not get all the updates to work as we had hoped, so in Spain we have only some things that are new,” added Kovalainen.

The team is yet to score a point.

Heikki Kovalainen has dismissed advice he should quit Caterham as soon as possible.

Fellow Finn Mika Salo, a former Ferrari and Toyota driver, told the broadcaster MTV3 he thinks Kovalainen should jump ship now because Caterham has failed for the third year running to move into the midfield.

But Kovalainen hit back by insisting he will at least see out his contract.

“It is a fact that I have a contract until the end of this year. It’s written on paper,” he said in Shanghai.

Tony Fernandes has given a strident defence of his formula one team, Caterham.

The former Team Lotus outfit, headed by the cheery Malaysian entrepreneur Fernandes, entered its third season with high hopes it was set to join the midfield mix.

Instead, the green cars – whilst still the cream of the backmarker group – are still better only than fellow stragglers Marussia and HRT.

The Finnish broadcaster MTV3′s well-known analyst Mika Salo has advised lead driver Heikki Kovalainen to therefore quit Caterham at the end of 2012.

“Something has been wrong with the car,” Kovalainen is quoted as saying by Turun Sanomat newspaper this week. “We need to see what is not right.”

Fernandes, meanwhile, is looking fervently on the bright side, insisting Caterham has done markedly better than F1′s other 2010 start-ups.

“We are competitive,” he told the Sun, reminding that Caterham was the last 2010 team given its official entry by the FIA a few years ago.

“We’ve blown away Marussia and HRT when in actual fact they have been there six months longer,” insisted Fernandes.

“We are half a second away from the established midfield … you must remember that this team is only two years old.

“When I started, we were nine seconds away from the front. Last year we were about four seconds away from Red Bull.

“This year, on certain laps, we lapped at the same pace as them. So I am very happy and I am strengthening the team all the time,” he added.

But one of Caterham’s direct rivals, HRT, is looking to make a major step forwards this weekend in China, having struggled recently in the wake of team supremo Colin Kolles’ departure.

“We come into this grand prix having had much more time to prepare the cars,” Pedro de la Rosa is quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE.

“We will bring small improvements to China but what we really need is the cars back in Europe and then the team can concentrate at the (new headquarters) Caja Magica.

“Step by step we will improve,” said the Spanish driver.

 Caterham’s hopes of pushing into the midfield in 2012 are not dead yet.
That is the claim of team owner and boss Tony Fernandes, despite the former Team Lotus looking to have once again emulated the pecking-order of the past two years by outpacing only Marussia and HRT in Australia.

“We have obviously improved our pace relative to our 2011 speed,” the Malaysian businessman said.

“But the teams ahead have also improved, so even though we are closer than this time last year we still have work to do to bridge the gap in qualifying,” he added.

Fernandes insists, however, that the race pace shown by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov in Melbourne last weekend was “on a par” with some other teams.

Former F1 driver and Finnish commentator Mika Salo, however, is not impressed.

“The Caterham car is neither fast nor reliable,” he told MTV3.

Official track action in 2012 has now begun, but the pecking order is still totally unclear.
“The tea-leaf reading will go on until after the third practice session (on Saturday),” Peter Sauber told Switzerland’s Blick.

Only after that one-hour session will Melbourne qualifying be looming, but many paddock insiders believe Malaysia – a more ‘normal’ circuit – will be a better barometer.

The confusion is greater in 2012 because the field is apparently so tightly packed.

“I’ve never known it as open as this,” said McLaren’s Jenson Button, who set Friday’s fastest laptime. “Never.”

Lewis Hamilton agreed: “I’m convinced that Red Bull, Mercedes and us are equal.”

Red Bull, however, is widely believed to be the frontrunner, but Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber said they were unhappy with the balance of the RB8 on Friday.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Webber.

Also unclear is just how good the new Mercedes is, after Michael Schumacher in second practice returned to the ‘P1′ position he had become so familiar with in his first career pre-2010.

“When I saw the (W03) car on track I immediately sent a text to Norbert (Haug),” Alex Wurz revealed to Sport1, “(saying) ‘looks very good’.

“I honestly have to say they are not yet on Red Bull’s level, but they are not too far away,” the former F1 driver, who is in Melbourne as Williams’ new driver mentor, added.

It seems clear that Ferrari ranks somewhere beneath the top trio, and Spain’s Marca newspaper reports that a substantially-redesigned chassis will not get up and running until the European season begins in mid-May.

“We definitely haven’t seen the real picture yet,” Fernando Alonso is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, after going fourth quickest in both of Friday’s sessions.

“Vettel is not as bad as tenth,” he insisted, “and Kovalainen is not as good as eighth.”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner admitted: “Qualifying will be the first time we have driven with empty tanks.”

Team advisor Dr Helmut Marko added: “We are satisfied, it looks quite good. But McLaren is very strong, and the Mercedes (cars) will be in the top five.”

Triple world champion Niki Lauda told Germany’s Speed Week: “I am sure the championship this year will be decided later that it was in 2011.

“The top cars and the whole field appears to be closer together — it could be a great season.”

Heikki Kovalainen had heads turning in the F1 paddock on Thursday as he revealed his all-red helmet for 2012.
The Caterham driver and Finn’s new helmet is in the style of the bright red bird from the popular webgame app ‘Angry Birds’, which is developed by the Finnish company Rovio.

“The helmet looks amazing,” said the company’s Harri Koponen.

Lotus has overcome a serious chassis flaw to lead the field as the final pre-season test began at Barcelona.
The former Renault team had to sit out last week’s running at the Circuit de Catalunya as designers grappled to fix a problem with the front suspension mounting.

“The mounting of the suspension is now the strongest part of the car,” an unnamed team member is quoted by SID news agency.

At the end of his return to action on Thursday, Romain Grosjean was quoted by France’s Auto Plus: “It (the E20) feels the same, there’s not much difference really.”

Indeed, the revised car is 1 kilogram heavier, but the biggest issue is the four lost days of testing, which after an FIA clarification cannot now be made up.

“To miss four days is not ideal as suddenly we have to try to work twice as hard to catch up,” continued Grosjean.

“It’s true that it’s not great, but it’s not as problematic as it might have been.”

He is referring to the fact that, so far, the Lotus appears intrinsically fast.

Asked if the E20 felt as good around Barcelona’s demanding layout as it had at Jerez last month, the reigning GP champion enthused: “Yes, exactly the same.

“You can trust the car, push it, play with it.

“You can attack, and if you attack too much, you know what will happen — if you have understeer, you know that by attacking less, you’ll have less understeer.

“On this aspect, the car is very good.”

1982 world champion Keke Rosberg told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 that while the Lotus looks as good in Barcelona as it had at Jerez, it is still not clear if it will be able to compete against F1′s regular top teams.

Auto Motor und Sport quotes Grosjean as saying: “I think there are a couple of teams ahead of us — Red Bull and McLaren look very strong.

“Behind them, it’s a lot closer than it was before.”

However, amid F1′s now extremely limited track testing regime, there is no ignoring the four lost days of running.

Asked if he is ready for 2012, Grosjean said according to Finland’s Turun Sanomat: “I have to be.

“Of course, the more time you have with your car, the better you feel. However, it is what it is.

“We have this four days prior to Melbourne and that’s better than nothing,” he added.

* Caterham had to replace Heikki Kovalainen with his teammate Vitaly Petrov on Thursday, as the Finn recovered at his nearby hotel with food poisoning.

Heikki Kovalainen insists he has “no concerns” despite having to start work with a new teammate less than a month before the 2012 season.

In 2010 and 2011, and since the formation of the former Lotus team, Kovalainen has shared the green garage with fellow grand prix winner Jarno Trulli.

Now, Caterham has replaced the Italian veteran with the much less experienced Vitaly Petrov, who has moved his Russian backing from Lotus (formerly Renault).

“I got along well with Jarno, but a new teammate doesn’t change my life in any way,” Kovalainen insisted to Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“I have met with Vitaly here in Barcelona and I don’t have any concerns. He is definitely a strong competitor but I always give 110 per cent to beat my teammate.

“I don’t underestimate anyone,” he added.

Kovalainen admitted that Petrov might have to adjust to the fact that Caterham is smaller than Lotus, and the car not as competitive.

“Of course he has to get used to the team,” he said, “and if he has any questions, I’m available.

“But Vitaly is a professional driver and in F1 it is expected that the driver is able to start tackling the programme right away.”

1980 world champion Alan Jones has backed Caterham’s decision to dump Jarno Trulli.
Despite having extended the Italian veteran’s contract for 2012, the former Lotus team decided at the last minute to sign the well-backed Russian Petrov.

Caterham explained that Petrov brings “fresh impetus” to the team, whilst also admitting that the decision was made “with a realistic eye on the global economic market”.

One French report has calculated the 27-year-old’s sponsorship contributions at EUR 12 million, including money from Russia’s largest petrochemical company Sibur.

But the straight-talking Australian Jones, who won Williams’ first drivers’ title three decades ago, said Caterham was also right to oust Italian Trulli on performance criteria.

Told that Heikki Kovalainen “destroyed” Trulli in 2011, Jones said: “I think he was destroyed by everybody, wasn’t he?”

On Caterham’s decision, he told GMM: “In my opinion Trulli wasn’t doing the job so it would have made it a pretty easy decision to get in this younger guy who is perhaps a bit keener, a big hungrier.

“It’s also a fact that he (Petrov) is bringing in money, so to me it’s a no-brainer,” added Jones.

Vitaly Petrov could stay at the Caterham team beyond 2012, the Russian’s manager said on Friday.
Earlier, the former Lotus outfit announced that Petrov, ousted by Lotus (Renault) at the end of last season, is replacing Italian veteran Jarno Trulli with immediate effect.

On the face of it, the deal is not a good look for Petrov, having displaced one of F1′s most experienced drivers – and a grand prix winner – on the back of his sponsors’ purse.

Moreover, it also means there is no Italian on the F1 grid for the first time in decades.

“Vitaly is thinking about his place in formula one, and the rest is a question to the team,” insisted Petrov’s manager Oksana Kosachenko.

Team boss Tony Fernandes hinted in Caterham’s media statement on Friday that the Petrov deal is indeed fueled by the world’s economic situation.

So does that mean he is a ‘pay-driver’, and Heikki Kovalainen the clear number one?

“As far as I know,” Kosachenko said, “we’re having absolutely equal status.”

She revealed that the initial contract is for one year only, but that could change.

“At the moment we’re discussing that,” Kosachenko is quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency.

Earlier, she admitted that Bernie Ecclestone – perhaps because he is scheduling an inaugural Russian grand prix for 2014 – was trying to help Petrov find a seat this season.

“He was talking to me, he was trying to assist,” Kosachenko said on Friday, insisting that the eventual contract was “absolutely an internal deal” between Petrov and Caterham.

“No one else involved,” she clarified.

 Behind the scenes, Lewis Hamilton is quietly concerned about McLaren’s early progress with its 2012 car, according to media reports.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the first whiff of the Briton’s worry emerged last week, when the MP4-27 was tested over four days at Jerez.

“When I saw that all the other cars are high at the front, it did make me wonder if we had done the right thing,” the 2008 world champion, referring to the ‘step’ nose trend that McLaren has sidestepped, is quoted as saying.

Hamilton was quicker than his teammate Jenson Button at Jerez, with his 1.19 laptime set on Thursday close to Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull pace on the same day.

The previous day, however, Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber had been the quickest of the 2012 car runners in the RB8.

And when referring to his 1.19, Hamilton admitted that the lap was set while McLaren was being “aggressive”, implying that he was light on fuel.

If so, the MP4-27 is at least a full second off Lotus’ Jerez pace.

There are more clues: asked about the change in blown diffuser rules, Briton Hamilton said the MP4-27 is “difficult to control in the fast corners”.

That contrasts with Vettel’s comment that, “In the fast corners I don’t feel very much difference to before (in 2011)”.

Moreover, Spain’s Marca sports daily claims Hamilton confided to his former McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen at Jerez that he is “disappointed” with his new car.

On the record, he said: “I feel quite positive about where the car is at the moment and I’m confident that the guys can push it forward.

“You’ve got to remember that everyone is just focusing on their own programmes. It’s not a contest for who’s the fastest at the moment,” Hamilton insisted.

“Over the coming weeks we’ll get a better indication of where everyone is.”

F1′s Italian contingent is clinging to small comforts ahead of the 2012 season.
With Italy once occupying grand chunks of the grid, veteran Jarno Trulli is now the last Italian driver in formula one.

And according to persistent speculation in the Jerez paddock last week, his seat at Caterham could be snapped up at the last minute by Vitaly Petrov, who is waiting on his Russian sponsors to green-light the deal.

But a report in Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said Saturday was a small piece of good news for Trulli, 37.

With the bulk of the F1 world leaving Jerez after Friday’s running, Caterham stuck around for an additional day of exclusive track use for filming purposes.

The result of the filming will be used by Caterham’s marketing and promotional material throughout 2012.

Trulli was there, the report revealed.

“It is good news because it could mean that the seat of the driver from Pescara is safe, thus ensuring at least one Italian driver in the championship,” said La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Although teammate Heikki Kovalainen enjoyed two days at the wheel of the new CT01 compared to Trulli’s single run last Friday, the Italian said his first impression is that the car is a “definite progression” on last year.

“The power steering is good — we can keep fine tuning it, but I think it’s basically a good package with a lot of potential for us to work on,” said Trulli.