“The first half [of Silverstone] is probably the best piece of track that you can actually get a go on in a
Formula 1 car. You don't have to slow down; you don't have to touch the brakes at all. You can just lift and shift the gear down and go back on full power, and that's where you feel a Formula 1 car performing at its best.
“I'm looking forward to
Silverstone very much, probably as much as the whole team is looking forward to Silverstone as one of our home races. I was based near Silverstone for many, many years. I have some friends and family there that I know, so for me it feels like a home race as well. I'm really looking forward to having a go on Sunday.
“The only position that I'm satisfied with is if I'm leading the race; any other position means that there's more work to do. As a team we work towards that goal. Ten laps into the race I hope I'm fighting for the lead. From then onwards there's still a long way to go and it's just [about] trying to maximise every lap we go around. At the end the result should be good.”
Indeed, just such a good result would boost Kovalainen's championship chances – with his best finish for
McLaren to-date being third place in Malaysia back in March – and he is confident that he is capable of getting the better of Hamilton, with whom he has a far happier relationship than did
Fernando Alonso last year.
“It's really good,” he enthused. “On a personal level, we get along really well. We're both based in Geneva and we spend some together. We like sports, both of us. We do a lot of different kinds of sports, playing tennis and squash, and it gets very competitive.
“It's working really well and we both are very competitive. I want to beat Lewis but, you know, he wants to beat me and together when we're on the track we push each other forward. He's very good – but not quite as good as me.”
