British Grand Prix polesitter
Heikki Kovalainen insists that he has not been as unlucky as
Formula One observers have claimed, despite having had to wait until midway through the 2008 season to finally post a fastest time in qualifying.
The Finn has struggled to match
McLaren team-mate
Lewis Hamilton in terms of results in their first year together, but has suffered more than the Briton from mishaps in the eight races to date. However, on the back of a storming drive into the points at Magny-Cours last time out, Kovalainen has all but dominated the
Silverstone weekend, featuring in the top echelon of every session before claiming pole position, and is favourite to take a maiden grand prix win.
"I don't feel that I've had such bad luck - we've had many opportunities, we just haven't been able to take them to the various incidents," he insisted, "Everybody gets these in Formula One in the long run - obviously, it's not ideal to have so many of these happening in one season but, nevertheless, everything is still possible.
"We just need to keep the focus one hundred per cent, as we've done all the time, and the results will eventually come. Today is a good step in that direction. I don't think it was a perfect lap - it was very difficult conditions and it was so easy to make a mistake because of the wind and because of the grip level but, compared to the first run in the last part of qualifying, it was a lap without any big mistakes. It was quite tidy and I think that was the key today."
The Finn was quick to praise his team for producing a car to match the Ferraris during testing at Silverstone last week, and feels that the MP4-23 will be a potent force in the rounds to come.
