The latest in a long line of talents to hail from Finland, Heikki Kovalainen will make his F1 race debut in 2007 with Renault after a rapid but successful rise through the ranks persuaded the champions to choose him as the much vaunted successor to Fernando Alonso.
Despite having to fill some of the biggest shoes in motorsport, Kovalainen's credentials speak for themselves, the 25-year-old going from karting star to fully-fledged F1 driver in under seven years.
The runner-up in the 1999 Formula A Finnish Karting Championship, Kovalainen followed that up by finishing third in the World Championship race the following year amongst other trophies that included him becoming Scandinavian Champion, Finnish Vice-Champion, the Paris Bercy Elf Masters Champion and the Finnish Kart Driver of the Year.
With a wealth of experience - and silverware - from karting firmly behind him, Kovalainen did what most Finns have done in recent years and graduate to the lower formulas of racing in Britain, taking part in the Formula Renault Championship and claiming a fourth place finish overall on his debut, scoring two wins in the process.
Indeed, Renault has been a fundamental factor in Kovalainen's career, the French brand creating a youth programme as they began re-establishing themselves in the motorsport arena once again.
Enlisting Kovalainen in their fledgling Renault Driver Development programme, the position helped him graduate to the British Formula Three Championship for 2002 with Fortec Motorsport, the leading user of Renault's Sodomo engines.
Although the units were arguably not as strong as the Mugen-Honda engines that dominated the British F3 field, Kovalainen and team-mate Fabio Carbone got the most of their cars to prove consistent front runners against a dominant Carlin Motorsport, Kovalainen in particular impressing with his five wins and three pole positions, all occurring in the second half of the season on the way to third in the standings.
He even went on to highlight his talent to those that matter by winning the British Grand Prix support race at Silverstone before going on to claim second place in the Macau Grand Prix and fourth in the Marlboro Masters.
Somewhat inevitably, Kovalainen continued to pursue a route up the motorsport ladder and his next venture took him to the World Series by Nissan where he was snapped up by the front running Gabord Competicion team.
Up against some formidable competition in the shape of Narain Karthikeyan, Enrqiue Bernoldi and Marc Gene, Kovalainen nonetheless defied his inexperience to claim second in the championship standings, taking a win at the Lausitzring, even if he was entirely outclassed by title winning team-mate Franck Montagny.
Nonetheless, Kovalainen had done enough to earn himself a test at both ends of the F1 scale, firstly with Renault and then with Minardi. Subsequently impressed with Kovalainen, it was thought Minardi were chasing him for full-time drive in 2004 under the watchful eye of manager Flavio Briatore in much the same way as Fernando Alonso in 2001.
However, this time Renault decided to keep tabs on the Finn by signing him to be their second test driver after Montagny. The less intensive role allowed Kovalainen to continue racing, returning to the World Series, this time with newcomers Pons Racing.
With a year of experience under his belt, Kovalainen was the dominant force in the championship throughout 2004, with a mid-season flurry of strong results - including seven straight podiums that included four wins - helping him well on the way to glory over Tiago Monteiro and Jean-Christophe Ravier, claiming a further two wins to cement his supremacy.
However, despite his triumph, the lack of exposure for the World Series meant Kovalainen remained something of an unknown quantity to all but hardened enthusiasts, even if his achievements had done enough to earn him a place in the Race of Champions event in Paris.
Competing for Finland alongside accomplished opposition that included the likes of Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb, most eyes were on a potential head-to-head between the undoubted stars of track and rally racing. Remarkably though, both were humbled by Kovalainen, who firstly dispatched Schumacher in the 'track racers' final and then went on to be crowned champion when he pulled off a coup against Loeb.
Instantly, Kovalainen became something of a sensation having become one of the few people to actually beat Schumacher and Loeb in a straight fight over the year, let alone on the same night.
Sensing a future star, Renault retained Kovalainen for a second season and helped him score a drive with Arden in the burgeoning GP2 Series, where he promptly marked himself out to be championship contender by dominating over the first half of the year. As it happens, Arden were soon overhauled by ART as the leading team and Nico Rosberg eventually got the better of Kovalainen in the championship during a late-season flurry of results.
Nonetheless, with Montagny having served his time as test driver and Renault learning that Alonso would be defecting to McLaren for 2007, Kovalainen was promoted to full-time tester, where he would seemingly be groomed for assuming the Spaniard's racing role over the coming season.
With the ultimate chance to impress, Kovalainen stepped up to the challenge when needed, developing as a driver and learning his way round the team sufficiently enough for the inevitable to finally happen when he was confirmed as Alonso's replacement for 2007.
Not short of confidence, Kovalainen admitted to wanting race wins in his first season, but the championship push in 2006 had taken its toll on Renault and the team was a shadow of the force it had been in 2005-06.
With its 2007 car under-prepared for the switch to Bridgestone tyres, both Kovalainen and Fisichella struggled early on, with the Finn's performance in Melbourne prompting team boss Flavio Briatore to suggest that his brother had turned up instead!
Although the R27 was never going to beat the likes of Ferrari or McLaren - or, as the season wore on, BMW - Kovalainen's results improved steadily, with his first point coming in Malaysia and further top eight finishes following regularly thereafter, culminating in a sparkling second in the rain of Fuji.
That was enough to out-point team-mate Fisichella and finish a place above the Italian, in seventh overall, potentially ending the veteran's F1 career. However, it was not enough to keep Kovalainen on board at Enstone for another season.
The return of Fernando Alonso and decision to pair him with rookie Nelson Piquet Jr prompted suggestions that Kovalainen might be too much of a threat after the Spaniard's tempestuous relationship with Lewis Hamilton but, whatever the reasons, Heikki found himself dropped by the
regie.
He soon got another offer though and now takes over Alonso's vacated McLaren seat on an unspecified 'long-term contract'.
