Reigning
FIA F3000 champion Arden International recently announced the signing of
Heikki Kovalainen and Nicolas Lapierre to steer its assault on the inaugural GP2 championship.
Here, in an exclusive interview with
Crash.net, both drivers talk about the new deals, their future
F1 ambitions and more...
Q:
Heikki, you recently hit the headlines by winning the Race of Champions in Paris. How important and satisfying was it to beat the likes of
Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Loeb?
Heikki Kovalainen:
Yeah it certainly was the best feeling that I’ve ever had after winning a race but, to be honest, it’s probably not the most important race I’ve done, and won. I think the Nissan World Series last year was more important - and all the other years in Formula 3 and Formula Renault - as I’m still planning to be a single seater driver for many years. But I think it had quite a huge influence on people getting to know me and peoples interest in me – which always helps.
Q:
You’re stepping up to GP2 from the Nissan World Series, which you won last season. Do you see it as being a big step between the two cars or pretty much a case of moving to a ‘parallel’ series, but one which is better equipped to get you into
Formula One in the future?
Heikki Kovalainen:
I don’t think it will be a big step forward for me. I was certainly hoping to reach a deal in Formula One this year, but Renault decided that it was better for me to stay in the GP2 series, which I agree, and I will try to make the most of it now. I will concentrate on this year - and I think I will have a good chance to do well with Arden - and, hopefully, next year, we will be talking to F1 even more.
Q:
Obviously GP2 is going to be new to everybody taking part, but do you think that your Nissan World Series experience will give you an advantage?
Heikki Kovalainen:
I don't think there will be any big advantage for me. Everybody will be fairly equal to start with, and people who haven't been driving as big a car will soon pick it up - it's not so different from driving an F3 car or other smaller cars, so I think we will be more or less equal and I will have to work as hard as ever.
Q:
Do you see being with Arden, who obviously have won the last two F3000 titles, as giving you a better chance than being with one of the other teams?
Heikki Kovalainen:
Arden is certainly one of the top teams, they have very good technical people - I’ve known them for a few years now, even though I haven’t been racing with them. But, at the end of the day, it is a new car for everybody - and a new championship for everybody - so we can't take anything for granted. We will have to work hard and not rely on old results.
Q:
Heikki thank you very much. Nicolas, you’re coming into GP2 from the Formula 3 Euro series, and with Heikki coming in from Nissan World Series, do you think you’ve got a little bit more catching up to do?
Nicolas Lapierre:
Yeah for sure, the car is much different to the Euro F3 series. The car will be much more powerful and much faster, but we’ll have a lot of testing, the team have a lot of experience - and my team-mate also has a lot of experience - so I think I’ll be learning a lot quickly.
