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Heikki Kovalainen first attracted attention in 1999, when, aged 18, he finished 3rd in the opening round of the European Karting Championships, having already finished runner-up in the Finnish Championship.
He remained in Karting in 2000, this time winning the Finnish title, in addition to the Scandinavian crown. As well as finishing 3rd in the Monaco Kart Cup, the youngster also contested - and won - the Paris Bercy Elf Masters.
In 2001, Heikki moved up to single-seaters, contesting the British Formula Renault Championship. Two wins, two poles and three fastest laps, were enough to give him fourth place - in addition to the 'Rookie of the Year' award.
That same year, the Finn made his F3 debut, finishing 8th in Macau, and then contesting the Korea Grand Prix just a few weeks later.
The following year, the 'young gun' finished third in the British F3 Championship, with five wins, including the prestigious support race at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He also finished second in Macau, and fourth in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.
In 2003 Heikki contested the World Series by Nissan, finishing runner-up. That year had also seen Heikki make his F1 test debut, driving the Renault R23 at Barcelona in early December and then the Minardi just a couple of weeks later.
2004 saw the Finn win the World Series title, fighting off stiff opposition from Tiago Monteiro, Enrique Bernoldi and Narain Karthikeyan.
Throughout the year, the young Finn also assisted with the development of Renault's R24, working alongside Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli and Franck Montagny.
Heikki attracted serious attention late in 2004 when he won Champion of Champions event at the Race of Champions. To win the title he had to beat both 2004 WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb and seven times Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher. Almost overnight, everyone knew the name Kovalainen.
2005 saw Heikki contest the new GP2 series with Arden Motorsport. However, despite leading the championship for much of the year, he was beaten 'at the wire' by Nico Rosberg. Nonetheless, the youngster had done enough to secure the role as test and reserve driver for the Renault F1 team in 2006.
Days before Renault officially named Heikki as its test driver, team boss, Flavio Briatore gave the game away, saying: "He is the future of F1."
Coming from the man who guided Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to championship glory, this was high praise.
With Fernando Alonso heading to McLaren for 2007, there was fierce speculation throughout 2006 as to the French outfit's line-up for the new season. Though several drivers, including Kimi Raikkonen, were linked with the number one seat, there never appeared to be any doubt that Heikki would be in the second car.
In mid-June, with the French team fearing it might find itself up the proverbial creek without a paddle, it was revealed that Giancarlo Fisichella would be retained for a third season. It came as no surprise when shortly afterwards Heikki was confirmed as the team's second race driver.
Fast and intelligent much was expected of the Finn in 2007, indeed Pitpass Editor Chris Balfe predicted that the youngster would win a race in his first season.
Thankfully, editor Balfe stopped short of making one of those Bob McKenzie type wagers that might have seen him running naked around a race track, which is just as well, for the Finn's debut race was a nightmare, one to be forgotten as quickly as possible.
"I think everybody was watching on TV," said Flavio Briatore of Heikki's Melbourne weekend. "I don't need to protect anybody. It was rubbish! If I tell you it was good, I am a complete idiot. It was no good.
"When you start like that, you don't have any problem in getting better," he added. "You have plenty of space to improve."
The Finn was equally unimpressed: "My first Grand Prix was a disaster," he wrote in a column for the BBC. "The whole race was a bit of a mess and I'm going to try to forget it as quickly as possible."
Thankfully, Melbourne was the low point, and after that the Finn slowly, but surely, began to improve, taking a point at the very next race.
After the high of 2005/2006, 2007 was a great disappointment for Renault, one of the teams hardest hit by the move to a control tyre supplied by Bridgestone. Indeed, it was soon clear that far from being able to challenge McLaren and Ferrari for wins, the French outfit was no match for BMW.
As the season developed, so Heikki improved, following a fourth and fifth in North America with a string of seven finishes in the points culminating in a superb second place in Japan.
While fellow rookie Lewis Hamilton stole the headlines, Heikki got on with the job, doing the best he could - under the circumstances - and finishing seventh in the championship, one place and eleven points ahead of his highly experienced teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella.
However, this wasn't enough for the French outfit, which, with the imminent return of Fernando Alonso, opted to drop the Finn in favour of Nelson Piquet Jr. However, Heikki wasn't out of work for long, for two days after Renault announced its line-up for 2008, the Finn was named as Hamilton's teammate at McLaren.
While everyone was aware of the special relationship between Hamilton and McLaren, many were also aware of the special relationship that team boss Ron Dennis enjoys with Finnish drivers. What with Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen, Heikki had a lot to live up to, and then there was the fact that he was stepping into a car vacated by Fernando Alonso.
Having developed and matured in the latter stages of 2007, much was expected of Heikki in 2008. However, it would be fair to say that he didn't quite live up to expectations.
Yes, there was a lot of bad luck in terms of reliability, and then there was the fact that the team often appeared to use the Finn as a 'guinea pig' for his teammate. However, even when things were going well the youngster didn't always help himself.
In Australia he accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter, thereby handing a position to Alonso. In Bahrain he flat-spotted a tyre on the first lap, which was to lose him ground to the Ferraris and BMWs. In Belgium he lost eight places due to a poor start, subsequently collided with Mark Webber and was handed a drive-through.
For most of the season, and at most of the tracks, the MP4-23 appeared to suit Hamilton's driving style, the Finn proving notoriously difficult on his tyres, particularly at the rear. Heikki was suffering most in the entry to corners, and in the way he used his brakes and applied the power afterwards, Hamilton wasn't.
Then again, McLaren made some dreadful mistakes, not least in China when his tyres were marked incorrectly so that the left tyre was installed on the right-hand side of the car and vice versa, meaning that the tyres were spinning in the wrong direction, causing understeer. The Finn also suffered Mercedes first (race) engine failure since 2006.
On the plus side there was pole at Silverstone and the win, albeit largely fortuitous, in Hungary. Many, however, feel that he should have been able to give Vettel a real run for his money at Monza.
Retained for 2009, Heikki said that he intended being a little less hard on himself, claiming that he was his own fiercest critic for much of 2008, particularly when he failed to qualify well.
To be fair, particularly in the first half of the season, the MP4-24 was a dog of a car, reckoned by many to be the worst car on the grid. However, while Lewis Hamilton got on with the job, Heikki clearly struggled, the Finn never really looking convincing.
Throughout the season realising what a disaster the MP4-24 really was, the Woking outfit continued to introduce all manner of updates desperate to close the gap to its rivals. However, while Hamilton was able to make full use of this, taking two wins and three other podium finishes, Heikki was never really in the picture.
In 2008, not once - despite the equipment at his disposal - was he able to complete a 1-2 with his McLaren. And in 2009 also he was unable to come even close to his illustrious teammate.
In addition to a general lack of pace - surprising considering the fact that the Finn is widely regarded as one of the fastest drivers out there - there were the numerous mistakes. In his defence, however, one has to point to the fact that the likeable Finn also suffered more than his fair share of failures.
It came as no surprise when McLaren opted not to retain Heikki for a third season, then again, the signing of Jenson Button certainly raised a few eyebrows.
The move to Lotus, where he will partner Jarno Trulli, could be good for Heikki, for he will have the opportunity to learn from one of the most experienced men on the grid while also working outside the spotlight that is forever concentrated on McLaren and Hamilton.
That said, Heikki has to do his part, this will be his fourth season in F1, the time for excuses is long past.
Statistics - at the end of 2009 Season
Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 3
Grand Prix: 51
Wins: 1
Points: 105
Poles: 1
Fastest Laps: 2
Best result in 2009: 4th (Europe)
Best qualifying 2009: 2nd (Europe)
Worst qualifying 2009: 18th (Spain)
2009: Out-qualified Lewis Hamilton 5 times
2009: Out-qualified by Lewis Hamilton 12 times
2009: Completed 788 out of 988 laps (79.8%)
2009: Finished 12 times from 17 starts (71%)
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