F1 2012 Australian GP : Angry Bird goes off track in FP2! Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham F1 Team

Kovalainen during FP2 at the 2012 F1 Australian GP

After having lost his place in the Caterham F1 Team this year to Giedo Van Der Garde, Kovalainen has been again been drafted by the team, as a reserve driver.

Caterham F1 Team is set to introduce a package of major updates to its cars which the team hopes will push them past their nearest rival Marussia and hopes to use Heikki’s six years of F1 experience to obtain objective feedback.

Speaking to AutoSport about his opportunity, Kovalainen said: “It’s obviously great news that I’ll be on track in Bahrain and Spain and I’m really looking forward to getting back to work and helping the team as much as I can. I’m physically ready to get back into the car and I know my experience can help give the team new ideas and options for directions to take on setup and strategy. I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”

Team boss Cyril Abiteboul said Kovalainen’s six years of experience in F1 would enable him to give the team objective feedback on the different configurations they will be running in Free Practice at Bahrain. Kovalainen is also in a position to discern the changes between the tyres from 2013 and 2012.

“Having invested in Heikki for our first three years of competition it would be a waste not to leverage the valuable expertise he brings’ he added. “As F1 is a team sport, he will also provide support to Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, who are both doing a good job in their first months with the team.”