Heikki Kovalainen’s Formula 1 career did not end the way he would have liked, so after 2013 he rarely appeared in the paddock. But this season, the situation changed when Heikki accepted an offer to work as an expert for the Viaplay TV channel. In particular, he managed to conduct an interesting interview with Lewis Hamilton, which received highly commendable reviews from the public.
They were once teammates at McLaren and according to the Finn they still have a great relationship. For example, in Abu Dhabi, where Heikki lived with his British wife for the past few years, Hamilton’s family visited him more than once.
“After my Formula 1 career ended, TV channels from different countries regularly invited me to work as an expert,” Kovalainen said in an interview with Finnish tabloid Iltalehti. – But I immediately refused, because I thought that if I stopped driving in the championship as a driver, I would not appear in the pit lane in any other role.
But this time I agreed to work with Viaplay, and my first race was the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was no coincidence, because at the Hungaroring I got my only win. I was even surprised that the return to the paddock did not give me any special experiences, besides everyone received me very warmly. It felt like people missed me!
It was fun chatting with old friends, reminiscing about the past and discussing the latest news. In my opinion, Lewis gave me the only individual interview to Viaplay. We have a very good relationship and Katherine and I usually receive his family when F1 races are held in Abu Dhabi.
Last year’s season finale, if you analyze everything in detail, was very ambiguous. At first it looked like Lewis would be world champion without a hitch and within minutes the rivals were celebrating the win. After that race I talked to Lewis, he was unusually serious and I felt like what happened was just shocking to him.
I don’t know, maybe Lewis always knew I wasn’t a real threat to him, so our relationship has always been friendly and genuine. And, for example, we don’t communicate with Kimi Raikkonen, although there was no quarrel between us. Kimi is a pleasant and direct man, but life just separated us in different directions. However, I think if we meet somewhere, there won’t be any problems.”
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
