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We can challenge Toro Rosso, says Kovalainen

MONTREAL - Upbeat Finn Heikki Kovalainen believes he has a chance of starting ahead of the Toro Rosso drivers in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The Lotus driver has been impressed with the improvements that have been made to his car and has now set his sights on posting a faster time than the Toro Rossos in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Kovalainen, 28, was the fastest driver of the ‘new teams’ and came within a second of Toro Rosso driver Spaniard Jaime Alguesuari in Friday’s free practice.

“I think the team did a really good job today, improving the balance and keeping us going in the right direction all the time,” said Kovalainen.

“The low downforce package seems to be working really well, which is very encouraging, and again, we’re not far away from the Toro Rossos. Maybe tomorrow in qualifying, I’ll be able to have a go at challenging them, and see what happens.

“We’re going to focus on keeping the rear of the car under control, and I think we are getting there with that, so, from my side of the garage, things are working out really well.”

Lotus team-mate Italian Jarno Trulli remained positive despite electrical problems hampering his afternoon practice session.

He said: “It’s been a difficult day but I’ll move on from this and I still feel positive. After all, this is still our first season, and we’re only eight races in”

“I want to thank the team for working very hard to fix the problems on my car today, and we’ll see if the luck will change tomorrow.”