Kovalainen wants to join Lotus

Nov 28, 2012 |

Helsinki

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Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen has offered his services to the Lotus Formula One team should the English outfit fail to agree a new contract with Frenchman Romain Grosjean, according to Finnish TV channel MTV3.

"Kovalainen wants the place of (Romain) Grosjean, teammate of Kimi Raikkonen and the new contract with Grosjean has not yet been finalised," the channel announced on their website without revealing sources.

"I would like it to be Romain, but it depends more on him than me," Lotus co-owner Gerard Lopez told AFP last Sunday.

The 31-year-old Kovalainen failed to register a single point in 2012 behind the wheel of a Caterham-Renault and his only Grand Prix victory in 109 starts came in Hungary in 2008.

He began as a test driver with Renault in 2004 before making his GP debut in 2007 and also had two seasons with McLaren where he was eventually replaced by former world champion Jenson Button for the 2010 season.

Grosjean made his Formula One debut in 2012 and finished eighth in the driver standings with 96 points, picking up podium finishes at Bahrein, Canada and Hungary although he was also involved in several spectacular accidents, notably in Belgium and Japan.

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