McLaren Report – In the standings, the team loses big

Heikki Kovalainen is satisfied with his result at the French Grand Prix since, despite a penalty, he finished in fourth place.

The McLaren driver started the race in tenth place after receiving a five-place grid penalty for impeding a competitor during Saturday’s qualifying.

The Finn battled tooth and nail with Jarno Trulli’s Toyota for a spot on the podium.

The Italian defended himself very well, and Kovalainen had to settle for fourth place, his best result since the second race of the season in Malaysia.

« Considering the grid penalty, this is a very good result. It also shows that we had a great strategy to be able to move from 10th to fourth place, » he stated.

During the first run, I lost a lot of time trying to overtake slower cars but then, fortunately, I managed to pass them and close the gap with the drivers ahead.

The car was fantastic throughout the race and the Bridgestone tires were performing well. At the end of it, I found myself behind Jarno Trulli. I tried to overtake him but I couldn’t manage it. He defended his third place very well.

The boss of the McLaren team, Ron Dennis, added: « Heikki had a brilliant race, drove superbly, and fought like a devil to the checkered flag. »