Heikki Kovalainen has said that he will not change his stance on 'pay drivers' in order to get a drive for 2014.
The Finn made his F1 debut for Renault in 2007 before moving to McLaren. He then spent three seasons racing for Caterham before being dropped at the end of last season in favour of two drivers with the required financial backing.
Kovalainen spoke over the Belgian Grand Prix about his position, saying that he will not seek sponsorship backing in order to remain on the grid. He wants his talent to do the talking.
Talking to reporters in the Spa paddock he said: "I think it's important to get back racing, that's clearly my goal, but I really don't know whether the chances are good or not."
He added: "The fact is that I will not bring money, everyone knows that, and if that's going to be an obstacle again then it's out of my hands."
The 31-year-old admitted that he didn't make the most of his time at McLaren but is "not willing to give up quite yet."
"I'm working on turning that round, to prove myself again here to everyone," he said. "I haven't worried about other drivers bringing in money and taking the places. I'll try to find other ways, and I'll try to convince people based on another way, purely on performance and the things that I do and how I do things. Whether that will work or not I don't know.
"We know the reasons I was forced out of Formula 1, and I still don't want to go down that route - I don't want to look for money and bring money to the teams - but anyway I've managed to keep myself here in the paddock and I think I've managed to contribute some stuff to this team."
Kovalainen has continued to work with Caterham in a development role, driving the CT03 twice already this year. He will make another free practice appearance at the Italian Grand Prix and feels that he has mended the relationship with the team after a few issues towards the end of 2012.
He said: "Perhaps it was degrading a little bit towards the end of last season, for various reasons, but I think I've managed to get that relationship back with the team and that's only going to be a positive thing for the future."
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Kovalainen spoke over the Belgian Grand Prix about his position, saying that he will not seek sponsorship backing in order to remain on the grid. He wants his talent to do the talking.
Talking to reporters in the Spa paddock he said: "I think it's important to get back racing, that's clearly my goal, but I really don't know whether the chances are good or not."
He added: "The fact is that I will not bring money, everyone knows that, and if that's going to be an obstacle again then it's out of my hands."
The 31-year-old admitted that he didn't make the most of his time at McLaren but is "not willing to give up quite yet."
"I'm working on turning that round, to prove myself again here to everyone," he said. "I haven't worried about other drivers bringing in money and taking the places. I'll try to find other ways, and I'll try to convince people based on another way, purely on performance and the things that I do and how I do things. Whether that will work or not I don't know.
"We know the reasons I was forced out of Formula 1, and I still don't want to go down that route - I don't want to look for money and bring money to the teams - but anyway I've managed to keep myself here in the paddock and I think I've managed to contribute some stuff to this team."
Kovalainen has continued to work with Caterham in a development role, driving the CT03 twice already this year. He will make another free practice appearance at the Italian Grand Prix and feels that he has mended the relationship with the team after a few issues towards the end of 2012.
He said: "Perhaps it was degrading a little bit towards the end of last season, for various reasons, but I think I've managed to get that relationship back with the team and that's only going to be a positive thing for the future."
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