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Kovalainen rules out Caterham defection for 2012

"I have a firm contract and this is where I will race next year"

By GMM

6 December 2011 - 14:45

Heikki Kovalainen has dealt a knock-out blow to any lingering speculation he might be set for a shock switch from the Caterham team.

Reports had suggested Lotus/Renault earmarked the Finn to be countryman Kimi Raikkonen’s teammate next year, despite Kovalainen’s solid Caterham contract.

"I will be at Caterham - 100 per cent, I’m not going anywhere," he told the Norwich Advertiser newspaper.

"I have a firm contract and this is where I will race next year - after that we will see," added Kovalainen.

He credits his two years so far at Caterham - formerly Team Lotus - for helping him to rebuild his confidence after a disappointing early F1 career at Renault and then McLaren.

"I’m very happy to work with this team, they have enabled me to get my swing back and I’m certain I’d be able to function in all kinds of teams now to be honest.

"After the second McLaren year, even if they had offered me an extension there was no point to continue there because it wasn’t working — for various reasons.

"There’s no need to go too deep into those, but the bottom line was I lost confidence, lost the freedom.

"To find that freedom again I had to go back to the starting point. That is why I joined Team Lotus and not the offers I had from some of the established teams," explained the 30-year-old.