By Jonathan Noble Monday, July 7th 2008, 13:32 GMT
Heikki Kovalainen during the British GPHeikki Kovalainen believes his driving style may have been the cause of the rear tyre troubles that cost him the chance of victory in the British Grand Prix.
The Finn had taken his maiden pole position at Silverstone but found himself unable to match the pace of eventual victor Lewis Hamilton in the tricky conditions because his rear tyres lost their peak performance.
And looking back on the events, Kovalainen thinks that his driving style, that is more aggressive coming out of corners than Hamilton's, allied to the car set-up that he likes, will need to be looked at.
"I just struggled with my rear tyres all the way through the race, to be honest," said the Finn. "They were going away and I was damaging them excessively. The car control became difficult and I had to slow down. This was the reason I couldn't keep up."
When asked whether it was more to do with his driving style or set-up, he said: "I think it's a bit of both. It looks like in the low grip conditions I put more load on the tyres.
"We saw that a little bit in Canada, where I had more tyre wear compared to Lewis again. In the rain when the grip is lower I put a little more load on the rear tyres. It's probably something I need to look.
"Perhaps we can look a bit at the set-up. But I think I can improve that area myself as well."
Despite being slightly disappointed at not having finished on the podium at Silverstone, Kovalainen was still pleased with how his performance had been over the rest of the weekend.
"There were many positive things about this race and, although I'm a little bit disappointed at the moment, this was my best weekend so far this season.
"Pole yesterday was very good and all the weekend we've been in a strong position. That's something we can be very happy about and can build on. I can't wait to go to Hockenheim and try again."
