It's a great moment, a great feeling - Kovalainen

ING Renault F1 Team driver Heikki Kovalainen scored his first podium place at Fuji today since he entered Formula One at the beginning of the season. Of course the rookie driver is extremely happy with his second place especially as the team has been going through a rough season.

Kovalainen said: "What a rollercoaster year it's been for us, especially myself. This weekend again we made a little bit of a gamble with the car yesterday hoping it would be dry today, and then this morning it was raining probably more than yesterday.

So things didn't look fantastic at the start of the race, but you always keep going – you never know what can happen. Our strategy worked out really well today, and so I think the team deserves one podium at least through this year.

At the end of the race I had a good fight with Kimi. I couldn't see him – my mirrors were steamed up – but I saw my pit board, and every lap he was a second closer to me. So I knew that at some point, he was going to attack. I managed to keep him behind, so it's fantastic."

His first podium was even more special for Heikki as he was joined by compatriot Kimi Raikkonen. Kova said: "Yeah, of course for me it was a very good moment. It was my first podium in Formula One. Obviously a lot of work had gone towards that and the next thing is to be sitting in the middle. Of course it's very good to be there with Kimi as well. Kimi's obviously been there many times before, so I don't think it's a big deal for him to be honest but for myself, it's a great moment, a great feeling."