Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki started his Motorsport career in the same place that most drivers did, karting. His first real achievement came with second place in the Finnish Formula A Championship in 1999 and 2000. Heikki continued up the ranks of the Motorsport ladder winning various championships until he really made a name for himself by winning the Race of Champions in 2004.
Vitaly Petrov
Vitaly was born in the Russian town of Vyborg, 50 miles north of St Petersburg near the Finnish border. He began his Motorsport career very late on, aged 17. Starting by racing saloon cars on a mixture of surfaces from asphalt to mud and snow, he learned a lot about controlling the car in different conditions. In 2002 he also competed in ring road racing and won the Lada Cup title in his homeland, before winning the Russian ice racing championship in the winter of 2002/3. After that he moved on to single seaters, with several well placed finishes and third in the Italian Formula 3000 championship.