Heikki Kovalainen peers up into the sky as the Australian Grand Prix kicks off with a noisy Qantas fly past. The Caterham team had a difficult afternoon with both drivers retiring from the race, suffering from power assisted steering issues.

After the race, Kovalainen spoke relatively positive of the issues: "Both stops went well but then I felt the car starting to pull left under braking so we brought the car in to take a look and it seems like a front left suspension problem was causing the handling imbalance I'd felt for a few laps before we had to retire. I'm sure we can fix both problems for next week and we have shown today what a step forward we've taken, so it's not bad news, it's just one of those days."

However, the Finnish driver has been handed a five place grid penalty for the Malaysian race, after the stewards found he overtook two cars before the safety car line. The Safety Car was out whilst the other Caterham car was recovered, and on the restart, Heikki made the jump a little too early. This weekend, he qualified 19th, so a five place drop will see him effectively last. Heikki admitted via Twitter that he found the penalty harsh but "that's life."