Following two largely unsuccessful season with McLaren, Heikki Kovalainen says he aims to do things differently at Lotus.

The Finn joins Jarno Trulli at the new Malaysian team which is due to fire up its car for the first time at the end of next week. However, talking to Reuters, Kovalainen admits that perhaps he didn't make the most of his time with the Woking team which dropped him at the end of last season in favour of world champion Jenson Button.

"I have analysed it quite a lot myself and with the people around me, with my family and with everybody," he said. "We tried very hard with McLaren towards the end of my time there. It didn't work out.

"I don't want to get into the reason why too much, there's no point," he added, almost tantalisingly. "I think I know why it didn't work out for me and I am starting from another place now and let's see how it works out."

"If I went back in time I would still go to McLaren, no question about it," he continued. "But I would do things very differently. I am doing things differently at Lotus and my target is to get 100 percent out of the team all the time. At McLaren I felt I didn't get everything out of the team."

Asked how he thinks his successor will fare, particularly as he links up with Britain's other 'golden boy', 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, the Finn said: "I don't know how it is going to work out for him, the only thing I can say is that he will find a team that is warm and very professional. I'm sure they will be very motivated and work flat out for him. That's what he will find. Whether it will work out for him I don't know."

Looking ahead to this season with his new team, the Finn revealed: "The first chassis has arrived here and everyone's building it. The engine is here already so there are quite a lot more people working here compared to a week and a half ago when I was here last time.

"It all looks very positive," he continued, "everybody is flat out working because it will be busy until the first test and first race, it will be very hectic. But for me it all looks like it is progressing really well. It looks fantastic. I don't expect it to be a rocket to start with but it looks really cool, people will be surprised when they see the car.

"For me, it's just a new chapter in my career and I feel I am in very good shape. I expect some tough times, especially the first half of the season, but I have to go through them. I think we have a lot of potential and that's why I decided to join. I think in the long run this can be a very good place for me."