ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Heikki Kovalainen has been cleared by doctors to race in the Turkish Grand Prix, giving McLaren a boost as it aims to snap Ferrari's three-race win streak.
The 26-year-old Finn was given a go-ahead for Sunday's race after undergoing medical checks by governing body FIA on Thursday, following his violent crash at the preceding Spanish GP.
A wheel rim failure caused a tire on Kovalainen's car to explode and send him barreling into a wall at high speed. The crash left him in a hospital overnight with slight injuries, including a concussion.
"I arrived here today feeling confident that I would pass the FIA test as I feel 100 percent," Kovalainen said. "If I had not felt 100 percent I would have told the team already and stayed at home."
Test driver Pedro De La Rosa would likely have filled Kovalainen's seat if he had been found unfit to race.
Ferrari is still the favorite at the Istanbul Speed Park circuit, where its drivers have won all three races.
Current world champion Kimi Raikkonen, coming off his second victory of the season at Barcelona, won the inaugural Turkish GP when he was with McLaren three years ago. Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa has won both since.
Raikkonen has 29 points for a nine-point advantage over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in the overall championship standings. Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber is third with 19, one more than Massa.
Raikkonen is approaching the race with cautious optimism after the Italian team's consecutive 1-2 sweeps.
"I won't change my approach. It's too early to think about anything else than a victory," Raikkonen said. "The (track) at Istanbul is very similar to the one at Sepang and Sakhir, where we (won). That makes us think that we'll be competitive over the weekend."
Ferrari's car will be without the new nose used in Barcelona. Most teams are making changes to setups coming to Turkey, which has been moved from its previous late summer date, forcing teams to adjust for moderate temperatures rather than the intense humidity of past years.
BMW Sauber is looking to return to the podium after missing out in Spain, but is in the thick of both the drivers and constructors races after finish second once and third twice this season. It already views itself as equal to McLaren.
"It's so close, the slightest modification could swing the pendulum either way," technical director Willy Rampf said.
