Finnish F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen probably has good reason to be angry. Despite a promising start in F1, driving for ING Renault in 2007 and McLaren Mercedes in 2008 and 2009, Kovalainen has been shuffled off to the also-rans, driving for Lotus Racing in 2010 and Team Lotus in 2011.

He’s back with the same team, now named Caterham F1, in 2012, so we don’t expect the talented driver to deliver any podium finishes this year, either. It’s fitting, then, that Kovalainen’s latest helmet sponsor, according to Autoblog.nl, is none other than game sensation Angry Birds.

Kovalainen will don his new lid at Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. When asked about his latest sponsorship deal, the Finnish driver told Red Bull, “This is a great partnership on many levels... it fits my larger focus on partnering with unique brands. As a Finn, I’m also happy to be backing a Finnish company on a global platform.”

We didn’t know that Angry Birds, of which Kovalainen admits to being a fan, was from Finland, either. As a tie-in to the sponsorship, Angry Birds will release a racing-themed update to the game later this year.

Perhaps if someone could get Sebastian Vettel to adopt a “Pink Pig” (the nickname for a Porsche 917, once painted like a butcher’s cut diagram) livery on his Red Bull Renault, Kovalainen would stand a chance of having a better season.