Jolyon Palmer did not want to race with Caterham in Abu Dhabi
During its recruitment campaign for its return to Abu Dhabi, Caterham contacted Jolyon Palmer, who has just been crowned in GP2. However, due to the level of uncertainty surrounding the team, he preferred to decline.
The Brit revealed this to our colleagues at Autosport: « They contacted us but I still have a GP2 race to compete in. So we were not very interested. I think it’s a bit of a mess over there. We wanted to focus on GP2 and win the team title for DAMS. »
This would not have been the first time a GP2 driver made the big leap during the season. In 2009, Romain Grosjean left the championship, while he was leading, to finish the season with Renault F1. However, this move almost broke the Frenchman’s career as Renault was undergoing a major restructuring after the Singapore crashgate. It took him three years to return after winning the GP2 title.
On the other hand, the British driver’s temporary role would have allowed a reigning GP2 champion to make his debut in F1, something that hasn’t happened since the Frenchman at Lotus. Consequently, Davide Valsecchi and Fabio Leimer, the two most recent title holders, have not managed to secure a spot at the higher level.
Jolyon Palmer still hopes to be able to arrive in F1 in 2015, although the disappearance of Marussia and Caterham could further reduce the available seats: « That will depend on what happens over the winter. I think there are a lot of questions around the future of these teams. So there are many risks associated with racing with them. Maybe they will be bought by big backers who have the resources to progress on the grid. In that case, it would be a good opportunity, but that doesn’t seem to be the most likely. I’m not sure if either of them will be there. »
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
