Sunday: Charles Pic brings the Marussia home safely
The results were very poor for Marussia after the Canadian Grand Prix. The British team didn't benefit from their new aero package and failed to find the right settings. French driver Charles Pic managed to finish the race without any issues, which he was happy about, but the Marussia cars are far from the performance of Caterham. Pic set his best lap time during the race at 1:20.632, more than two and a half seconds behind Kovalainen's time. Timo Glock, on the other hand, faced many reliability problems: brakes, engine overheating, not to mention the significant degradation of his rear tires. The team is now looking forward to the European Grand Prix in Valencia, eager to achieve performances closer to those of Caterham.
Charles Pic – 20th:
« Above all, I am happy to finish the race – it was my first here and even though the weekend was difficult, I believe that for the team and for myself it was a good experience and it will allow us to progress for the future. Our pace here wasn’t good compared to our two closest competitors so we have to understand why. On my side, the start was good and I was able to maintain my position. Then, Timo [Glock] and I had a good race. Starting so far back, that’s what we were looking for, to have a good race and manage to reach the finish. Next stop in Valencia, a track where I have already driven so I will lose less time acclimating and preparing the car. I made the pole position in GP2 there and I enjoy this track – yet another street circuit. In addition, hours of work are planned next week in the simulator which should help us even more to be ready for Valencia: a track which should suit the car and my driving better. »
Timo Glock – Retired:
« It was not a very good race for me. The first stint was okay until I suddenly lost power; I believe it was due to the engine temperature being too high. After 14 laps, I experienced a lot of degradation on my rear tires and the combination of both issues was difficult to manage… We had to quickly pit, and upon my return to the track, I had to let faster cars pass under the blue flag, preventing me from warming up my tires. However, I was able to catch up a bit with my teammate, Charles [Pic], but in the end, I had significant braking issues, and it was too dangerous to continue, so I had to retire. It’s my first retirement, but overall, Canada wasn’t a great memory for us this season, which is paradoxical given how much I enjoy this track… Now, I’m focusing on the next GP, Valencia.
