Sunday: No miracle for Caterham in Brazil
With a mechanical failure on Charles Pic's car and a penalty for Giedo Van der Garde, the last race of the 2013 season was complicated for Caterham. The team finishes the season in 11th and last place in the constructors' championship, yielding no payments related to F1 television rights. However, the future looks promising for the team, which continues to invest in the 2014 season and is already eager to present the future Caterham.
Giedo van der Garde – 18th:
« My start was really good. I overtook my teammate and fought with Bianchi at turn 1, but had to give up my position to avoid contact with a Force India. The car was working well and a few laps later I overtook him again. I then had space to attack and try to make up my gap with Kovalainen’s Lotus. We went until lap 24 with the medium tires and I was 14th, but the main goal was to maintain a gap with the Marussias, and when I pitted, the gap was 7 seconds.
My second set of tires was also performing well, but halfway through the race, I was ordered to let my teammate pass. My tires started to perform less effectively, but with the risk of rain, we had to stay on track to pit at the best moment… I was supposed to pit on lap 42 and eventually came in for a tire change on lap 47, suffering and losing a lot of time in that interval. I managed to come out ahead of Bianchi, but I got a penalty that put me back about 15 seconds behind him. I was able to close the gap to 7 seconds, but no more.
This is not the end of the race I would have wished for, but I think I have learned a lot this year. There have been ups and downs, but it’s a good team, the group gets along well and works hard. They are determined to succeed, just like me.
Charles Pic – Withdrawal
My start was not good, but by the end of my 5th lap, I was able to overtake Bianchi and catch up with my teammate. We did a long first stint on medium tires while keeping an eye on the sky and the rain, and we came in to change our tires on lap 25, sticking with the medium tires. We stayed ahead of Bianchi, which was our first objective. My pace in the second stint was good too, and halfway through the race, we swapped positions with Giedo. I had a better pace, and we were not on the same strategy at that moment.
My times were good – at 1:18 which was close to the mid-pack times and eventually the rain intensified. I was 17th but suddenly on lap 58, I had a suspension problem and it was over for me. It’s really a shame it ended that way because my race was going well and with the rain intensifying, we could have been in a good position… but sometimes that’s how it goes…
