Sunday: First Grand Prix and Two Withdrawals for Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – Retirement (brake system failure)

« I couldn’t do much about the contact with Felipe », that’s what Kamui Kobayashi declared following the first GP of the season. The driver couldn’t avoid the collision with Felipe Massa in the first lap. The cause was a brake problem: « According to the initial data, it seems to come from a problem in the braking system. (…) When we retrieved the car and looked at more detailed information, it was clear that it was the problem. ».

For his return to Formula 1, the Japanese driver had set the 15th fastest time during the qualifications. He hopes this technical failure will be resolved quickly to have a chance of crossing the finish line in Malaysia: « We will closely examine what caused this issue and ensure it is fixed. The really positive thing is that we were quite competitive, despite our problems on Friday, » he philosophizes.

Marcus Ericsson – Retirement (oil pressure)

After launching from the 20th place and having an excellent start by reaching the 13th position, Ericsson was forced to retire on the 29th lap of the race. A hard blow for the rookie who doesn’t lose his good spirits: « Even if my first F1 race ended with a retirement, I am proud of the way we fought today. It has been a very challenging weekend overall, one of the toughest of my career, but we showed the potential we have in the early laps. ».

The young driver, forced to stop due to oil pressure issues, is convinced he could have finished in the top 12: « If we hadn’t had that, I think we would have finished ahead of Marussia because I was quite comfortable in front of Chilton. »