Saturday: Successful debut for André Lotterer with Caterham in Belgium
For his big debut in F1, André Lotterer couldn't have hoped for better: he managed to outpace his teammate while discovering the handling of a Formula 1 car in the rain! Both Caterhams will start on the last row.
André Lotterer (#45) – 22nd and 21st
Some wondered how a driver who hadn’t driven an F1 car for 14 years would fare on one of the toughest tracks, especially in the rain. André Lotterer responded in the best possible way and proved that he was not a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans by chance: « It’s clearly a quick learning process of how to drive an F1! Yesterday was dry while it rained today. Everything is therefore covered and I now know exactly what to expect in these two conditions. I think it was a very challenging qualification for me. I had to discover everything about the track. So I’m happy to have brought the car back without making many mistakes. It was so easy to lose everything! In the end, I managed to pull off two decent laps and I’m very happy with my result. »
Now it’s time to put it into practice during the race. The German driver hopes that conditions won’t be too difficult so he can understand how far he can go: « The hardest part is discovering everything in such a short time: understanding where the grip is, where to brake, how to manage acceleration and power. I’ve accumulated a lot of experience in a very short time and I think I can have a good race tomorrow. I did some long runs yesterday and found a good rhythm. Let’s hope the conditions won’t be too tricky because otherwise, I’ll have to discover the limits while driving. That’s my biggest concern. However, I’m really looking forward to it. I’m ready! »
Marcus Ericsson (No. 9) – 21st and 22nd
The Swede is therefore once again outperformed by his new teammate, but he believes it’s due to the traffic on the track: « I think we could have been more competitive in the rain, but unfortunately, we were always in the wrong place on the track. I didn’t get a single clean lap. I’m disappointed because we could have done much better if we had managed a clean lap. »
He doesn’t have high hopes for tomorrow’s race as the performance of his car seems to be far from that of Marussia: « Regardless of the weather conditions for tomorrow, I think we will have a difficult race in any case. However, we must prepare to make the most of any opportunities that arise during the race tomorrow. On the dry track this morning, we quickly put on the soft tires, which explains why we were off the pace, but the car seemed much better on the dry. So if the race is on a dry track tomorrow, I think we have the potential to do well. »
