Caterham disappointed at Sochi, Kobayashi hints at component shortage
Caterham had a disappointing afternoon at Sochi following hopes it could fight Lotus. That soon proved not to be the case and resulted in a 19th place finish for Marcus Ericsson and a DNF for Kamui Kobayashi.
While Kamui Kobayashi officially retired due to overheating brakes, the driver said to reporters immediately after his retirement that the team was limiting mileage on several components, and he believes this was the reason for his forced retirement. He was adamant that he felt nothing wrong with the car, but was ordered to park it.
Marcus Ericsson, car #9, chassis CT05-#04, 19th: “The start to today’s race was a really good one – it was a strong first stint and I was able to pull-away from the Sauber and the Lotus behind without any problems, I felt really good. But the second stint on the prime tyres wasn’t that good, I just couldn’t get them to work – I felt no grip and I struggled massively to switch them on and in the end the team decided to call me in again for a second pit-stop and by then the race was already over for us as we were too far from the Lotus. I feel a bit disappointed because it felt so good on the first stint, I think we could’ve had a better result.
“Overall it’s been another strong weekend, we’re improving continuously and we’ve demonstrated that we can fight with Lotus and Sauber not only today during the first part of the race, but also yesterday’s qualifying session. Now we just need to build on that and I look forward to the last three races of the season.”
Kamui Kobayashi, car #10, chassis CT05-#02, DNF: “A disappointing Sunday. When I heard over the radio that I needed to pit I thought it was just a normal pit-stop, but then I was told that I needed to retire. It was all a bit of a surprise to me and at first I didn’t really know what the reason for having to stop was. The team has now analysed the telemetry and it was clear that my brakes were overheating too much. It’s a shame to end the weekend like this, but there’s not much more I could do today.”
Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Marcus did a fantastic job and pushed very hard to stay ahead of the two Lotus drivers, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough. However, we have demonstrated both today and in qualifying that our pace is improving, which is obviously good news for the remaining races this season. Unfortunately Kamui wasn’t able to complete the full race distance, but both Power Units worked well and we had absolutely no issues at all. Hopefully we can continue the upward trend in Austin.”
