Sunday: Kobayashi could not do better with Caterham
After a good race in Malaysia, the Caterhams did not experience the same fortune in Sakhir: although Kamui Kobayashi finished in 15th position, benefiting from retirements, he believes he couldn't have done better. On the other hand, Marcus Ericsson suffered an oil leak.
Kamui Kobayashi (No. 10) – 15th
Another race completed for the Japanese driver, who even managed to fight with the Lotus cars: « I had a decent start. My pace in the first stint was good, tire degradation was as we expected, so I pitted on lap 15 to switch to the softs. Then, I found myself behind Maldonado in 16th position but couldn’t catch up to him. »
« We were on a two-stop strategy so I stopped on the 35th lap to switch to mediums. Then the safety car came out and I found myself with Maldonado and Grosjean as it came back in.
Upon restarting, I had to save fuel so I couldn’t maintain the pace and the race was over. I couldn’t finish better than 15th today, he estimates.
Progress is expected in China: « We must regroup in China, and with a few updates for this race, we will try to make progress there. »
Marcus Ericsson (No. 9) – Retirement (oil leak)
After a good start, the Swede was able to fight in the pack, but his race ended early, as in Australia: « My start was good and I managed to climb up to 17th place. But after my second stop on lap 26, I lost power and was told to stop due to an oil leak. »
« It’s obviously very disappointing not to be able to finish the race, especially since the car was getting better with less fuel. But well, it’s all part of my learning process, » he adds, philosophically.
