Sunday: Caterham doesn’t see the finish line in India

Charles Pic – Retirement:

« After the start and coming out of the first turn, I was ahead of Chilton and my teammate. Giedo had nowhere to go and touched my right rear tire; it punctured, and I had to immediately come in for a stop. We started on soft tires, so we had to pit early, but obviously not in the first lap, and with the time lost, I was where I was in Japan, having to spend the rest of the race catching up with the others.

On the first stint on mediums, the car started to behave strangely and I was called back to the pits again on the 16th lap. We had another puncture on the right rear tire, and the tire had lost a lot of pressure, so we put on a new set of medium tires and I pushed to close the gap to the cars in front, but with such a deficit, it was unlikely I would be able to catch and pass them. We lost hydraulic pressure, which first affected the gearbox, making gear changes more difficult, and then the steering became heavy, and on the 39th lap, I was asked to retire the car.

Overall, it was a tough weekend, but we will continue to fight next weekend and for the rest of the season.

Giedo van der Garde – Retirement:

« I am really disappointed that my race ended so early. I had a good start, but coming out of the first corner, Chilton didn’t give me any room and we made contact, which broke my front wing and suspension. It was clear to us that room needed to be left for others, but today I didn’t get that room at all, and that’s what ended my race before it really began.

It’s really a shame because the car seemed really good, the balance was there from the first practice session, and we know we have the pace on Sunday to get ahead of the cars we’re competing with. That it ends so quickly is obviously bad, for me and for everyone in the team who continues to work so hard, but we can come back as soon as next weekend in Abu Dhabi, and that’s exactly what I want to do.