Sunday: Glock and Pic rendered powerless at Marussia
Handicapped by the absence of KERS and the blue flags, Timo Glock was unable to challenge the supremacy of the Caterham and finished the race in 18th place, satisfied with his team's progress. Relegated to the back of the pack after installing his ninth engine of the season, Charles Pic was slow to overtake the HRTs, thus rendering any hope of competing with his teammate and the Caterham futile.
Timo Glock – 18th:
I was very excited at the start of the race because I could see that we could really challenge the Caterhams. In the middle stint, I managed to close the gap like in Suzuka. Then we took the risk of putting on the Super Softs and I was just waiting for Heikki to make a mistake. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity and on the straight, he had the KERS, so I couldn’t attack him. I was the first to get the blue flags, which made me lose time towards the end of the race.
Moreover, our last stint was quite long and the front right tire really started to fall apart. I was locking the front wheel a lot and in the last eight laps, I simply decided to focus on bringing the car home: so I was very gentle with the car.
Our strategy was good, and it was great to compete and really be able to threaten the Caterhams again. It was very motivating, and my lap times were very consistent, so I am really happy with the progress.
Congratulations also to the mechanics who once again did solid work. I hope there will be tracks among those to come where the effect of the KERS will be a bit lesser and that we can continue to fight hard like this.
Charles Pic – 19th
The first part of the race was tough for me because I had to start from the back of the grid due to our engine change. I was stuck behind the HRTs for a good while and lost quite a bit of time. Because of that, it didn’t take long before I was too far from the Caterhams ahead, and it was difficult to try to come back from where I was.
Looking at the weekend as a whole, I was very happy with my qualifications and our race pace was also good, particularly at the end of the stint. I can’t wait to discover another new circuit for me with India.
