Fernandes is grateful to Trulli

Jarno Trulli participated in the first winter tests of the 2012 season with the Caterham F1 team before eventually being replaced in favor of Vitaly Petrov. The Italian driver did not show much anger towards his team following his replacement; in fact, he had admitted that he was prepared to see a new driver with financial backing arrive.

During his two years with Lotus Racing and then Team Lotus, the Italian driver often fought at the back of the pack, but he gave his best, which allowed the team to progress, as Tony Fernandes, the head of the team that became Caterham F1, stated.

« Jarno played an incredibly important role during the first two years of our team. With Heikki (Kovalainen), they gave us the experience and determination we needed to ensure we finished in 10th place during our first two seasons, and to set the standards we needed to get closer to the teams they both had raced for before joining us, » Tony Fernandes said in an interview with the official Formula 1 website.

Despite some issues with his car, the Italian driver managed to achieve two of Team Lotus’s three best results in 2011 – two 13th places secured in Australia and Monaco. But despite some strong performances, Tony Fernandes believes that Trulli was at the end of his career.

In 2011, Jarno finished in positions that helped us secure this very important 10th place in the championship, but he would be the first to say that he was probably at the end of his time in Formula 1. He had a long and successful career, and we are all grateful to have worked with him during our first two years.

The Caterham team therefore wanted to incorporate a younger driver who could continue the team’s development and keep pushing it higher, and Vitaly Petrov’s profile was a perfect fit.

«But we wanted to bring in new talent, and Vitaly has proven to be a great addition to the team. He is fast, he is talented, and he integrated immediately. Some people told me he was rather quiet, but the opposite turned out to be true. He is hungry, he really wants to keep proving that he has the talent to be at the top, and he has a great sense of humor. He has brought new energy from his side of the garage, and we are all thrilled to have him with us.»

Tony Fernandes also spoke about the objectives of the Caterham F1 team for the 2012 season, its third in Formula 1. Even though he would like to see the CT01 regularly fight in the middle of the pack, he knows it will be a challenging goal.

The objective for mid-season is the same as for the year ahead of us. We know what is achievable, and settling in the middle of the pack is a huge challenge, so the reasonable goal is to be 10th once again. But the “stretch” goal – for which we want to motivate everyone to achieve – is to fight in the midfield, and when you look at our pace in Australia, it’s not too far from our possibilities, added the Malaysian boss of the Caterham F1 team.