Charles Pic threatened by Petrov at Marussia?
According to a Dutch publication, the position of the French driver may no longer be set in stone at Marussia, although they assure that the native of Montélimar will indeed be on the grid in Melbourne.
Guest of the Moscato Show on RMC, Charles Pic confided: « Even though, for now, I’m trying to stay focused on the tests to prepare for Melbourne, with the two times four days coming up in Barcelona, it’s sure that it will be my first race in F1, so there will be a bit of pressure and a lot of emotions. »
However, according to the Dutch site F1today.nl, the Frenchman’s position at Marussia is now threatened by « payment issues from his sponsors ». The native of Montélimar, backed by the Lagardère Group, is indeed competing with Vitaly Petrov, who was anticipated, a few months ago, to take Timo Glock’s place, while Le Point reports that « the [Lagardère] group announced 900 million in asset depreciation, including 600 million euros due to the sports subsidiary ».
On Twitter, the Russian team nevertheless insisted on denying the rumors: « No such issues, Charles will be on the grid in Melbourne! »
Regarding Vitaly Petrov, who was recently considered a potential replacement for Jarno Trulli at Caterham F1 Team, he could not provide the financial guarantees expected by the Malaysian team, which has since secured the services of Giedo van der Garde. Oksana Kosachenco, the Russian’s agent, remarked, when some were speculating about the HRT route: « He doesn’t even know who I’m negotiating with. His main task is to be sharp and ready at any moment to jump into a car and deliver results. […] I would say that, for now, I have other options and I am more focused on exploring these options. If in a few days we do not reach anything, we will have to discuss with other series and probably with Pirelli as well. »
