First positive day for Petrov despite seat issues

Yesterday, Vitaly Petrov made his first official appearance as a Caterham driver and was able to get behind the wheel of the CT01 at the Barcelona circuit. The first impressions are positive even though there are still small details to be corrected for the Russian to feel completely comfortable in his new cockpit.

It was a positive day. It was important to understand what I want for the car in the future. Tomorrow will be another day and I think we can start working on the set-up. Today was just a familiarization, states the Russian driver in Barcelona.

The only small downside, Petrov felt a bit cramped in the CT01’s cockpit and his seat isn’t perfectly set up yet, but nothing serious since it should already be fixed for the second day of testing.

Who says new team, also says new objectives. Caterham has fewer ambitions than Lotus but wants to take a step forward and get closer to teams like Toro Rosso and Sauber, among others. Petrov obviously wants to help the team achieve this, even though he refuses to give specific targets.

« It’s a different team, a different car with different downforce, etc., so I don’t want to talk about where we will be or which team we are going to overtake. The most important thing is to understand what we want. I want to grow with the team step by step forward, getting closer to the teams in front. I believe that little by little, the team is going in the right direction, so we must continue working as we have been and as they have been for 2 years by always pushing a little more, » reports Petrov.

« I need to have good results to have a good relationship with the team, to be consistent. I think being in the top 10 won’t be possible, but who knows, maybe tomorrow we will bring something incredible and surprise everyone. »

The Lotus that Vitaly Petrov drove last year was sometimes difficult to drive and required an aggressive driving style whereas the CT01 requires a smoother approach. It’s a different car, you can’t attack the corners in the same way, the downforce is different. Now I don’t know how the Lotus car behaves, in fact, they’re not racing anymore, he says with a smile before correcting himself: It’s not good, they go home and we laugh, it’s not nice. It’s a shame they’re not here and I sent them a message to say I was sorry for them.

Winter was long for Petrov, who waited until the last moment to secure a seat. So it was with relief that he went to the Caterham factory, and the rapport seems to be going well between the Russian and his new team.

« I didn’t want to spend a year without racing in Formula 1 because coming back afterward is really difficult. The last three months have been complicated. I was surprised by the fact that they are really attentive. It’s not a big team at the moment, so there’s no pressure to say ‘tomorrow we must be in such a position.’ »

Petrov is back at the wheel of the Caterham today and will hand over to Kovalainen tomorrow. The understanding between the two men is already good. « He’s a fast driver, everyone knows that, and I believe we can work well together. We more or less have the same feeling about the car. »

From our correspondent in Barcelona.