Pic not certain to stay with Marussia in 2013
Charles Pic recently admitted that he was not sure if he could remain with the Marussia team next year even though he is convinced that by working hard, he should be able to convince his managers to extend his contract for 2013.
Since the Marussia team’s beginnings in F1 (in 2010 under the name Virgin at the time), each year Timo Glock has seen a new teammate arrive by his side: Lucas di Grassi in 2010, Jérôme d’Ambrosio in 2011, and Charles Pic in 2012.
The French driver hopes to stay at least one more year with the Russian team, but he knows that nothing is certain at the moment, as he told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti: «I think I need to stay focused on this year and do a good job, and if I perform well, then a new contract will naturally come for next year.»
Formula 1 is currently in a period of transfer rumors, but this affects the Marussia team very little. As in previous years, the announcement of the duo for 2013 should not occur before the end of the year, as reminded by Andy Webb, one of the team’s officials, quoted by the site Championat.ru: «Usually, these decisions are made at the end of the season. We constantly evaluate the situation with our drivers, but I must say that we are happy with Charles Pic.»
If the French driver is not retained, it is difficult to say who will replace him, but Marussia will likely draw from its young driver program, with examples such as Rio Haryanto or Max Chilton who drove the MR01 during the young driver tests in Silverstone last week.
