Sunday: Caterham finishes far ahead of its rivals

Giedo van der Garde – 14th place

« I am really satisfied with today’s race, which is for me the best of the year, and it’s great to perform like that just before the August break. I think it shows that our planned strategy for this season, which was to learn and improve race after race, is working given that I was in the rhythm we were aiming for during the six laps before the tires started to go.

For most of the season my starts were good and it was the same today. I was ahead of Bottas at the end of the first lap and was keeping pace with those around me before my first stop to switch to prime tires, on the eighth lap.

The car seemed good at that moment, and tire management was going very well. I was gaining time on the Williams in front when we stopped on lap twenty-eight. I was 19th when I came out well ahead of our closest rivals.

Today’s objective was to beat the cars we are fighting with all year, so the second part of the season will be about consolidating the position we were in once the halfway point of the season passed. Of course, the blue flags didn’t help us since we have to drive with one eye forward and one eye behind, but we have to deal with them both on the track and in strategy, and I think our plan for today was correct.

After the third stop, I was about five seconds ahead of my teammate, and I knew I had to make the last set of mediums last until the checkered flag, about twenty-six laps. I think the combination of being able to show that my tire management is improving, the right strategy, and a decent performance in the car made this the best day for me in F1 since the beginning.

Charles Pic – 15th

I started on the option tires with a two-stop strategy, and at the end of the first lap, I was just behind Bottas with my teammate ahead of him. We originally planned to stop around the 10th lap, but the soft tires were holding up so well that we extended our first stint to the 13th, so I was able to stay on track, even though we knew it would be a challenge with today’s track conditions.

After my first stop, I came out behind Bianchi and Chilton, but I passed them and was able to make up time on Giedo, who was 18th at that point. Even though the track conditions were clearly very hot, the first set of medium tires performed well and lasted the distance we aimed for our second stop on lap 38, at which point I was 18th.

After this successful second stop, I had to make the tires last until the end of the race, thirty-two laps in total, so I managed them the best I could and there wasn’t much more I could do.