Sunday: Marussia still not quite up to par with Caterham
After a rather interesting first lap, where Jules Bianchi managed to pass both Caterhams at the start, the rest of the race was quite disappointing for the Marussia team, which was below the pace of their rivals who nevertheless managed to successfully execute their one-stop strategy.
Jules Bianchi – 19th:
I was really happy with my start because I got past both Caterhams in the first corner. Unfortunately, our pace at the beginning wasn’t enough to hold them off, and they regained their positions by the end of the first lap. During the first stint, we began to make good progress and were catching up with them, but after the pit stop, the balance wasn’t there, and we struggled with the hard tires, losing more time to them. We were on a one-stop strategy, Caterham on two stops, and I was able to take 18th place and keep Van der Garde behind me for a while, but not long enough unfortunately, and it was particularly hard to make any progress during the blue flag phase. It’s a shame not to have been able to make a solid race today on a track I love, but now, I’m looking forward to Singapore.
Max Chilton – 20th:
« Another difficult race today, which clearly highlighted the balance issues we’ve experienced all weekend. The start was fine, but I couldn’t keep up with the competition today. What encouraged me was the pace compared to my teammate; there was nothing between us during the first 25 laps, but every time I got close enough to overtake, I lost downforce, so I couldn’t do anything to improve. I stayed with him for the rest of the race, despite the most difficult blue flag phase of the season, when it was really challenging to make sure I gave the necessary space at the right moment without losing too much time. It’s time to say goodbye to the European season of my first year for what will be a long series of distant races. »
