Sunday: Ericsson in the wall, Kobayashi stopped at Caterham
While mixed conditions could have allowed Caterham to fight for a point, Marcus Ericsson made a mistake during the 7th lap, causing the safety car's first deployment. Kamui Kobayashi, on the other hand, was betrayed by his car's fuel system, forcing him to retire.
Kamui Kobayashi (n°10) – Retirement
After an encouraging start, the Japanese driver was forced to retire due to a fuel problem: « It’s really a shame not to have finished, but I had no power left with this issue. » The Caterham driver’s race start was encouraging: « the car was good in mixed conditions, which seems to suit us, and my pace in the first stint was very good. » Like the other drivers, Kamui Kobayashi stopped during the first safety car intervention on the ninth lap: « I had a pretty good pace to climb back up to 14th position. »
But the race was not smooth all the way for him, especially with a narrowly avoided accident: « When Maldonado spun after his contact with Bianchi, I managed to turn just enough to avoid being hit, but it must have been by a few millimeters. » Apart from that, the Japanese driver didn’t have much difficulty and was running his race: « We were on a quite long stint on this set of tires, but I lost all power on the 24th lap, and that was the end of my race. »
Marcus Ericsson (No. 9) – Withdrawal
The start by the Swedish driver was promising according to him: « I had a great battle with Chilton and Maldonado, trying to overtake them at turn three, and I was a bit too aggressive on the throttle. The rear slipped away, and I couldn’t regain control of the car. In the end, I was in the wall. » This crash, on the seventh lap, shattered his Caterham and triggered the safety car, which was so decisive in the course of this Grand Prix.
Despite the violence of the crash, Marcus Ericsson has no physical aftereffects: « It was a very big crash. I went to the medical center right after, and they told me it was a 20G impact, but physically, I am fine. » But the rookie feels guilty for his entire team, both on the track and at Leafield, Caterham’s headquarters: « They give 100% all the time, and it’s clearly not a pleasant feeling to see one of their cars in the wall. » The Swede then looks to the future: « We will come back to fight at Spa where we will have new elements. »
