Andre Lotterer in search of opportunities to drive in F1

Surprise of the Belgian Grand Prix, both for his presence at the wheel of the Caterham and for the overall impression he left during the Ardennes weekend, Andre Lotterer enjoyed his brief stint in F1. At 32 years old, the three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner with Audi hopes to have more opportunities to race in the premier discipline.

« We are still in contact and I think there are opportunities to do more races, » he told the American website Racer. « I really have to think about it. It was a great experience for me and I have to look at the schedule and see if it’s just a one-off appearance or if it’s interesting to do more. »

Personal friend of Colin Kolles, who arrived at the same time as the Arab-Swiss investors who restructured the team, notably placing Christijan Albers at its head, Lotterer was chosen by Caterham for his extensive experience in development, in order to help initiate a new dynamic as major developments were brought to Spa.

« We had very constructive meetings and I was able to give them some good feedback after having driven so many top-level cars in my career, so there were fundamental elements that could be done better. » However, he wants to clarify that his feedback matched that of the current drivers, Marcus Ericsson and, until Spa, Kamui Kobayashi: « The current drivers felt these things too […] so it was good to confirm certain things that needed to be better. »

Without any preliminary running, the German got into the cockpit of the Caterham CT05 during the first free practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix. In qualifying, he had the luxury of outpacing his young teammate, the Swede Marcus Ericsson, in wet conditions. However, his weekend ended early, in the second lap of the race, due to an electronic problem.

Lotterer reflects on these three days: I would have preferred dry conditions because I could have built on Friday’s experience. I had to start from scratch again, and it wasn’t ideal for qualifying, but it was part of my challenge, and it went quite well. I was very satisfied with my performance. Then, the fuse box had a problem when I went over the curbs, so I couldn’t drive for very long, but it was a good experience for me.

He draws a positive conclusion and acknowledges the support he received during his time: « It was great; I got a lot of hilarious feedback. I felt that everyone at Audi was behind me, as well as all the people who supported me before and in Japan. I felt like I had the whole WEC paddock [the World Endurance Championship, editor’s note] behind me, Audi was very happy about all of it, and I was generally surprised by how everyone supported me. It was a great feeling, I didn’t expect it. Formula 1 is another dimension. »

Andre Lotterer will get back into the cockpit of his Audi R18 e-tron quattro at the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas on September 20th in Austin: « It’s a very long break after Le Mans [held on June 14 and 15], I’m looking forward to being back with my teammates, and there couldn’t be a better place than Texas to enjoy it even more. Great fans, a great circuit, and it should be a wonderful race day. »