(Francois Flamand DPPI for Renault Sport F1)
The Caterham F1 Team head to the German Grand Prix this weekend at the Hockenheimring with a renewed sense of belief after the Leafield based outfit was sold to a Swiss/Middle Eastern consortium just before their home race at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone two week's ago.
The team now have a new boss in Christijan Albers and an new F1 adviser with the return to the F1 fold of former HRT and Spyker team boss Colin Kolles. The new management team in place at the outfit have just signed off on releasing the financial resources needed to develop a major upgrade package for the CT05 which they hope will be in place for the Belgian Grand Prix following the Summer break.
Last time out in Silverstone Kamui Kobayashi finished the race in th place despite being caught in the Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen's huge accident on the Wellington straight. Despite this however, the Japanese driver was able to continue the race and he is now looking forward to the next in Germany. Speaking to Caterham's official website Kobayashi said:
'The last two races before the summer break are Germany and Hungary, both tracks I like but in particular Hockenheim - I have been testing and racing at this track so many times throughout my carrier since I came to Europe. So, in a way, this is one of my home tracks!
"The German Grand Prix, whether it's at Hockenheim or Nurburgring always has fantastic support from the fans - it's like Silverstone and the atmosphere, especially on Sunday at Hockenheim, is amazing!
"For us this will be another race where we aim to fight back against our nearest rivals. We did not see the full performance of the cars in Silverstone for various reasons, particularly for me as I had issues with the car on both Friday and Saturday. Then on Sunday I lost a chunk of downforce when I had to go off-track to avoid the shunt on lap one - that cost me so much laptime. So, I did not have a proper drive throughout the whole weekend! But I'm determined to make sure that all the problems are now gone and I'm ready to fight back in Germany and Hungary.'
Caterham team mate Marcus Ericsson heads to the German Grand Prix after retiring from the British Grand Prix due to suspension damage. The Swedish driver is looking forward to this weekend's Grand Prix in Germany. Speaking to the official Caterham website Ericsson commented:
'Germany is one of the races I've been really looking forward to. I know the track well as I've raced there in GP2 and I think it'll be a great challenge in a 2014 F1 car - there's a good mix of really quick bits and some slower corners where you can overtake, and the noise the German fans make all weekend is amazing! Actually, it's one of the races that a lot of Swedish fans make it to, so seeing my country's flags in the crowd - that'll make it even more special.
"Inside the car I think we know it's going to be another challenging weekend for us in terms of the pure pace, but the team learnt a lot from the two day test we did in Silverstone after the British GP and we'll be looking to put that into practice on track. The key thing for me is to make sure we have maximum mileage all weekend, especially on Sunday when we need to be there at the end of the race. We've seen this year that the races are very unpredictable and for us that can create opportunities, but if we're not on track when the chequered flag falls we can't take advantage of whatever's happening around us, so that's the main goal.'
The team head o the German Grand Prix aiming to score their first ever Formula One point's and having shown encouraging signs in Silverstone and over the course of the in-season test the team will be hopeful that they can challenge for a top ten finish on Sunday afternoon.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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