Caterham F1 Team
Caterham duo Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde say that wet weather would be preferable as they bid to snatch 10th place in the Constructors' championship from Marussia.
Marussia has held the position since the first race in Australia but a 13th place finish for either Pic of Van der Garde would result in Caterham jumping ahead of their rivals in a battle that has lucrative financial outcomes.
Last season, Caterham overhauled Marussia in the final race of the year in Brazil, one which was affected by changeable conditions.
"The rain was still falling at the start of qualifying, but not enough for wets so we went out early with the whole pack to maximise our running time on the inters," said Pic, who qualified in 19th place.
"It was very tricky out there but I’m happy with how it finished. We’ve had a balance issue for the last three races that we’ve worked a lot on and this weekend it’s come good, so I’m pleased with my final time in Q1."
"The main aim was to be in front of our nearest rivals and we’ve done that, keeping in reserve an extra set of intermediates, so we start what could be a fascinating race tomorrow where we’d aimed for and if it keeps raining like this we could have a chance of reclaiming tenth place in the Championship."
Van der Garde will start from 20th on the grid.
"In Q1 we went out immediately on inters but on my fastest lap I made a mistake in sector two which cost me quite a lot of time. The car balance didn’t feel great but I think there was still more to come, not enough for Q2 today but now it’s all about tomorrow," he said.
"We’ve saved a set of inters for tomorrow so we’re in good shape with the tyres we have available. Our car’s good in the wet, I really like this sort of weather and we all know what we have to do. We’ve been here before, on this track and in these circumstances, so we know what we have to do on Sunday."
"Honestly, I’m excited about it – it’s going to be super tense but that’s what this is all about."
