Caterham F1 Team
Caterham duo Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson say that the team must have a better build-up to the race if they are to improve at next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Neither driver managed significant running across the two practice sessions in Australia and Kobayashi reckons a proper Friday programme will allow Caterham to show their true pace.
"I’ve obviously raced there a few times before, and finished in the points in 2011, and this year it would be great if we were able to fight for a point, but we’ll have to make sure we have a better Friday than we did in Australia if we’re going to have a stronger weekend at Sepang," said the Japanese.
"The way we bounced back in qualifying in Melbourne showed a little bit of what we can do, but without any real laps in FP1 or FP2 we only had a very small chance to fight. With a proper Friday and Saturday programme we can give ourselves the opportunity to show the true pace of the car, and prepare much more for the race.
"Obviously, I’d like to also make sure I don’t have the same brake problems that caused the accident in turn one in Australia – without that I think we’d have had a strong race and we’ll work as hard as we can to give ourselves the chance to really perform."
Ericsson retired due to an oil pressure problem in Australia but believes Caterham can begin to unlock the potential of the CT05 next weekend.
"We obviously need a stronger weekend on track overall, and I know they guys back at the factory and at Renault have been working flat out to help us do so," said Ericsson, who has experience of the Sepang circuit from his GP2 days .
"Our race pace in Australia was pretty good, but with a full Friday and not having to use FP3 to catch up, I think we can start to unlock the real performance of this year’s car. If we can do that, and with the work being put in by everyone, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t, I think Malaysia could be a strong weekend for our team."
