Caterham F1 Team
Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi has expressed his concern over the pace of the CT05 following the second pre-season test in Bahrain.
Kobayashi's best time of the week was over six second slower than the pace set by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.
The Japanese driver, who is returning to Formula 1 this season, hinted that Caterham would be better off bringing their GP2 car to the first round of the season.
"We are not at race pace," he told Crash.net.
"In race condition at the moment we should bring a GP2 car. It is like that, the lap time is similar to GP2. We have so many car problems and we need to do a lot of work. If we had to race now, I think, it [the CT05] is not F1 [level]."
"But when I look at the base lap time it is amazing - the possibility is there. We need to work a lot and it looks like we have a lot of steps to do. We will try and work and progress. I just need to believe in them and then we will see in Melbourne."
Kobayashi insists that he is not simply targeting finishing next month's Australian Grand Prix.
"I am not looking for that. I am looking more at the potential and if we can catch up.
"That is very important part of why I am here. I am not just thinking of finishing races. I need to look also at performance. This is the biggest challenge for this team and I am trying to help. There are possibilities but at the moment we are off the pace.
"This year will be a big challenge for us. Everyone is trying the maximum and I know the guys are doing everything they can. We're working hard. All the guys are doing that and I believe we can achieve something that we want."
