Heikki Kovalainen is eager to find a good set-up on his Caterham CT01 to unlock the potential of upgrades

Giedo van der Garde will once again drive for Caterham in free practice. The Dutch driver will replace Vitaly Petrov in FP1 in Abu Dhabi. "Abu Dhabi’s the first track I’ll be driving on in FP1 at this stage of the season that I’ve raced on before. With the obvious limits we work under in FP1 that’s a big advantage as it means I’m not having to learn my way around on my first couple of laps, and as we’re usually doing somewhere between 20 […]

Rating the drivers after the Indian Grand Prix

Heikki Kovalainen lamented traffic on his final run in Q1 that left him down in 20th place. The Finn spun exiting Turn 10 and beached his Caterham in the gravel. "There was more to come but I had a bit of traffic that held me up and then on my second run I caught up with a bunch of cars going into turn 10 and lost a bit of grip, enough to put me off", he said. "I wasn’t going in too hard and there […]

Vitaly Petrov will almost certainly contest Russia's inaugural grand prix at Sochi in 2014, his manager Oksana Kosachenko has revealed. But whether the 28-year-old will still be on the grid next season is a different matter, with Rusnovosti reporting that staying at Caterham in 2013 appears "unlikely" for Petrov. Kosachenko said she is examining two options. "We are working hard, there are some plans and a particular programme we have," she said. "We have almost absolute certainty that Petrov will start in Sochi in 2014." […]

Kimi Raikkonen has dismissed as "rubbish" a conspiracy theory about Fernando Alonso's retirement from recent grands prix. A Spanish newspaper correspondent said last week he saw a possible link between the fact Lotus drivers Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were involved in the incidents that knocked former runaway championship leader Alonso out of the races at Suzuka and Spa respectively. The reporter also recalled that it was Renault's Vitaly Petrov who blocked Alonso at the 2010 world championship finale, with all three incidents helping the similarly […]

Vitaly Petrov has hit back at reports he will definitely slide out of Formula One at the end of the season. Previously boosted by his Russian supporters, Petrov's manager Oksana Kosachenko suggested recently that she was looking at alternative projects for 2013 because the 28-year-old driver's financial backing had dried up. But Petrov has suggested in Korea that Kosachenko was simply laying out their strategy to stay in Formula One next year. "We decided to talk about it now, not at the end of the […]

Rating the drivers after the Japanese Grand Prix

Naturally there has been a lot of talk the past week or so since it was confirmed Lewis Hamilton was leaving McLaren for Mercedes. Is this a good move for Lewis? Can Mercedes build a winning car? Will it bring him more championships? Why did he leave? Etc. But there’s been less talk about what this means for McLaren with Hamilton's replacement being confirmed as Sergio Perez. There’s a point I’d just like to make: They no longer have a driver with brilliant one lap […]

Charles Pic is edging closer to a move from Marussia to Caterham in 2013. French journalist Jean Louis Moncet announced on TF1 that his compatriot will be moving teams ahead of next season. It is believed that the driver to make way will be Vitaly Petrov, whose manager has frequently lamented a lack of Russian interest in her driver. Pic has come under fire from team-mate Timo Glock, who accused the Frenchman of blocking him in qualifying on several occasions. The pair almost came to blows […]

Vitaly Petrov's Formula One career is in crisis, after his manager called off talks with prospective teams over a 2013 race seat. Oksana Kosachenko told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti that the former Renault and now Caterham driver's sponsorship funds have dried up. She said recently she was in talks about 2013 with three or four teams. "We've taken a timeout now," Kosachenko said on Tuesday. "I need time to consolidate all our financial possibilities and understand if there's sense in continuing any talks. […]

Rating the drivers after the Singapore Grand Prix