Caterham's hopes of pushing into the midfield in 2012 are not dead yet. That is the claim of team owner and boss Tony Fernandes, despite the former Team Lotus looking to have once again emulated the pecking-order of the past two years by outpacing only Marussia and HRT in Australia. "We have obviously improved our pace relative to our 2011 speed," the Malaysian businessman said. "But the teams ahead have also improved, so even though we are closer than this time last year we still […]

Although both Caterham’s failed to finish this weekends Australian Grand Prix, they can move on to Malaysia content with the knowledge that their cars were completing competitive lap times throughout the race. Both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov retired due to steering issues during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. As the two cars’ dodged various incidents on the opening lap, Kovalainen lost the use of his KERs device as well as experiencing DRS issues early on. Regardless of this, the Finn continued setting competitive lap times […]

Caterham's team boss insists Vitaly Petrov is just as good as the experienced grand prix winner he replaced. Just ahead of the 2012 season, Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes decided to oust former Monaco grand prix winner Jarno Trulli with Russian Petrov, the well-sponsored Russian and former Renault driver. "I think he (Petrov) is as good a driver as Trulli, but he obviously brings a Russian commercial element," Fernandes told the US cable news channel CNN. "It gives us the ability to exploit commercial opportunities in […]

Alexander Rossi has today been confirmed as Caterham F1 Team’s Test Driver, joining Race Drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, and Reserve Driver Giedo van der Garde in the Anglo / Malaysian team’s driver line-up. In his F1 role he will be taking part in FP1 sessions in 2012, helping him to gain further experience at the highest level of global motorsport and further embedding him within the Caterham F1 Team. In addition, Alexander has confirmed today that he will be competing for the second […]

T03 Barcelona - Day Four Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona - 4th March 2012 Driver: Vitaly Petrov Chassis: CT01-#3 Total laps: 101 Best lap: 1.22.795 Vitaly Petrov: “I am more than happy with how we went today. The team has done a fantastic job all day and we’ve been improving in every area each time we went out. I had my new seat today so I’m really starting to get comfortable in the car and the laptimes are coming down, the setup is improving and everything […]

Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov has hit out at his former team, Lotus Renault GP, saying that he felt like he was being treated like a child when former McLaren engineer Mark Slade was his race engineer in 2010. The Lotus F1 team, formerly known as Lotus Renault GP, chose not to retain the Russian at the end of the 2011 season, opting instead for an all new driver lineup in Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. Slade was Raikkonen's race engineer while they were both at […]

After a tough week at Barcelona, Caterham have announced plans to run an aero test at the IDIADA Automotive Facility on Monday, which will be carried out by Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen. After the team replaced F1 veteran Jarno Trulli with Russian driver Vitaly Petrov last week, Caterham have been making various changes to their car to accommodate their new driver. This has included great amounts of setup work, with the team searching for the best setup for the Russian driver. “We spent quite a […]

1980 world champion Alan Jones has backed Caterham's decision to replace Jarno Trulli with Vitaly Petrov. Despite having extended the Italian veteran's contract for 2012, the former Lotus team decided at the last minute to sign the well-backed Russian. Caterham explained that Petrov brings "fresh impetus" to the team, whilst also admitting that the decision was made "with a realistic eye on the global economic market". One French report has calculated the 27-year-old's sponsorship contributions at EUR 12 million, including money from Russia's largest petrochemical […]

Only days after Caterham announced that Russian driver Vitaly Petrov had replaced Jarno Trulli at the team, it has been announced today that Caterham now have a Russian sponsor in petrochemical company Sibur. Continuing their partnership with Vitaly Petrov, Sibur logos will now appear on the Caterham CT01, as well as Petrov’s overalls throughout the 2012 season. With Sibur becoming an official team partner, this will undoubtedly bring in more funds for Caterham as they begin their third season in the sport. “We are delighted […]

Vitaly Petrov could stay at the Caterham team beyond 2012, the Russian's manager said on Friday. Earlier, the former Lotus outfit announced that Petrov, ousted by Lotus (Renault) at the end of last season, is replacing Italian veteran Jarno Trulli with immediate effect. On the face of it, the deal is not a good look for Petrov, having displaced one of F1's most experienced drivers - and a grand prix winner - on the back of his sponsors' purse. Moreover, it also means there is […]

Caterham F1 Team has today announced that Vitaly Petrov has joined the team as race driver, replacing Jarno Trulli with immediate effect. The Russian was at the Anglo-Malaysian team’s factory in Hingham on Friday 17th February for a seat fitting ahead of his first run with the team at the second pre-season test in Barcelona, 21st to 24th February. Team Principal Tony Fernandes: “We are all delighted to welcome Vitaly into our team and are very excited about the role he will play in helping […]

Losing his race seat could be the "shock" that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game. That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons. He told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011. "We had the feeling that he thought 'If I keep delivering my sponsors' money to […]