Caterham F1 Team
Andre Lotterer expressed his satisfaction after qualifying in 21st place for his maiden Formula 1 race in Belgium.
Lotterer, who joined the team earlier in the week, managed to set a time almost a second faster than Caterham team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
"This is definitely a speedy way of learning how to drive an F1 car! Yesterday was dry while today was wet, so all this is now covered and I know exactly what to expect in both those conditions," he said.
"I think it was a very tough qualifying session for me. I had to figure it all out while I was out there, so I’m very happy that I brought the car back without making many mistakes – it was so easy to lose it out there! In the end I managed to complete two decent laps and I’m really happy with my result."
Lotterer explained that the short amount of time has made it harder for him to make progress.
"The most difficult part of this weekend is figuring it all out in such a short period of time: understanding where the grip is, where to brake, how to handle the throttle and the power," he said.
"I’ve accumulated a lot of experience in a very short amount of time and I feel that I can do a good race tomorrow. I did some long runs yesterday and I found a good rhythm. Hopefully the conditions won’t be too tricky, because if not I will need to find out where the limit is while I’m racing – that’s my biggest concern. Nevertheless, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race, I’m ready for it."
