Tag: charles pic

Heikki Kovalainen in contention for 2014 Caterham seat

Caterham team owner Tony Fernandes has admitted to Autosport that Heikki Kovalainen could make a return to Formula One with the Caterham team in 2014.

Neither of the current Caterham drivers, Giedo van der Garde or Charles Pic, have contracts beyond 2013 with the team, and no confirmations have been made regarding their driver line up for 2014.

When asked by Autosport whether Kovalainen was being considered for a return to the team, Fernandes replied, “Absolutely. It is no secret that I am close to Heikki and I have a lot of time for him, so let’s see.

“I will leave it to the team to decide who they want, and it has to be their choice finally at the end of the day.

“It would be foolish to commit now, because plenty can happen between now and the end of the season, so let’s see what is available.”

Kovalainen was recently called in by the team to analyse new upgrades during FP1 in both Bahrain and Spain and he was behind the wheel again in Belgium and Italy.

All the signs are there that we could see Kovalainen returning to F1 in 2014, but nothing is yet set in stone.

Photo by Caterham F1 Team

September 27, 2013
Singapore GP Preview Quotes – Caterham F1 Team

Here’s what the Caterham boys had to say ahead of this weekend’s Singapore GP.

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham
“I have really happy memories of Singapore as the last time I crossed the finish line there in 2012 I won the GP2 sprint race and finished Caterham Racing’s season on a real high. That was all part of my preparation for F1 and with that experience of the Singapore circuit under my belt I’m really excited about getting back out there in an F1 car!

“The team have already warned me it’s going to be a very busy week! We’re doing a load of sponsor events and Tony’s going to be unveiling a new Caterham car over the race weekend, and whenever he’s on track, especially in South East Asia, there’s always a real buzz, so I think the whole week we’re there will be one of the best weeks of the year.

“On track it’s a great challenge, both for me in the car and the whole team. I obviously train and prepare for the heat, but the team makes sure everyone’s drinking enough water and that sleep patterns stick to European time so we avoid any issues with jetlag. Once in the car I think this could be one of the circuits that suits us, a bit like Monaco. You need to have the confidence to be able to push around what are usually normal city streets, and I think we showed in Monaco that that sort of challenge is exactly what we like!”

Charles Pic, Caterham
“The European season’s now over for 2013 and we’re back to the flyaway races, starting with Singapore. For me this is one of the best races of the year. It’s an amazing city and the fact we race at night obviously makes the whole event unique. Last year was my first time racing in Singapore and I had a good race, finishing 16th – this time I’d obviously like to finish higher, but I’m sure it’ll be another good week, whatever happens!

“One thing I know for sure is it’s going to be busy! Tony Fernandes is going to be in town and we have lots of sponsor and team partner activities taking place on and off track, so one of the challenges throughout the week is finding the time to step back from everything going on around us and focus on the main priority which is having as strong a weekend as we can on track.

“Everyone will be talking about how hot and humid it’s going to be, but for me that’s not really an issue. I like the heat – it gets very hot in France as well, even though it’s never really as humid as it is in Singapore, but we start preparing for races like Singapore way back in winter with the hours put in training, and then fine tuning the physical and mental preparation in the week leading up to the race. I’ll arrive earlier than I would for a European race so I can start acclimatising to the heat, and my fluid intake over the week will increase each day to the point where I’ll take on up to five or six litres of liquid before the race starts. That’s one of the keys to performing to the maximum – being properly hydrated means you can focus 100 percent in the car, and that’s vital around a circuit as technical as Singapore.”

Photo by the Caterham Twitter Team

September 20, 2013
Italian Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Caterham F1 Team

Italian Grand Prix Preview Quotes from the Caterham F1 Team ahead of this weekend’s race at Monza.

Charles Pic, Caterham

“Monza’s a great place to race F1 cars. It’s so quick, the atmosphere is amazing (even though it’s almost only Ferrari supporters out there!) and it’s a track that has a lot of history, some of which you can see in the old banking on the way out of the track to remind you what it used to be like. It’s our last race in Europe this year and it would be good to finish the European season on a positive. We’d put in strong performances in the three practice sessions in Spa but we were unlucky, both with the call to the weighbridge in Q1 and the oil leak in the race so Monza gives us a chance to move straight on and put that bad luck behind us.

“I’m in the simulator at Leafield before we arrive in Monza, so we’ll have a chance to try a few setup options before we get to the track. We’ll be running the low-downforce package for this race and the main focus will be on finding a setup that gives us maximum straight-line speed and a car that we can really attack the kerbs with. That’s important for lap time, particularly in T3 and T7, as you need to be able to minimise the time in the corners by pushing the car over the kerbs, so having the right mechanical setup is crucial. We’ll also be working a lot on braking stability – brake wear and cooling are both pretty manageable at Monza, but it’s important to have a car that’s behaving consistently in the braking zones as that’s where you can make up, and lose, time.”

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

“Our last European race of the season is Monza, another classic Grand Prix venue and a track where I’ve won in both Formula Renault 3.5 and in GP2. After the last couple of races I’ll go to Monza feeling positive about the next race and the rest of the season. The whole team had a lot of praise for what we did in Spa, particularly taking advantage of the conditions on Saturday, and it’s good to see people understanding that what we’re doing now is exactly what we said we would do this year – learn, improve and deliver the results we want. Fourteenth in Hungary and both qualifying and the race in Spa show how the package is coming on and it’s a good feeling for me and the whole team.

“Moving on to Monza – it’s a track that could suit us in the fight with our nearest competitors. It’s often hot and it’s the quickest track of the year, one where we run very low-downforce settings and that should suit our car. Last year the team was pretty competitive and we’ll aim to make sure we are again. If it’s not hot and we have anything like the conditions we did in Spa then we’ve shown we can take advantage of unpredictable weather, and even though another P3 in Q1 might be unlikely, we still know we can be bold and aggressive when there’s a chance to surprise a few people. Maybe our next chance will be Monza – if not I’m sure there will be other races this year when we can show what we can do.”

Photo by Caterham Twitter Team

September 3, 2013
Belgian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham F1 Team

Caterham F1 team preview quotes ahead of the Belgian GP at Spa.

Charles Pic, Caterham
“I’ve had a great holiday with my family in France and it’s always good to recharge, particularly with seven of the races in the second half of the season being flyaways, but now I’m ready to get back to racing.

“The second to last European race of the season at Spa is one of the classic Grands Prix and there’s a lot of history about the track, particularly when you look back at what it used to be like! These days it’s obviously much shorter, and safer, but it’s still a very good challenge in an F1 car, whatever the weather is like! The main technical focus on Friday and Saturday morning is getting the balance right between the outright speed you need for the high speed sections, like the run to Les Combes, and the downforce you need to push in sector two, particularly through corners like Pouhon which is very quick when you have the car set up well. Get the balance right and a quick lap of Spa is a very satisfying feeling – for the drivers inside the cockpit and the fans watching the cars through corners like Eau Rouge, it’s what F1 is all about!”

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham
“I’ve had a pretty busy August break, spending some time down in Valencia with my physio to keep up the training programme, and then off to Italy for a few days of holiday completely away from motor racing, but now it’s back to work at Spa.

“Honestly, I’ve been excited about racing in F1 at Spa ever since the start of the season, actually probably for all my life! As there isn’t a Dutch Grand Prix these days the Belgian GP is the closest I have to a home race and I know there’s going to be a lot of orange flags around the track, and a lot of support for me and the team all weekend. I know we’re not going to be in a position to fight at the front of the grid, but we’ll still be pushing as hard as possible to beat our nearest rivals, and after the last race in Hungary I’m confident we can start the second half of the season in a positive way and put on a good show for all the fans who’ll make the trip to Spa. I can’t wait!”

Photo by MyCaterham Twitter Team.

August 22, 2013
F1 2013 Mid Season Review

Starting with a hazardous Australian Grand Prix with ever changing weather conditions to a controlled race in Hungary we’ve had everything from tyre explosions to loose wheels, pitlane accidents, cars on fire and controversy galore. The 2013 F1 season has been a thrilling, wild ride for teams, drivers and fans alike.

With ten races behind us, it’s time to look at the season so far and how things have been shaping up.

Here is our F1 2013 Mid Season Review ahead of what is set to be an tumultuous second half of the season.

Red Bull Racing – 277 points

Sebastian Vettel – 172 points, Mark Webber – 105 points

Red Bull is still the team to beat and are the only team to really maximise their results every race so far this season. Leading the championship with 60 points over Mercedes in second place, it’s bound to be business as usual for the team following the break. Sebastian Vettel is sitting pretty in the drivers’ championship too – 38 points ahead of his nearest rival, Kimi Raikkonen in second place.

Vettel has raced all out so far this season – even defying team orders to score an extra 6 points – and remains on track for his 4th world championship.

Red Bull have an incredibly quick car – perhaps the quickest on the grid – and have remained incredibly consistent but have suffered like the other teams with tyre degradation issues and saw Vettel retiring from the British Grand Prix with mechanical failures. Vettel however will be very hard to beat going forward and his rivals know it.

Mark Webber, who announced that he will be leaving F1 at the end of the season, has had a more inconsistent – and really unlucky – season. Webber has had no wins yet this season but you can be sure that he’ll be looking to add to his nine career wins before he bows out of F1. His frustration became very clear in Malaysia when Vettel defied team orders to pass Webber for what would have been his only win this season.

Mercedes – 208 points

Lewis Hamilton – 124 points, Nico Rosberg – 84 points

With Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff assuming high profile positions and Lewis Hamilton joining the Brackley based team, all eyes were on Mercedes even before the season got underway.

Nobody expected Hamilton to be challenging for race wins in his first season at Mercedes, but he was on the podium within two races and took his first race win at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Team mate Nico Rosberg has already recorded two race wins so far this season and continues to impress.

Mercedes has made quite a turn-around this season and their prospects are not looking bad at all. With a 69 point deficit to championship leaders Red Bull, it seems unlikely that they will challenge for the championship though.

Ferrari – 194 points

Fernando Alonso – 133 points, Felipe Massa – 61 points

A mid season review of the Ferrari team’s performance so far this year, seems all too familiar. Ferrari started off really well with both drivers having a really good start to their season.

Alonso banked a solid second place at the first race in Australia, and Massa also started off well – regularly out-qualifying his team mate and recording point finishes.

But things have been on a downward spiral after Alonso’s wins in Spain and China. In contrast to the 2012 season when Alonso had a 40 point lead at the summer break, the team has lost their second place in the championship and qualifying seems to be a big problem for the team. Massa was struck by a number of crashes and race retirements pushing him far behind his team mate as far the driver standings go.

They’ve just not kept up with the pace of development at Red Bull. Alonso has slipped back into third place in the championship – but it would be silly to discount the Spaniard just yet – his entire championship lead was wiped clean by Vettel in the second half of the 2012 season so that should be a clear indication of how quickly things can change.

Lotus – 183 points

Kimi Raikkonen – 134 points, Romain Grosjean – 49 points

The Lotus F1 Team started the 2013 season on a high, with a win for Kimi Raikkonen at the Australian Grand Prix. But that early strong form has not led to further victories for Raikkonen or the team, with the Finn collecting five second-place finishes and teammate Romain Grosjean – the former ‘first lap nutcase’ added two third-places to his name.

Lotus have been in the midst of the battle at every race. Their constant evolution and the way the tyres work for them has made this team a contender for the podium every race weekend. But their downfall is Saturday qualifying – the E21 has simply not had the outright pace in qualifying to make Sundays a little easier for the team.

Raikkonen has moved up to second place in the championship, one point ahead of Alonso, but if he hopes to catch Vettel they’re going to need to start winning races and with technical director James Allison leaving for Ferrari, it remains to be seen whether they’ll be able to keep up the development pace that will be required to catch the Red Bull.

Force India – 59 points

Paul di Resta – 36 points, Adrian Sutil – 23 points

For the purposes of a mid season review it can be said that Force India have had a pretty impressive season in general – especially in the earlier part of the calendar. Their car has far outshone the team’s resources and their drivers have both delivered on track, scoring points and making Force India’s mark as the strongest of the mid-field teams.

Adrian Sutil, who recently celebrated his 100th race, has driven really well especially in Monaco when he fearlessly overtook his rivals on the narrow street circuit. But unfortunately, like his team mate Paul Di Resta, the pace has just not lasted and they’ve both been rather lack-lustre of late. The final two races before the mid season break were their worst of the year so far and the tyre change in Budapest seemed to affect them particularly negatively.

Both drivers have worked really hard though and this has culminated in the team now ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ championship. The Woking-based team is breathing down their necks though and they’ll have to pull up their socks in the remainder of the season if they hope to hold onto 5th place in the championship.

McLaren – 57 points

Jenson Button – 39 points, Sergio Perez – 18 points

The fact that McLaren is being discussed this far down in the mid season review should be a clear indication of the difficult, disappointing season the Woking-based team have had. McLaren are used to being in the heat of the battle for the championship but are currently on 6th in the standings, behind Force India. The dramatic slump in their form will certainly be a surprise to most.

Their drivers both try really hard – sometimes a little too hard as is often the case with Sergio Perez, but their car can’t keep up and they’re left fighting the mid-field.

Jenson Button’s strategy calls have been his only saving grace – in the last four races he was able to challenge for 5th and 6th places but this is obviously not where the team are used to being.

McLaren has said that they are no longer developing their 2013 car and are now working on their 2014 car instead, so don’t expect too much from them in the second half of the season. Jenson Button however has said he is very positive going into the Belgian Grand Prix and has predicted a podium at Spa. Let’s wait and see how that pans out.

Toro Rosso – 24 points

Daniel Ricciardo – 11 points, Jean-Eric Vergne – 13 points

Toro Rosso may not be fighting for titles and race wins but they have shown some significant progress during the season so far.

Daniel Ricciardo, who is still first in line for Mark Webber’s Red Bull seat, has put in some very strong qualifying performances.

Team mate Jean-Eric Vergne has brought home some very impressive race drives. With Vergne out of the running for the Red Bull seat, one can only hope that the Frenchman will still come out fighting for the rest of the season as the battle of the team mates has been the most interesting thing to watch within the Toro Rosso team.

It is unsure how long Toro Rosso will continue development on their current car, given the mammoth task of developing the much-changed 2014 cars that lies ahead.

Sauber – 7 points

Nico Hulkenberg – 7 points, Esteban Gutierrez – 0 points

Sauber has had a really challenging season so far and the mid season review of their performance leaves a disappointed taste in the mouth. Everyone had great hopes for Sauber – their car was the star of the 2013 car launches, but things have just not materialised for the team.

I guess a lot can be blamed on their budget and financial troubles but from the very beginning Sauber were on the back foot with a car that has struggled from the word go, and two brand new drivers in the team.

Nico Hulkenberg has done his best with the car he’s been given and has managed to secure 7 points for the team. His team mate Esteban Gutierrez has not done too badly for a rookie but has failed to bring home any points.

Sauber have closed a deal with Russian investors to help save the team, so let’s hope that pans out well for them or we may never see a C-33.

Williams – 1 point

Pastor Maldonado – 1 point, Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

At the back of the grid it’s been a very disappointing season for the Williams team. After winning a race last year in the FW34 we all expected much more from the FW35 but alas. They only scored their first point for the entire season at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

The car lacks downforce and both Pastor Maldonado and team mate Valtteri Bottas have found the car difficult to drive, resulting in the team doing a mid season review of their own and overhauling their technical team. Most notably, technical director Mike Coughlan has left the team and been replaced by former Renault and Marussia man, Pat Symonds. He is bound to make a huge difference to the team but I’m afraid it’s a little too late to expect it to make a difference for the 2013 season though so let’s hope they’re already working on next year’s car.

Marussia – 0 points

Jules Bianchi – 0 points, Max Chilton – 0 points)

Marussia continues their battle for tenth place in the championship with the Caterham team. They started the season very impressively and after the Australian Grand Prix you would have been forgiven for thinking they may even be set to trouble the mid-field teams this season, but instead they’ve pretty much been racing the Caterham team all season.

They have gained a lot since last year though, especially in the form of rookie driver Jules Bianchi who has had some impressive performances.

His fellow rookie team mate Max Chilton has struggled a little to come to grips with driving an F1 car but the Marussia team have been impressed by his consistency and the feedback they get from him.

They’ve been dealt a pretty big blow with Pat Symonds leaving for Williams but for now, they still hold on to tenth place thanks to Bianchi’s 13th place finish in Malaysia.

We’re not expecting much in terms of development from the Marussia team for the rest of the season but for now, it seems they should be able to stay ahead of the green machines for the remainder of the season.

Caterham – 0 points

Charles Pic – 0 points, Giedo van der Garde – 0 points

Caterham’s season has been an uphill battle all the way. The team was targeting the mid-field but have just not managed to make any headway. It was only after Heikki Kovalainen was called in to advise the team that they started making some headway and finally in Bahrain – at the fourth race of the season – they managed to out qualify Marussia.

Slowly but surely their car has been improving and their upgrades have steadily resulted in progress. In Hungary they were able to easily out qualify both Marussia’s.

Both Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic have put in solid performances, doing they best they can with what they have so they’ll be hoping that they can take back tenth from Marussia before the end of the season.

And that’s a wrap on our mid season review of the 2013 Formula 1 season. The first half of the season has been a thrilling one but has been dominated by tyres. With that behind us, and teams now on revised Pirelli rubber, the second half of the season should see some real battles taking shape. As we head to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix you can bet that everyone will be bringing their A game.

What are you hoping for in the second half of the season? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Photo credits:

Photo of Bianchi’s car on fire – F1 Madness screen grab

Photo of Vettel gearbox failure – F1 Madness screen grab, Sky Sports HD

Lewis Hamilton after the Hungarian GP – Mercedes F1 Twitter Team

Massa and Alonso – Ferrari F1 Twitter team

Raikkonen – Lotus F1 Team

Adrian Sutil – Force India Twitter team

Jenson Button – Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull Twitter Team

Sauber launch – Sauber F1 Team

Pastor Maldonado – Williams F1 Twitter Team

Max Chilton – Marussia F1 Twitter team

Giedo van der Garde – MyCaterham Twitter team

August 19, 2013
Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham

Preview quotes from the Caterham team ahead of the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

“Hungary’s the last race before the summer break, and another chance for us to keep up the momentum we picked back up in Germany. The Hungaroring is a track I’ve always gone well at – I’ve won races and had podiums there in GP2 and World Series and now, in F1, it’s tight, twisty and a relatively short lap so it’s a bit like Monaco without the barriers!

“We obviously had our best quali result of the year so far in Monaco and while I doubt the weather will play its part in Hungary as it did on Saturday in Monaco, the track layout and characteristics are still kind of similar and the length of the lap and the reduced reliance on pure aero performance may help us edge closer to the cars ahead.

“We will continue the aggressive development plan started in Bahrain and have updates again for Hungary and that’ll help us, particularly on Sunday. That’s the goal for this weekend – have a clean Friday to set us up for both quali and the race, and then see if we can use what we’ve learned at the Silverstone test to fight on Sunday afternoon.”

Charles Pic, Caterham

“Straight after the Silverstone test we all go to Hungary for race ten. Like my team mate I’ve always gone well at the Hungaroring and I like the whole place. The city’s beautiful, the track is a good challenge, particularly sector two which you need to get right and find the right rhythm and then you can gain a lot of time, and it’s nearly always hot there so physical fitness also plays its part.

“It’ll be another busy week for the team, coming straight from Silverstone to Hungary, but after that they have a very well deserved rest and a chance to recharge the batteries. For me, I’m at an event with our partner GE on Wednesday, something we’ve done at a few races this year, and then it’s 100 percent on the race weekend. After the test last week we’re as prepared as we can be and if we can pick up where we left off in Germany before we had the puncture, I think we can have a good weekend. I think, from what we learned from Silverstone, the revised tyres should suit us as they behaved consistently over both long and short runs, and the deg levels were more manageable than the compounds we’ve been using so far this season. ”

Photos: Caterham F1 Team Twitter

July 25, 2013
Nurburgring German F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham

Charles Pic, Caterham

“After quali in Silverstone Giedo, Cyril, Heikki and I went back to Leafield for a great staff and family event at the factory. They’d had a barbecue and then we took part in a Q&A session with everyone who’d gone and one of the questions I was asked was what’s my favourite track to race on. The answer is Nurburgring and I explained that I don’t really know why it’s my favourite, it’s just the feeling I have racing there – it’s very special! I won there in Formula Renault 3.5 and I was on the podium in GP2 so it has a lot of happy memories for me and there’s just something about getting a lap right there that feels very good.

“In terms of the atmosphere it’s a bit like Silverstone. It’s always very busy, the stands are full and when you come into the stadium section it’s a bit like racing into a football arena. The fans can see a lot of the track so they have a great view and they really know about motorsport. I’ve not raced in F1 there yet – last year we were at Hockenheim, but I’m sure it’ll be a great weekend.

“I think the track should also suit us quite well. We made some progress in Silverstone, in quali when I put together the best qualifying lap of my season so far and in the race where we had better pace than we’d had for a couple of races, and we added a few new parts to the car, mainly around the floor. We’ll have a couple more small updates for Germany and it’ll be good to continue the positive trend we’ve regained since last week in the UK. We have a bit of a gap after Germany before Hungary so it’ll be good to leave the Nurburgring after a positive race, having got ourselves back to the performance levels we’ve targeted for this season.”

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

“Germany is going to be a great race, partly because the track is relatively near home for me so there will be a lot of Dutch support there, and because it’s a track I’ve always gone well at. Throughout my career I’ve won races there in all categories – I know that’s not going to happen this year but, as a rookie, when you go to a track you know really well it means you’re on it right from the first lap and that helps us maximise the time we have in every session, as long as the weather stays dry which it looks like it should!

“It’ll be the first time for me around the Nurburgring in an F1 car but I last raced there in a GP2 car back in 2011 so I know quite a lot of what to expect. Like Spa the weather can change very quickly so we have to pay very close attention to the forecasts and, even though the track is used a lot outside F1 weekends, the grip levels still improve quite a bit over the weekend so the long run work we’ll do on Friday will be very important for the race. The track itself is mostly made up of low to medium speed corners – apart from T5 there’s not a lot of really high speed stuff but despite that it’s still a very good track to drive on. You can build up a good rhythm and that’s one of the keys to a good lap.”

July 4, 2013
Formula One Canadian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham F1 Team

The Caterham F1 Team looks ahead to the Canadian Grand Prix. Here are their Montreal preview quotes.

Charles Pic: “Straight after Monaco it’s on to another French speaking race as we go to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Last year was my first time racing in Canada and I have to say it was one of the best races of the year, maybe not so much for the final result but for the atmosphere on track which was really good. We go to a few races where the track is full of fans from Thursday morning, and Montreal is one of those. I guess having Jacques and Gilles Villeneuve as locals to have supported in the past means F1 is very special to fans in Montreal, but whatever the reasons, they love F1!

“On track it’s a very good challenge. It’s a semi-street circuit, with the barriers very close for most of the lap, and it’s a very technical circuit. The track surface is smooth and on Friday morning there’s very little grip. It does evolve over the weekend but it’s still hard on tyres all weekend so managing deg levels is going to be even more important than normal. It’s also very hard on brakes – there’s a couple of very heavy braking zones and you need to be able to really attack those to get the best laptime in, so we’ll also be working a lot in the practice sessions on maximising braking stability and, depending on what the weather does, brake cooling.

“You also need to be able to attack the kerbs, both to maintain speed and to save time, so that’ll be another area we’ll look at in FP1 and FP2, making sure we can really hit the kerbs hard without losing stability and balance. If you get all that right it’s a very satisfying feeling when you get to the end of the lap as it’s quick, a lap that feels really good in an F1 car!”

Giedo van der Garde: “Next up it’s Canada, a track I’ve never raced at but one I went to last year with Caterham as Reserve Driver. I sat in on all the briefings and debriefs last year so I have quite a bit of information about what it’s going to be like from 2012, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time on my sim at home trying the track, but you obviously don’t really know what it’s like until you drive around it, but it will only take a couple of laps to get used to it.

“What I do remember from last year was how hardcore the fans are in Montreal! We have a couple of big North American sponsors, so the team had a lot of guests in the paddock and in the grandstands, but I remember that from early on Thursday morning the whole place was packed! In the city itself it was the same – there’s one street where the whole place is shut down for the race weekend and we had a team dinner there on the Saturday night. It was a fantastic atmosphere, a lot like it is at home in Holland for big sports events, so I felt really comfortable there and am excited about getting back, this time to race!

“On track I think it’ll be interesting to see where we are after Monaco. I was glad to bring the car home, but after the best Saturday of the year so far we obviously wanted to finish higher up. Even with that, there were some good signs in the race that we are making decent progress. Personally, for me it was another step in the learning curve, and for the team in general we saw that we’d fixed the rear wing issue we’d found in Barcelona, and had enough pace to get the car into Q2 and to record one of the fastest laps in the race in the early stages. Montreal is a medium to low downforce track and with the constant updates we’re making to the package we took to Spain, I think we could be ok.”

June 1, 2013