Tony Fernandes' Caterham F1 Team is the last of the three new teams accepted to compete in the 2010 FIA F1 World Championship; and it has changed dramatically since its creation.
Born as Lotus Racing, with Malaysian financial backing in 2010, the team was this year renamed Caterham, the specialist sportscar maker owned by Fernandes.
For a second year in succession, the cars were powered by Renault engines -- the same motors that Red Bull Racing used to conquer the last three World Championhips. However, despite sharing the same powerplant, the CT01s of Heikki Kovalainen (a former McLaren driver and Grand Prix winner) and Vitaly Petrov were significantly slower than the RB8s of Vettel and Webber.
Heikki Kovalainen
Best place in qualifications: 16th (3 times)
Best race result: 13th (twice)
Retired 1 time
Vitaly Petrov
Best place in qualifications: 18th (8 times)
Best race result: 11th (once, in Brazil)
Retired 1 time
The CT01 was designed by a team of engineers led by Mark Smith who has worked for Red Bull racing and Force India previously. Meanwhile, the team's former technical director, Mike Gascoyne, was put in charge of a new division called Caterham Technology.
It seems the Caterham F1 cars are suffering from that infamous inability to generate sufficient levels of downforce -- a common problem amongst the cars from the three smaller teams. Generating downforce without producing too much aerodynamic drag is quite a challenge, even for the bigger teams with huge aero departments, the lastest CFD tools, and ultra-sophisticated wind tunnels.
Next season will be Mark Smith's second season in a row with Caterham and hopefully his team will be able to produce a better and faster car so the team can score a few points in 2013. If it fails to do so, it will be a major disappointement because Caterham is a good organisation with excellent people.
As is the case with Timo Glock at Marussia, we can only bet that veteran Heikki Kovalainen has lost quite a bit of his motivation over the years. Once a Grand Prix winner, the Finn suddenly found himself battling for 19th position every two weeks.
His teammate, Vitaly Petrov, is fast and has beaten Heikki a few times, which is a surprise. He's the one who gave Caterham the best result of the season -- 11th place in Brazil -- which provided the team with the all-important 10th place in the constructor's standings.
Expect Caterham to continue using Renault engines for the next few seasons, as it has established a solid technical partnership with the French make.
Born as Lotus Racing, with Malaysian financial backing in 2010, the team was this year renamed Caterham, the specialist sportscar maker owned by Fernandes.
For a second year in succession, the cars were powered by Renault engines -- the same motors that Red Bull Racing used to conquer the last three World Championhips. However, despite sharing the same powerplant, the CT01s of Heikki Kovalainen (a former McLaren driver and Grand Prix winner) and Vitaly Petrov were significantly slower than the RB8s of Vettel and Webber.
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| Photo: Caterham F1 Team |
Heikki Kovalainen
Best place in qualifications: 16th (3 times)
Best race result: 13th (twice)
Retired 1 time
Vitaly Petrov
Best place in qualifications: 18th (8 times)
Best race result: 11th (once, in Brazil)
Retired 1 time
The CT01 was designed by a team of engineers led by Mark Smith who has worked for Red Bull racing and Force India previously. Meanwhile, the team's former technical director, Mike Gascoyne, was put in charge of a new division called Caterham Technology.
It seems the Caterham F1 cars are suffering from that infamous inability to generate sufficient levels of downforce -- a common problem amongst the cars from the three smaller teams. Generating downforce without producing too much aerodynamic drag is quite a challenge, even for the bigger teams with huge aero departments, the lastest CFD tools, and ultra-sophisticated wind tunnels.
| |
| Photo: Caterham F1 Team |
Next season will be Mark Smith's second season in a row with Caterham and hopefully his team will be able to produce a better and faster car so the team can score a few points in 2013. If it fails to do so, it will be a major disappointement because Caterham is a good organisation with excellent people.
As is the case with Timo Glock at Marussia, we can only bet that veteran Heikki Kovalainen has lost quite a bit of his motivation over the years. Once a Grand Prix winner, the Finn suddenly found himself battling for 19th position every two weeks.
His teammate, Vitaly Petrov, is fast and has beaten Heikki a few times, which is a surprise. He's the one who gave Caterham the best result of the season -- 11th place in Brazil -- which provided the team with the all-important 10th place in the constructor's standings.
Expect Caterham to continue using Renault engines for the next few seasons, as it has established a solid technical partnership with the French make.