Russian Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov has suggested he will not be able to fight for points this season, saying only that his Caterham team may be able to fight only “a couple” of faster cars by the end of the season, in a recent interview with RIA Novosti.
Petrov has posted the team’s best finishes of the season with 16th place in Malaysia and Bahrain, but the team has only finished above retirees and the backmarker HRT and Marussia teams in races.
“If everything works out then we hope that, by the end of the season, we will be able to beat a couple of cars in a straight fight rather than as the result of circumstances beyond our control,” Petrov said Friday.
At the moment, Petrov’s only real opponent on the track is teammate Heikki Kovalainen, as he seeks to keep HRT and Marussia behind him, he said.
“Today, unfortunately, my main fight is with him in particular. Well, and obviously not letting the two last teams through.”
The team also has problems with aerodynamics, Petrov added.
Caterham was troubled by the speed-boosting KERS system at earlier races, as the system’s recharging phase under braking made it difficult to control the car, and still has still not been fixed, he said.
“In connection with this [KERS], the rear wheels lock. For this reason, it’s very hard to drive the car. The problem still hasn’t been solved, but we’re moving in that direction.”
Petrov posted a time of 1 minute 26.740 seconds Friday to lie 20th-fastest in second practice session for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, 0.444 seconds behind his Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen and 3.441 seconds off the pace of fastest runner Jenson Button of McLaren.
In the first session, Petrov was 19th-fastest with a lap of 1 minute 27.475 seconds, compared to 1 minute 24.430 seconds for the leader, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Petrov has never finished in the points at Catalunya in F1, recording 11th-place finishes in 2010 and 2011 while at Renault and Lotus Renault, although he came second there in the GP2 feeder series in 2009.
