Abu Dhabi: Caterham F1, unsurprisingly, in the last two positions
With a reduced staff, no miracle for Caterham as their drivers finish last and second to last. Kamui Kobayashi leads Will Stevens but without an error, the latter believes he could have matched the Japanese driver.
Driving a Caterham relatively far from the other single-seaters and alone in the absence of Marussia, Kamui Kobayashi is satisfied with the work accomplished and notes progress since yesterday. He states: « We have had a very decent weekend so far – today was a positive day and the car is better than yesterday. I lost a bit of time in the last sector, but it wouldn’t have changed the result, so we can be satisfied with our performance today. »
For his first Grand Prix weekend, Briton Will Stevens did quite well, finishing half a second behind his experienced Japanese teammate, only due to a mistake. Indeed, the rookie seemed quite happy to participate in his first Grand Prix by posting a qualifying time potentially as fast as Kobayashi’s: « I appeared very strong in my last qualifying lap – I was on Kamui’s level in the first two sectors but made a mistake approaching turn 17; I was a second quicker than my previous lap at that moment. I am satisfied because I know that if I hadn’t made that mistake, I would have been as fast as my teammate, but obviously I am disappointed because I could have done better. »
With Romain Grosjean’s penalty, both men will gain a position on the starting grid.
