Cyril Abiteboul hopeful of Caterham’s improvement in 2013 F1 season – Formula 1 news
Cyril Abiteboul, team principal for Caterham, has stated that he is expecting Caterham to make improvement during the 2013 F1 season.
He said that their tenth standing on the constructors’ grid at the end of the 2012 F1 season has given them a strong base to progress from in the upcoming season.
“It [Tenth in the WCC] means we are on a better financial footing than if we had finished 11th,” Abiteboul said. “The benefits of that are obvious and it means we have not had to compromise our 2013 or future plans,” he said in an interview with the official
F1 website. ”The money is obviously important, but what finishing tenth also meant to me was that it showed our team what it felt like to be part of the show, and that’s something that has been missing for most of the 2012 season.”
Abiteboul added that they certainly did not achieve the goals they wanted to this past season so they need to work hard to reach those goals. He said that there was a positive feeling among every member of the team during the last race in Brazil which they
want to continue into the future races.
Caterham is also changing its driver line up for 2013. The team has already selected former Marussia driver, Charles Pic, while his teammate is yet to be announced.
Abiteboul said that he thinks Pic is going to be an interesting prospect for the team; that the driver has performed well in his debut year with F1 and Caterham will be able to nourish that pace even more. The team principal said there are different options
for selecting the right teammate for Pic but they are looking for someone who he will be able to learn from. He admits that the 2013 will still be a developing year and he expects more stability in 2014.
He added that he wants 2013 to be year at which he can look back to say that they were successful at developing and availing the right opportunities. He said that he expects 2013 to be a season that the team will remember for all the right reasons.
Tags: