CaterhamF1 2012

[Maynard G. Krebs]

They may look smooth, but they don't seem to be moving up on Williams, TR, or Sauber at this point.
Bolt some of the good parts on boys!

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Caterham team will be testing next Monday in a private test at circuit Idiada.

[CHT]

They may look smooth, but they don't seem to be moving up on Williams, TR, or Sauber at this point.
Bolt some of the good parts on boys!

things are definitely not looking good for Caterham at the moment. If they continue to stuck among the last 3, I wonder if Tony Fernandez will pull the plug on the team, especially when the economic situation is not exactly good for the aviation industry.

[kilcoo316]

Obviously, I don't know what the test program is... but.

Its looking pretty ominous for Caterham given they seem to be somewhat adrift at the bottom consistently. All the other teams cannot be running light all the time.

The only days they've been out of the bottom two are when HRT were present and when Lotus abandoned the test.


Catalunya
24th Feb:
1. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber C31 1:22.312 145
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes W03 1:23.843 139
9. Heikki Kova Caterham CT01 1:26.968 70

23rd Feb:
1. Pastor Maldona Williams FW34 1:22.391 106
9. Timo Glock Marussia MVR02 1:26.173 108
10. Vitaly Petrov Caterham CT01 1:26.448 70

22nd Feb:
1. Nico Hulkenberg Force India VJM05 1:22.608 112
8. Valtteri Bottas Williams FW34 1:25.858 69
9. Vitaly Petrov Caterham CT01 1:26.605 36
10. Charles Pic Marussia MVR02 1:28.092 47

21st Feb:
1. Sebastian Vett Red Bull RB8 1:23.265 79
8. Bruno Senna Williams FW34 1:25.711 97
9. Heikki Kova Caterham CT01 1:26.035 31
10. Romain Grosjean Lotus E20 1:26.809 7
11. Charles Pic Marussia MVR02 1:28.026 121


Jerez
10th Feb:
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari F2012 1:18.877 39
8. Bruno Senna Williams FW34 1:20.132 125
9. Jarno Trulli Caterham CT01 1:22.198 117

9th Feb:
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes W02 1:17.613 118 (2011 car)
8. Bruno Senna Williams FW34 1:21.293 125
9. Giedo van der Caterham CT01 1:23.324 74

8th Feb:
1. Michael Schu Mercedes W02 1:18.561 132 (2011 car)
9. Sergio Perez Sauber C31 1:21.289 35
10. Heikki Kova Caterham CT01 1:21.518 78
11. Pedro dl Rosa HRT F111 1:23.468 23

7th Feb:
1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus E20 1:19.670 74
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari F2012 1:22.815 69
10. Heikki Kova Caterham CT01 1:23.178 28
11. Pastor Maldon Williams FW34 1:23.371 25
12. Pedro dl Rosa HRT F111 1:23.676 44

[bosanac1]

it doesn't look good at all so far

last season they were missing 0.5 second sometimes less for middlefield and having KERS this season you would think they would be up there

but so far they seem to be not even close

[CHT]

it doesn't look good at all so far

last season they were missing 0.5 second sometimes less for middlefield and having KERS this season you would think they would be up there

but so far they seem to be not even close

perhaps they are just focusing on long run instead of qualifying at the moment. Maybe like Williams, they will give us some surprises next week.

[blokkie]

Heikki is not feeling well , foodpoisoning

http://twitter.com/#!/H_kovalainen

[stefan_]

He will be back tomorrow, but food poisoning is always a pain in the ass to bare with.
This remembered me about Webber vomiting in the helmet via team radio

[xpensive]

I find it hugely disappointing than Mike Gascoyne couldn't do better than this with a Renault engine and RBR gearbox?

I'm sure his boss is as well.

[ESPImperium]

Its more Mark Smith theese days. Gascogyne is Cheif Technichal Officer at Caterham as a global company now, he will have fully withdrawn from F1 as of June 1st i think.

The way the bardgeboards join the floor is very like what Force India had till mid last year.

This is a team that is coming to grasp with KERS and trying to evolve this car, it has some pace, but is still about 0.9 to 1.3 seconds off where it could and posibly should be generally. Barcelona was a better showing, but it should be alot better as soon as they get a better exhaust posistion and get a good update package on it, as so far its just been bits and pieces here and there.

However the team are recruiting and this is a good sign, however they have the move from Hingham to Leafeild coming soon, whitch will help as there is more space there and better space to expand. They are getting a new CFD facility at Leafeild and their target is to make their chassis in house for the first time and nopt have it sub contracted out to EPM Technology.

They need to score a point this year. And if i were them, id be looking for the next wet race, set the car up for it, if they are allong-side the HRTs fine, as long as they are in the 107% asuming a dry Quali, then when it comes to the race they will fly. We all saw what Perez did in a Sauber at Malasia, so if Caterham can do that but to the lower points posistions that will bring them alot of prestige.

I have been a little disapointed with them so far in 2012, however they are improving and thats what is needed. They are relyable, and thats whats needed especially when Moncaco and Montreal come arround as those races can sometimes have a high retirement rate, and lady luck could decide to point her wand at Caterham on one of those days.

[Monster_Energy_F1]

Just a question guys. No right or wrong here but after Caterham launched their 2012 car first, before Ferrari, Mclaren, Red Bull and Lotus me and a few others expected good things from Caterham. Especially since they launched confidentally and on time.

So why have they still not had a point? Where has it gone wrong?

Cheers,

Dom:D

[Nando]

It´s not fast enough and they probably haven´t been able to capitalize on certain things that could have enabled them a point here or there.
Even though the STR seems close from time to time i think it´s still pretty far away as a total package.

However i do get the feeling they are evolving and getting better, but so does other teams so it will probably take another 2 years before they really are "there".

[marcush.]

I think this is really a good question.
HRT ,Marussia and Caterham have in common they are relatively new as an outfit but otherwise they all employ or employed expertise galore of current F1 knowledge and use facilities that are state of the art ..
So is it all money? What about Sauber ,,they had to release lots of workforce and slim down considerably but they improved in competitiveness without spending much more than these teams ..same goes for TR and to a lesser degree for FI.
HRT and Marussia can claim big difficulties due to change of ownership /change of technical partnership etc etc contributing to not rising as quick as necessary.
But Caterham has stability ,top notch human recources ,money ,engine gearbox,Kers the whole shebang including top drivers +finance but it is not enough to even challenge Toro rossos youngsters...very strange.

[Cam]

HRT ,Marussia and Caterham have in common they are relatively new as an outfit but otherwise they all employ or employed expertise galore of current F1 knowledge and use facilities that are state of the art ..

Agreed. IMO most great products are born from a great idea, not buckets of cash. Sauber set the trend this year with it's exhausts, a simple yet powerful idea that was relatively inexpensive to implement and as such we saw the field copy and then go on to refine and modify that idea.

I am yet to see any 'great' ideas from the 3 back markers. Perhaps that is where they fail. They play catch up by copying rather than blazing a new trail. Innovating can be a strategy which may leave them last though..... or it could propel them up the order. Let's see an 'amazing' bit of gear of the car.

[PlatinumZealot]

Just a question guys. No right or wrong here but after Caterham launched their 2012 car first, before Ferrari, Mclaren, Red Bull and Lotus me and a few others expected good things from Caterham. Especially since they launched confidentally and on time.

So why have they still not had a point? Where has it gone wrong?

Cheers,

Dom:D

I think they lack refinements. I believe they have all the right ingredients on the car but not the cash to refine them. The wings, the floor, the brake ducts, all foetal shapes when you campare the car with the likes of RedBull and Williams. With the new guy from Mclaren I think they can get a little more bang for the buck next year.