Caterham driver Heikki Kovalainen has said that the newly-renamed team's performance in the 2012 season will decide whether or not he will commit to the team in the longer term, after two frustrating seasons with them.
Kovalainen signed for the then-Lotus squad at the start of 2010 when they first entered the sport as Lotus Racing.Since then, the team has had more name changes than it has scored points, and although the team finished in the top ten of the constructors championship last season, they again failed to trouble the points positions.
But the team's 2011 car did show signs of progress from 2010, and with the renamed Caterham team set to make further steps forward in 2012, including running KERS for the first time, the team are hoping for more of the same next year.
But Kovalainen has said that the performance of their new car will be the key to seeing whether or not he chooses to remain with the team.
"I want to see what we can do together and let's see what is the situation in the summer," he told the Finnish Turun Sanomat newspaper this week.
On the subject of his future with the team, he added: "It depends on the car's performance.
"I cannot give an exact percentage but if we continue to develop next season then [the chance I'll stay] is high. Otherwise it is small."
Kovalainen was briefly linked with a confusing switch to the Lotus (née Renault) team for 2012 as team mate to countryman Kimi Raikkonen.
But he has chosen to remain with his current team for another season.
Meanwhile, rumours continue to circulate regarding the future of Kovalainen's contracted team mate for the 2012 season, with Jarno Trulli still appearing under pressure.
Idly speculating on his Twitter account this week, UK F1 commentator Martin Brundle put ousted Lotus/Renault driver Vitaly Petrov down as a possibility for Trulli's seat.
"[I] suspect Vitaly Petrov may re-emerge at Caterham in 2012," he typed conspiratorially into his microblog, "Music has stopped, there'll be a mad scramble for seats."
Petrov lost his drive at Renault to French driver Romain Grosjean, and other teams may be interested in the Russian due to his wealth of personal sponsors.
Trulli does hold a contract with Caterham for 2012, but has already endured speculation that he was to be replaced by Red Bull junior driver Daniel Ricciardo.
Those reports died down when Ricciardo was unveiled as a Toro Rosso driver for next season.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
