Caterham driver Jarno Trulli has insisted that he is still expecting to race for the team in Formula One, despite recent rumours that the team was planning to replace the Italian with the sponsor-backed form of Vitaly Petrov.
Petrov has been linked with a race seat at the team over the last few days, with the Russian driver having the advantage of a wealth of sponsor-basked backers.He lost his seat with the Lotus team after they signed up Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for next season, but has been linked with drives elsewhere.
Trulli's position at the team has been under threat for much of the winter break, despite him having a contract with the team, after Daniel Ricciardo was also linked to a drive, before signing for Toro Rosso.
But Trulli has said that he is still sure he will be racing for the Caterham squad from the start of 2012.
"I have a contract with Caterham and that's it," he bellowed at the Gazzetta dello Sport publication on Thursday, "I know nothing of the rumours. The team hasn't said anything to me."
He added: "On Monday I will be in the factory the get the seat made and everything remains the same for me until I'm told otherwise."
The Italian has driven for Caterham (née Lotus Racing, née Team Lotus) since the start of the 2010 season when they entered the sport.
So far, the team has failed to score a single point, but Trulli suggested that he believed the team would make a breakthrough in the 2012 season.
"I expect things to be better than in 2011," he bragged, "The base is better, there's more experience, resources, people. We start on the hunt for that championship point we wanted last year and with the objective to fight regularly in the mid field."
He went on: "People don't realise how hard starting from zero is. I've raced with Minardi, but it's a lot harder here. You can't make mistakes: every error has long-lasting effects.
"I'm confident. During the course of the year I saw many improvements. The step taken was big, even though it wasn't noticed. Now we need another one."
He also suggested that despite his increasing age, he is not yet making any firm plans for life after Formula One.
"I'm not talking about the future: each time words are put into my mouth that I will go in NASCAR or I will race in the [Le Mans] 24 Hours. But my present tense is F1, I'm only talking about that," he shrugged.
Meanwhile, Caterham confirmed on Thursday that their new F1 challenger for the 2012 season would be officially launched on January 26th.
Pictures of the new car will be released to the world in a special edition of the almost-popular F1 Racing magazine.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
