The first World Championship points for Caterham must be the chief goal of 2012. That is according to Team Principal Tony Fernandes, who is now taking the outfit formerly known as ‘Lotus Racing’ and ‘Team Lotus’ into its third season of Formula 1.
In 2012, the squad moves from Norfolk to Oxfordshire and retains its line-up of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli as well as Renault engines, Red Bull-made gearboxes and stints in the Williams wind tunnel. However, rumours still linger that Trulli could be replaced by Vitaly Petrov.
“Caterham is the name we will race under for many years to come, but we still have the same DNA we have had since day one, back in 2009,” says Fernandes. “We are the same team but every day we are growing stronger; what underpins that growth is the people in our team who have been with us since the early days and the people who have come on-board and share our vision. We are still very proudly green and yellow and I think that says rather a lot about who we are.”
When asked to list his aims of 2012, the Malaysian entrepreneur replied:
“Target-wise, I have been quoted as saying I want us to score a point this year and that really has to be the aim. It has to be. Towards the end of last year we were so close to the midfield cars, but our lack of KERS limited our capabilities. This year however, with the people and facilities we have in the factory and the wind tunnel - and with KERS - I am confident that we will become a danger to many of the midfield teams and, yes, I want us to achieve a point somewhere in 2012 - maybe two if we are very lucky!”
The new CT01 was launched online on Wednesday, a day earlier than planned.
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