- Caterham
Caterham puzzled by Kobayashi comments in Sochi
Caterham has clarified comments made by Kamui Kobayashi at the Russian Grand Prix, disagreeing with the assessment the team ordered him to retire just to save mileage.
Immediately after retiring in the garage in Sochi, Kobayashi told TV reporters he had retired for "nothing, adding the team was limiting mileage on several components and that had been told to park the car without any other explanation. Kobayashi's long-term future at Caterham continues to be in doubt, with the Japanese driver only being confirmed on a race-by-race basis since being replaced by Andre Lotterer for the Belgian Grand Prix.
On Wednesday Caterham confirmed the team retired the Japanese driver due to a concern over his brakes and team principal Manfredi Ravetto said he does not understand the comments made.
"I was very surprised to hear Kamui referring to some mileage-saving instruction coming from the team's management," Ravetto said. "We saw via telemetry that there was a potential issue with the brakes and we decided to avoid any risks; Kamui officially confirmed this as well and I'd like to add that he had also asked us to change the previous set before qualifying because he felt some vibration. To be clear: yes, we instructed Kamui to retire because the safety of our drivers is our first concern!"
"Regarding Kamui's comment, all I can say - and again, I'm answering with facts - is that the team has continuously made progress since the British Grand Prix, we've managed to qualify very well in the last two races, getting very close to Q2, and in Suzuka we repaired Kamui's heavily damaged car in time for the next session without any problems, so I cannot understand his comment."
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