Heikki Kovalainen has said that Caterham should consider changing the design direction they are taking with the CT03 car after competing in FP1 for the team today in Bahrain.
Kovalainen has re-joined his old team to do some testing work, being in the perfect position to compare the CT03 car to its 2012 predecessor after racing for Caterham from 2010 until last season.
“I think it’s quite different to last year’s car,” Kovalainen said in an interview.
“Fundamentally it’s the same, obviously tires and set-up has changed. It’s quite a different feeling.”
The Finnish driver made clear that he thought the team needed to make several changes to the 2013 car, which is largely based upon last year’s edition due to the lack of changes to the regulations.
“If I was racing, I would start looking to make changes straight away to get it more how I think it should be.
“It’s more unbalanced than I experienced last year. It’s more difficult to nail a good lap. I think in qualifying, when the tires are fresh, the car is a bit more average. But to a certain extent it’s not a surprise because of the way the car has been modified.”
Kovalainen also suggested that the new tires had made the car more difficult to drive, warranting the change in design and development.
“In terms of the differences, there’s a direction. But with the tires that we have now, I’m not convinced it’s the right way to go.
“Maybe we should reconsider the set-up direction.”
Although Kovalainen may not currently have the financial backing to race full-time with Caterham, but he is in a perfect position to help the team develop their car with six seasons of grand prix experience under his belt. The one-time race winner will also be partaking in free practice at the Spanish Grand Prix next month for Caterham.
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