Charles Pic is unsure whether or not he will still be racing for Caterham next season, but the Frenchman has said that he would like to remain with the team in 2014 if possible.
Pic joined the team at the beginning of the year after debuting with Marussia in 2012, and despite some good performances, he has recently been overshadowed by teammate Giedo van der Garde. With reserve driver Heikki Kovalainen (currently standing in for Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus) thought to be closing in on a seat with the backmarkers, Pic has conceded that he is not yet sure about his plans for 2014.
“For next year, I think the logical thing for me would be to stay at Caterham but it’s not sure,” Pic explained in the drivers’ press conference on Thursday in Brazil. “I think there are still many seats available for next year so nothing is sure for the moment so we will see.”
Caterham enter this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix (live on NBC from 11am ET) trailing Marussia for tenth place in the constructors’ championship, requiring a result of thirteenth place or higher in the final race to claim this position and the prize money that goes with it. Pic is putting the speculation about his future to one side in order to focus on this battle, and he does not think that beating Marussia will aid his search for a seat.
“We try to be focused on the races we are on, so it’s Brazil this weekend and give our best this weekend, try to get good results for the team and then we will see what happens for next year,” he said. “I don’t know if it will help the negotiations but for sure it would help the team and it’s the target so we will go for it and see.”
The list of drivers who could replace Pic is lengthy thanks to the number of changes further up the grid this year, but candidates not currently racing in F1 include the team’s American reserve driver, Alexander Rossi, and GP2 driver Marcus Ericsson who, according to the BBC, is in the running.