Caterham’s car is much improved and can challenge the midfield teams at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov said after Saturday’s qualifying session.
Petrov will start Sunday’s race in 19th, with teammate Heikki Kovalainen 16th after the Finn broke into the second stage of qualifying for the first time this season.
“We're much closer to the cars ahead than we were in China and, having already seen how we can fight with some of the midfield cars in the races, I think tomorrow could be a good day for us,” Petrov said in comments on the Caterham website.
Kovalainen ran almost one-and-a-half seconds faster using the faster soft tires, but Petrov’s car was not set up to take advantage of the grippier rubber, he said.
“The car just didn't feel right. It wasn't so much a balance issue, it was more about how the car felt under braking and I think that's what cost me the time on the soft tires.”
Tire strategy will decide the race, he said.
“It's definitely going to be interesting. There will be a lot of stops and it'll come down to who uses their tires best.”
Petrov started the first three races of 2012 in 20th place, behind Kovalainen. His best finish of the season came in Malaysia last month, where he was 16th.
