Russian Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov is a “fighter” who has performed well in his first four races for Caterham, team owner Tony Fernandes said Saturday.
Petrov finished 16th in his second race for Caterham in Malaysia in March after battles with former world champion Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, and equaled the result in Bahrain last month.
“Having been with us for four races now, I am very pleased with the job Vitaly has been doing for the team. He is obviously a fighter and he is pushing his team mate well,” Fernandes said on the Caterham website.
Petrov said he was looking forward to the next race in Barcelona after three days of testing at the Mugello circuit near Florence.
“We are all looking forward to getting back to racing in Spain. Barcelona is a track I know well and one I like racing on,” he said on the team website.
“We will all be focusing on continuing to take the fight to the cars ahead.”
Petrov admitted he had difficulty adapting to life as an F1 backmarker after two seasons of regular top-ten finishes with Renault, later Lotus Renault, in an interview with RIA Novosti in March.
“Of course it wasn’t easy for me to live with that. No one wants to hang around at the back,” he said.
He has since praised the atmosphere at the team, however.
Petrov recorded his best world championship placing of 10th in 2011 after a season which included a third-place finish in Australia, his first podium. But he was dropped at the end of the season in favor of French driver Romain Grosjean.
