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Manfredi Ravetto became Caterham F1 Team's principal after Christijan Albers suddenly left the organisation.
Ravetto is not stranger to Formula 1, having held a similar position at Midland/Spyker and HRT.
The German explained in an interview posted on Formula1.com how the new owners plan to turn the fortune of the team around.
Ravetto confirmed that Tony Fernandes, the previous owner, left the team in a very difficult financial situation.
“My feeling is that with the previous owners having already pulled the plug in a quite evident way, the team did not believe anymore that they would race at Silverstone,” said Ravetto.
“There is some additional evidence for that. But not only did we manage to race at Silverstone, we also did the test at Silverstone and made it to Singapore. In the meantime we have also made some significant improvements to the car - some significant improvements in terms of restructuring - and we keep fighting. But I would like to be clear: we take it as it comes. We are very relaxed. I think we have done a small miracle to bring it to where it is. I think we also did a small miracle by improving the performance and being ahead of Marussia in terms of speed and very close to Lotus and Sauber,” he continued.
Manfredi Ravetto declared that the team would be on the F1 grid next year.
“We are currently testing our 2015 car in Cologne, at Toyota's wind tunnel. We are also currently trying to keep developing our current car. We want to introduce some more new bits and pieces because the 10th place in the constructors' championship is our focus,” he said.
“P10 is of highest importance to us - but it is not vital. We have a plan in place regardless of the place, as we want to give the company a future. We have restructured the technical department and put it under the control of John Iley and his staff, which was not the case before we arrived. And it already shows very interesting data. But of course we will not build the world championship-winning car,” Ravetto explained.
The driver situation is a little bit hard to understand at the moment. Who will drive for Caterham next year?
“We have something in mind - and of course we are planning on a mix: an experienced driver and a ‘hot shoe',” Ravetto answered.
“We don't want to lose Marcus (Ericsson) because the team invested in him in his rookie time and now wants to harvest on this investment, as we think that he will be able to deliver. Regarding Kamui (Kobayashi), he knows that he has open doors at Caterham. Obviously he knows that he also has to deliver this year. He has to help us to achieve the P10 that we are targeting,” the German said.
Ravetto is not stranger to Formula 1, having held a similar position at Midland/Spyker and HRT.
The German explained in an interview posted on Formula1.com how the new owners plan to turn the fortune of the team around.
Ravetto confirmed that Tony Fernandes, the previous owner, left the team in a very difficult financial situation.
“My feeling is that with the previous owners having already pulled the plug in a quite evident way, the team did not believe anymore that they would race at Silverstone,” said Ravetto.
“There is some additional evidence for that. But not only did we manage to race at Silverstone, we also did the test at Silverstone and made it to Singapore. In the meantime we have also made some significant improvements to the car - some significant improvements in terms of restructuring - and we keep fighting. But I would like to be clear: we take it as it comes. We are very relaxed. I think we have done a small miracle to bring it to where it is. I think we also did a small miracle by improving the performance and being ahead of Marussia in terms of speed and very close to Lotus and Sauber,” he continued.
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| Photo: Caterham F1 Team |
Manfredi Ravetto declared that the team would be on the F1 grid next year.
“We are currently testing our 2015 car in Cologne, at Toyota's wind tunnel. We are also currently trying to keep developing our current car. We want to introduce some more new bits and pieces because the 10th place in the constructors' championship is our focus,” he said.
“P10 is of highest importance to us - but it is not vital. We have a plan in place regardless of the place, as we want to give the company a future. We have restructured the technical department and put it under the control of John Iley and his staff, which was not the case before we arrived. And it already shows very interesting data. But of course we will not build the world championship-winning car,” Ravetto explained.
The driver situation is a little bit hard to understand at the moment. Who will drive for Caterham next year?
“We have something in mind - and of course we are planning on a mix: an experienced driver and a ‘hot shoe',” Ravetto answered.
“We don't want to lose Marcus (Ericsson) because the team invested in him in his rookie time and now wants to harvest on this investment, as we think that he will be able to deliver. Regarding Kamui (Kobayashi), he knows that he has open doors at Caterham. Obviously he knows that he also has to deliver this year. He has to help us to achieve the P10 that we are targeting,” the German said.