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There's some confusion at Caterham F1 Team as to why Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi retired on lap 21 of the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom last Sunday.
Interviewed by BBC 5 Live just after he climbed out of the car, Kobayashi claimed there was nothing wrong with his Renault-powered CT05.
“Nothing wrong with the car. The team asked me to stop the car to save mileage,” Kobayashi declared.
"We have a lot of mileage limitation to avoid things going wrong with the parts. This is why I get message from top management."
Moments later, Caterham F1 team tweeted: "The reason for @kamui_kobayashi's retirement was that his brakes were overheating and it was too dangerous for him to carry on racing."
Three days later, team boss Manfredi Ravetto said to be confused by his driver's comments.
“Actually, I was very surprised to hear Kamui referring to some mileage-saving instruction coming from the team's management,” Ravetto declared.
“We saw via telemetry that there was a potential issue with the brakes and we decided to avoid any risks; Kamui officially confirmed this as well and I'd like to add that he had also asked us to change the previous set before qualifying because he felt some vibration. To be clear: yes, we instructed Kamui to retire because the safety of our drivers is our first concern!” he added.
“Regarding Kamui's comment, all I can say - and again, I'm answering with facts - is that the team has continuously made progress since the British Grand Prix, we've managed to qualify very well in the last two races, getting very close to Q2, and in Suzuka we repaired Kamui's heavily damaged car in time for the next session without any problems, so I cannot understand his comment,” Ravetto explained.
Interviewed by BBC 5 Live just after he climbed out of the car, Kobayashi claimed there was nothing wrong with his Renault-powered CT05.
“Nothing wrong with the car. The team asked me to stop the car to save mileage,” Kobayashi declared.
"We have a lot of mileage limitation to avoid things going wrong with the parts. This is why I get message from top management."
Moments later, Caterham F1 team tweeted: "The reason for @kamui_kobayashi's retirement was that his brakes were overheating and it was too dangerous for him to carry on racing."
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| Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham CT05-Renault, Sochi. (Photo: WRi2) |
Three days later, team boss Manfredi Ravetto said to be confused by his driver's comments.
“Actually, I was very surprised to hear Kamui referring to some mileage-saving instruction coming from the team's management,” Ravetto declared.
“We saw via telemetry that there was a potential issue with the brakes and we decided to avoid any risks; Kamui officially confirmed this as well and I'd like to add that he had also asked us to change the previous set before qualifying because he felt some vibration. To be clear: yes, we instructed Kamui to retire because the safety of our drivers is our first concern!” he added.
“Regarding Kamui's comment, all I can say - and again, I'm answering with facts - is that the team has continuously made progress since the British Grand Prix, we've managed to qualify very well in the last two races, getting very close to Q2, and in Suzuka we repaired Kamui's heavily damaged car in time for the next session without any problems, so I cannot understand his comment,” Ravetto explained.