Sunday’s race in Singapore was fairly uneventful in terms of battles and exciting racing. However if you’re Marcus Ericsson it was a great achievement and a race to remember.
Caterham Singapore GP Review
When Kamui Kobayashi pulled over on the formation lap due to a power unit failing it was easy to think that Caterham were in for another tough race and a possible double retirement but it turned out to the be the opposite for them. It was a long stint on the prime tyres that helped him to the great 15th place ahead of both Marussia F1 cars. By being able to manage his tyres he could keep Jules Bianchi behind him for the final four laps of the race.
It’s an even better achievement when you realise that Ericsson also had an energy management problem throughout the race and therefore was not able to get the maximum out his car. Another bonus for Caterham this weekend was in terms of reliability they were better than Sauber who seems to look worse as the season goes on and in terms of pace better than Marussia for the second race in a row. It’s a struggle for these smaller teams to even get onto the grid but hopefully they can still be there next season and Caterham can finally get their first points in F1 on the board.
At first look it’s easy to think that Ericsson has been overshadowed by Kobayashi this season but in actual fact when you look at their stats, Ericsson is ahead in the championship both having five retirements and Ericsson’s best place finish was an 11th place in Monaco and Kobayashi’s best place being 13th in Malaysia and Monaco. Another factor fans don’t tend to look at despite it been a very key point in F1 this year is his weight difference with his team mate. Kobayashi is almost 10kg lighter than Ericsson and in the car that can equate to just over 0.5 seconds per lap. So by that stat of course Ericsson is going to be slower in qualifying, the weight plays such a big part in what you can get out of the car.
Ericsson is only 23 so I still believe he can have a good future in Formula one and has a lot more to come.
‘What a race! One of the best of my season so far, I have no doubt about it’ – Marcus Ericsson, Singapore 2014
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