Caterham door shut on Petrov

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Published time: February 01, 2013 13:20
Edited time: February 01, 2013 20:33

Caterham F1 has dropped Russian driver Vitaly Petrov and signed Dutchman Giedo van der Garde for the remaining spot on the team for the 2013 season.

­Van der Garde was Caterham’s reserve driver last season, he also competed in the GP2 series where he finished sixth overall.

The 27-year-old Dutchman will be joining Charles Pic in the Malaysian team, who was also recruited from Marussia this winter.

This means Petrov, whose 11th place finish in the final race in Brazil helped bag the much-desired 10th place in the Constructors Cup, is out of the team.

The Russian driver’s manager, Oksana Kosachenko, previously named Caterham as the primary option to prolong the Formula 1 career for her client.  

“At the moment I do not know any other team, who could offer Vitaly a place as prize driver this season,” she told Sportbox.ru.

The only two teams with vacant driver spots are Force India and Marussia.

“Now we’ll digest everything that’s happened and think about which way to go next,” Kosachenko stressed. “It’s important to emphasize that Petrov is in excellent physical shape, he trains a lot. Now we’ll focus our efforts on the contract for 2014.”

The new Formula 1 season will start on March 17 with Melbourne hosting the Australian Grand Prix.

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