Petrov plays down chances to earn points at Chinese GP

Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov commented on his recent visit to Russia and played down the team’s chances of making the top-10 in the upcoming Grand-Prix in China.

«As soon as the Malaysian race was over I headed back to Russia for a few days at home before we get going again in China,» the Russian driver said, as quoted on the official Caterham website. «I’ve been doing a bit of training, catching up with friends and family and I hooked up with Andrei Arshavin to help launch the new Nike Mercurial Vapour VIII football boots. I’m a big football fan and it’s always good seeing Andrei. He’s obviously having a pretty interesting season with Arsenal and I know he and the whole Russian team are looking forward to Euro 2012 in June. I’ll have to make sure I can fit in watching a few games while we’re at races – I’m in Canada for Russia’s opening game so I’ll have a word with the IT guys to see if they can help me watch it!

«Next up though it’s China, Petrov continued. «I’ve been in the points for the last two years in Shanghai and while it would obviously be great to repeat that in 2012 with Caterham I suspect it might be a bit too early in the season for us to get a point in China. It’s not a particularly hard circuit to drive, it’s not too technical but you have to make sure you get it right through the tight section from turns 1 to 4, and the same from 11 to 13 as you head onto the straight. You can make up or lose quite a bit of time in both those sequences and that means setting up the cars to have the right balance between the high speed run down to T14, meaning less drag, and the slower turns in sectors one and three, both of which need much more downforce.»