Caterham driver Petrov ready to adopt his style to the new drive

Russian Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov claimed he is willing to adapt his driving style after completing the first test of Caterham’s new car near Barcelona on Wednesday.

Petrov had his first drive on the second day of the Barcelona tests, after his Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen was halted by a steering problem on Tuesday.

Petrov’s best time in the morning session at the Circuit de Catalunya was a full four seconds off the pace set by Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg, although varying fuel loads and other issues made the results an unreliable benchmark.

«I think that was a pretty positive day. We completed 69 laps and got through most of what we had planned,» the Russian said in a statement to the Caterham website.

«This morning we had a couple of issues with the seating position and the brakes, but you expect that from a new car and they were little things that we were able to fix quickly. In the afternoon we put in a few more long runs and that’ll give us a lot of data to work on tonight and I think tomorrow it will be more of the same.Physically I feel really good. It’s obviously been a while since I’ve been in a car, but I’ve kept up my fitness levels and I enjoyed myself on track, so it’s a good first day back. One thing I have noticed is that this car behaves a little differently from my previous experience and I think I may have to adjust my driving style to get the best out of it – I’ve been quite aggressive before, but I think this car responds better to smoother inputs, so that’s something I can work on, and work with the engineers on. Let’s see what we can come up with for tomorrow.»