Caterham boss: Petrov is as good a second driver as Trulli

Formula 1 Caterham team principal Tony Fernandes believes that Russian driver Vitaly Petrov is just as good as Jarno Trulli, the man he ousted to become the F1 team driver this year.

«I think he (Petrov) is as good a driver as Trulli, but he obviously brings a Russian commercial element,» Fernandes told the US cable news channel CNN.

«It gives us the ability to exploit commercial opportunities in Russia. We’ve watched Petrov very closely. He brings in sponsorship. He’s competent enough to be a second driver,» he added.

Speaking of the Caterham’s chances in the next season’s races, Fernandes revealed their target was to make the top ten in the league table.

«We want to get into the midfield,» he confirmed. «We said it’s going to take us two years, we want to be tenth then we want to be racing. And looking at the times right now, we’re there or thereabouts. Maybe half a second, a second away from the midfield pack,» the Malaysian entrepreneur said.