Kovalainen "re-built himself from scratch at Lotus (now Caterham) to such an extent that the team prefers him to Trulli. No one questions Kovalainen's seat. Any talk of getting a pay driver at Caterham only relates to Trulli's seat."

24 hours is a long time in F1. The above quotation turned out to be really appropriate.

Today, Caterham ditched Trulli bringing in Petrov. I have no reason to believe that Petrov will do a better job than Trulli. BUT Petrov will bring millions with him in sponsorship from wealthy Russian companies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17042953

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/02/caterham-makes-change-with-petrov-replacing-trulli/

Trulli has taken it with great dignity IMO

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7527211/Trulli-I-understand-Caterham-decision

Kovalainen must be happy he will be compared to a mediocre journeyman like Petrov but it is a disadvantage to the team since Petrov is less likely to be able to help with the car's development than Trulli would have been able to.

I can understand Caterham's decision purely on financial grounds. But the way they have treated Trulli has been really shabby and disrespectful. They said he was confirmed as a driver for 2012 with a contract. They never clarified whether he would have a race seat. They never told him earlier. He even did the 1st test at Jerez. The writing was on the wall when Caterham's reserve driver was given day 3 of testing in place of Trulli. If Trulli was really going to be a race driver for them in 2012, there would be no way day 3 would be given to someone else. Even this week, Trulli was quoted as saying "we are safe". And then this happens. It was not the right way to treat him IMO.

Petrov, as a driver, is a plodder. What on earth can they expect him to do that Trulli would not have been able to do?

Caterham don't need to sign a contract with him - they just need to issue him with a receipt for the money he will bring to the team! :)

Meanwhile Mike Gascoyne becomes Caterham's Chief Technical Officer. I thought he effectively did this job anyway? Big deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17068858

Some more on Bahrain's GP which looks like it will go ahead barring a drastic deterioration of the situation re driver/team safety. The Bahraini ruling family clearly doesn't care about its people - it just cares about its sporting spectacle. IMO it's disgusting.

Interesting quotations from Rosberg on his relationship with Schumi.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7525471/Nico-Relationship-with-Schu-is-easy-going

Mercedes did their shakedown at a filming event. The new car will be tested at Barcelona.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7526902/Mercedes-W03-hits-the-track

RBR's Newey thinks Mercedes could be hiding a new piece of technology

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7527003/Newey-Merc-Hiding-Something-

Having missed Jerez, HRT not planning to turn up at the Barcelona test. What a shambles!

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7526840/HRT-to-skip-first-Barcelona-test
 


--


997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen pickup, BMW Z4 2.5i Roadster Sterling Grey/Red