Caterham Hope To Bounce Back In Home Race

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysian-owned Formula One team, Caterham F1 Team, hope to bounce back from a disastrous start in Melbourne by doing well in the 'home race' Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix in Sepang. In the season opening Australian GP, both team drivers had to retire from the race due to technical problems. During the F1 opening race at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne last March 18, Heiki Kovalainen retired from the race with suspension problems while Vitaly Petrov was forced out by steering problems. Kovalainen was also penalised for this weekend's race after falling foul of the stewards during Sunday's race in Melbourne when he overtook whilst the safety car was still out, said he accepted the penalty for passing Sebastian Vettel under the safety car. "It was definitely a bit harsh but the rules are set and it's just unfortunate I made a small mistake that will put me back five places on the grid in Sepang. "It's not really a problem, we know we can pass the cars that will probably be ahead on the grid and I'll just have to do my best to put myself as far up the grid as I can on Saturday so we can minimize the effect of the penalty in the race," he was quoted in the team's official website Wednesday. Under the revised safety-car rules for 2012, Kovalainen will drop five places on the grid at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Petrov is excited to race in front of the Malaysian fans and hope the team could put on an impressive performance. "This is my first race in Malaysia with the team and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Malaysian fans react to their home team, and to build on what we achieved on track in Australia. "Putting aside the weather, which affects everyone the same, the track itself is a good challenge, and with KERS on the car for the first time for the team in Malaysia, I feel we can show how we have progressed since last year in front of our home fans," said Petrov. "The race in Melbourne didn't end as we'd wanted, but it was still very good to see how we could push the cars ahead, and until the problem we had with the steering I felt good in the car," he added. -- BERNAMA