Pic remains content with switch

After one season in Formula One 23-year-old Charles Pic opted to make the jump from Marussia to Caterham.

The Frenchman’s decision was announced ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, at a point when Marussia were leading Caterham in the constructors championship.

With Marussia leading the battle of the newbie teams, 10th place in the constructors championship was on the line, something that is worth a reported £10million or in real terms, a third of these teams annual budget.

But in the final race of the season Vitaly Petrov, driving for Caterham, managed to beat Pic, driving for Marussia to 11th place and subsequently clinch 10th place in the constructors championship in the final race of the season.

It was a convenient twist in the tail for Pic, proving his decision to make the switch as the right one.

But while Caterham appear to have the resources and past accomplishments of beating Marussia in all three seasons, it has been Marussia who have started the season off the best.

In Australia, Marussia drivers Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton, both out qualified the Caterham pair of Giedo van der Garde and Pic, with Pic even qualifying outside of 107% pace.

In the race at Melbourne, Bianchi finished 15th, with Pic 16th, Chilton 17th and van der Garde 18th.

In Malaysia, Bianchi once again beat both Caterham’s in qualifying, although Pic did beat Chilton to 20th on the grid. While in the race once again Bianchi finished 13th ahead of the Caterham pair in 14th and 15th place.

So does Pic find it frustrating being beaten by his former team?

‘I had a great year with Marussia but now I am very happy to be with Caterham for this year and the future. It’s not frustrating at all. Pic told Autosport Magazine.

Just like all the teams on the F1 grid, Caterham have to work out the best way to set-up the car and work with the new Pirelli compounds that have been designed for the new 2013 championship.

But while there are gains to be made in this area, Pic believes the team won’t make a significant step forward until they receive some new upgrades.

‘There are some areas where we need to progress and that’s it. It’s our job to fix issues and make steps forward.’

‘Of course we are pushing hard with set-up and tyre management to optimise these things but at this time we wait for the updates.’