Roberto Merhi says no plan yet for where his Caterham Practice One outing leads
Spanish youngster admits he does have some concerns for Monza bow
Thursday 4 September 2014 14:37, UK
Caterham new boy Roberto Merhi says it is not yet decided what his Practice One debut at Monza will lead onto, amid speculation that the team are lining up the Spanish youngster to race for them before the season is out.
It was confirmed on Thursday that Spanish 23-year-old Merhi, who is currently challenging Carlos Sainz Junior for the Formula Renault 3.5 championship having returned to single-seater racing following two years with Mercedes in DTM, would be parachuted into Caterham’s CT05 to make his F1 debut in opening practice for the Italian GP on Friday.
Merhi had already been mooted as one driver along with, ironically, his Red Bull-backed FR3.5 rival Sainz who could take the seat which for most of 2014 has been occupied by Kamui Kobayashi for a full race weekend after Andre Lotterer was drafted in for the Japanese at Spa.
Although Kobayashi returns from Practice Two onwards this weekend at Monza, Merhi takes his seat in Practice One. Asked in his first interview session with the F1 written media on Thursday if Friday’s P1 run was a precursor to a race debut in two weeks’ time in Singapore, Merhi replied: “I don’t know yet.
“At the moment the idea is to do the Practice One to see how it goes, to see how much I can learn from the car and everyone, and then we will see what’s going on and what is the next target.”
The Spaniard is at least hopeful his initial outing represents a big step towards obtaining his full superlicence, something which would mean he could race for Caterham.
“At the moment it looks like they let me do Practice One and then let’s see for the future,” he said. “If everything goes well I think it will not be a problem. At the moment everything looks okay on our side.”
While unsure for now what his future holds beyond Monza, a beaming Merhi admitted he was simply glad to finally have the chance to drive an F1 car.
“It’s pretty great to be here after all the races of my life so far was fighting to one day drive a Formula 1 car and try to do the best that I can,” he explained.
“I was doing Formula Renault and Formula Three, and then I did DTM, and then back to single-seaters in World Series, which looks like it was the right choice. Now here in Monza the first time I’m going to drive a Formula 1 car.
“I’m quite excited because the first time is in a free practice. It’s going to be a bit hard but let’s see how it goes.”
However, having never even tested an F1 car before, Merhi is aware that taking the plunge at Monza – the fastest circuit in the sport – poses a particular challenge.
“I am worried because everybody told me that the hard tyres are not behaving really good and it’s going to be hard to bring them into temperature, but let’s see,” he conceded.
“In the World Series it’s quite easy to put the heat into the tyres because you have so much downforce you weave a little bit on the straight and then you have the temperature. But in Formula 1 it’s quite complicated to weave on the straight and get heat into the tyres.
“I’m a bit worried also with the braking system that it’s a bit special with battery charge and everything, but at the end of the day it’s a formula car like the ones I drove in the past and I need to get used to it like everybody.
“So let’s see. It’s going to be a challenge to drive the Caterham car in Monza.”
