Rookie Andre Lotterer impressed in Spa by, not only staying out of trouble on a tricky wet day, but by outqualifying Caterham teammate Marcus Ericsson by almost a second.
The latter said he didn't get a clear lap, but nevertheless it was a good effort by Lotterer, who didn't sample the car until Friday.
“This is definitely a speedy way of learning how to drive an F1 car!” he said. “Yesterday was dry while today was wet, so all this is now covered and I know exactly what to expect in both those conditions. I think it was a very tough qualifying session for me. I had to figure it all out while I was out there, so I’m very happy that I brought the car back without making many mistakes – it was so easy to lose it out there! In the end I managed to complete two decent laps and I’m really happy with my result.
“The most difficult part of this weekend is figuring it all out in such a short period of time: understanding where the grip is, where to brake, how to handle the throttle and the power... I’ve accumulated a lot of experience in a very short amount of time and I feel that I can do a good race tomorrow. I did some long runs yesterday and I found a good rhythm. Hopefully the conditions won’t be too tricky, because if not I will need to find out where the limit is while I’m racing – that’s my biggest concern. Nevertheless, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race, I’m ready for it!”
