New Caterham driver Charles Pic has no illusions about the difficulty of making an impact from the back of the Formula One pack this season.
Caterham have yet to score a single point in three years in the sport, with Vitaly Petrov's 11th place at last year's Brazilian Grand Prix their best finish to date.
Hopes of imminent changes starting with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 17 were emphatically played down by the Frenchman, who switched from fellow strugglers Marussia last month.
"For Melbourne I think it will be very difficult," Pic said. "What I think is important is that we do our best and we give everything to be as fast as possible in Melbourne and then, from where we will be in Melbourne, it will be very important to improve ourselves through the season," he added.
"If we can score the first point of the team, it will be great."
Pic predicted the duel between Caterham and Marussia the two would continue at the back of the grid: "I think that they are our closest rival," he said.
At the most recent test at the Circuit de Catalunya this week, Pic and his teammate Giedo van der Garde's fastest times were more than a second off those set by Marussia's Max Chilton and Luis Razia, but the 23-year-old played down the importance of the gap.
"Of course all the car is new, so you don't know how it works and what you have to do with it to extract the best of the performance," he said.
He clarified that the valuable testing time was "not at all focused on the performance" because he had to familiarize himself with the new machine.
Pic was in Moscow to take part in an ice racing exhibition event, and said he looked forward to the first Russian Grand Prix, scheduled to take place in Sochi in the 2014 season.
"I think Formula One going to Russia, it's great, because I think we have a lot of fans there and it will be very nice for them to have a Grand Prix and also very nice for us, the drivers, to come here and see them," he said.
In his debut F1 season with Marussia last year, Pic recorded a best finish of 12th at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
RIA Novosti
Circuito Permanente de Jerez – February 5 - Giedo: 1:21.915 - 64 laps
