Giedo van der Garde admits that his focus for the remainder of the 2013 F1 season is to ensure he retains his position on the grid for next year – when fresh regulations are introduced in the sport.
The Dutch driver finally secured a role on the grid this year with Caterham and has a best finish of 15th after the opening five races of the campaign.
As has been the case in recent years, Caterham has yet to show signs of fighting for a place in the points-scoring positions, with the Leafield-based squad instead hoping that the new rules next year – when the sport switches to 1.6 litre turbo-charged engines – will be the catalyst that allows it to make progress up the order.
With that in mind, van der Garde admitted that he hoped to do enough this season to ensure he gets the chance to return next year to try and help his current team move forwards.
"Of course, in 2014 it's going to be a very interesting year for everybody,” he told ESPN. "So we have to try to learn as much as possible from the team and what they're doing now in the wind tunnel to gather as much data as possible.
“Of course they have to push hard for next year because the change in the car is so big that you can have it on the right spot or not. So this is up to the team and I think they're pushing hard for it."
Crash.net
Circuito Permanente de Jerez – February 5 - Giedo: 1:21.915 - 64 laps
