Video: Giedo van der Garde onboard Malaysia

Onboard camera: Malaysia



Credits: Kenny6821

Caterham have the track reliability – now they need the speed

Caterham once again proved they have the reliability they need with a second two-car finish of the season in Malaysia – all they need now is some added speed.

The Hingham-backed team brought Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde home at Sepang, sandwiched between the two Marussias – with Jules Bianchi taking a useful 13th finish and showing his huge promise.

Team owner Tony Fernandes admitted on Twitter that Caterham are currently running their 2012 car, but hope upgrades in Barcelona come May will give the Leafield crew a step forward.

“Having both cars finish the first two races, including our home race in Malaysia, is a fair reward for the efforts the whole team has put in considering where we are performance-wise at this stage,” said team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

“Charles was an innocent victim in his incident (Juen Eric Vergne hitting the Caterham in the pit lane) and it was a real shame as that seriously hit his chances of fighting against Bianchi, but the team reacted very well and I’m proud of the efforts everyone has put in here and in Melbourne, in races that we knew would be tough.

“Although the general reliability of the cars has been better than a number of bigger teams ahead, we’re still having to deal with a number of pretty intense situations that are affecting our ability to control the finer details of our races.

“This time we had issues with our intercom failing, which prevents communication between engineers, our telemetry froze at certain points and the timing software went down, which meant we weren’t able to accurately map how the race was unfolding.

“These things go on behind the scenes and while they don’t directly affect the performance of the cars they don’t help, so we’ll make sure we have fixes for each of those in China (April 14).

“Overall, with the strategy we’ve employed for 2013 and in preparation for 2014 and beyond, we knew the first few races of this season would be tough, but we’re not going to deviate from the plan.

“Even though we’re running a hybrid car for the first three races we’re still close to where we want to be and the updates we have coming will pay dividends.

“We have a long-term goal, one that is built around the whole group we are part of and one that is realistic, sustainable and which will see us right in the mix in the long run.”

EDP24

Voldaan gevoel bij Van der Garde

- English translation below the article -

Giedo van der Garde verlaat met een voldaan gevoel het hete Maleisië. De Nederlander eindigde zondag als 15e in de Grand Prix op het circuit van Sepang. Hij hield drie auto's achter zich in het officiële eindklassement. ,,Jammer dat de voorspelde regen niet kwam. Dan had ik op de banden kunnen rijden waarop ik absoluut snel ben'', aldus de formule 1-coureur van Caterham. 

Van der Garde kende vanaf de laatste positie een goede start. ,,Ik had meteen een paar auto's te pakken, dat is altijd lekker om zo te beginnen. Dat geeft een 'boost'. De auto voelde ook veel beter aan dan in de kwalificatie.'' 

De Nederlander lag op een gegeven moment zelfs eventjes 14e, maar die positie kon hij niet vasthouden. ,,Toch heb ik nog wel een probleem met overstuur, met name op de momenten dat de auto lichter wordt. We moeten de komende tijd hard aan de slag om de juiste afstelling te vinden voor de kwalificatie en de race.'' 

ANP

Sunday - Malaysia - Race report Giedo

Weather

Race: Wet (start), dry (remainder of the race)

Air / track temps: 24° / 30° (start), 25° / 31° (lap 28), 26° / 30° (lap 56)

Runplan

Giedo van der Garde

Start on intermediate tyres

Lap 6: pitstop 1, medium tyres

Lap 18: pitstop 2, hard tyres

Lap 28: pitstop 3, hard tyres

Lap 42: pitstop 4, medium tyres

Finished: 15th

Fastest lap: 1.43.157 (lap 44)

Photo: Caterham

Team Quotes

Giedo van der Garde, car 21, chassis CT03-#5: "I had a really good start, really strong and the car felt great on the inters for the first stint. Just when the conditions were going from wet to dry I heard over the radio that I had a front left puncture but it was exactly at the time we were coming in to switch to the dry tyres so it only cost me a little bit of time. I came back out on the mediums and was running well in 17th with really good balance.

"From there the race was ok. The rain that had been forecast didn't come so we didn't have another chance to show what we can do on the inters and that's a shame as I'm definitely quick on those tyres, but the car felt much better on both the medium and the hard compounds we put on in the second and third stops than it had yesterday. I didn't have the same oversteer problems I had in FP3 or qualifying but we still have work to do to reduce oversteer on entry into the corners and we'll look at that again in China. We're also going to work on improving our setup options for qualifying, maximising every run in the practice sessions to help us get the most out of the car on Saturday afternoons and that will definitely help us put in a stronger showing in quali.

"I also want to say what a good job the boys did in the stops. It was pretty tight with Chilton each time but I stayed ahead of him after good work on the pitwall and really strong work from the pitcrew. When we finished I thanked them on the radio, and after the race Tony Fernandes told the whole team how proud he was of the work he'd seen today in the stops. He's right - the boys are pushing hard and it's good to see the efforts we're making in the car are the same across the whole team."

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "Having both cars finish the first two races, including our home race in Malaysia, is a fair reward for the efforts the whole team has put in, considering where we are performance-wise at this stage of the season. Both drivers again had very good starts and they were running well for the first part of the race. The incident Charles was an innocent victim of in his first stop was a real shame as that seriously hit his chances of fighting against Bianchi, but the team reacted very well and I'm proud of the efforts everyone has put in here and in Melbourne, in races that we knew would be tough.

"Although the general reliability of the cars has been better than a number of bigger teams ahead, we're still having to deal with a number of pretty intense situations that are affecting our ability to control the finer details of our races. This time we had issues with our intercom failing, which prevents communication between engineers, our telemetry froze at certain points and the timing software went down which meant we weren't able to accurately map how the race was unfolding. These things go on behind the scenes and while they don't directly affect the performance of the cars they don't help, so we'll make sure we have fixes for each of those in China.

"Overall, with the strategy we've employed for 2013 and in preparation for 2014 and beyond we knew the first few races of this season would be tough, but we're not going to deviate from the plan. Even though we're running a hybrid car for the first three races we're still close to where we want to be and the updates we have coming will pay dividends. We have a long-term goal, one that is built around the whole group we are part of and one that is realistic, sustainable and which will see us right in the mix in the long run."

Full race report here.

Caterham

Vettel leads Red Bull one-two after bitter battle

Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix after a bitter battle with team-mate Mark Webber for the lead that came within inches of disaster for Red Bull.

Webber had led the early stages of the race and was still leading when the cars emerged from their final stops. With concerns over tyre wear Red Bull then told both drivers to hold position to the end of the grand prix, but Vettel ignored the message and an intense battle ensued before Vettel came out on top to win by 4.2s.

Lewis Hamilton finished third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after a slightly more placid battle for the final podium spot, but earlier in the race his attack on the Red Bulls was curbed by needing to save fuel. Rosberg was continually told not to attack Hamilton towards the end of the race as Mercedes looked to secure a solid points haul and he reluctantly complied.

Felipe Massa finished in a distant fifth place after team-mate Fernando Alonso's fight for victory ended on lap two when his damaged front wing folded underneath his car. In sixth Romain Grosjean led home the two Lotuses, which showed none of their tyre-saving magic in the heat of Malaysia with Australia race winner Kimi Raikkonen seventh.

Nico Hulkenberg took a solid finish in eighth ahead of McLaren's Sergio Perez, who had to make a late stop for tyres. Jean-Eric Vergne took the final point, making the most of the high rate of attrition.

The race started in wet conditions after a heavy downpour half an hour before lights out which resulted in a number of cars running off track en-route to the grid. Vettel got a good start from pole position while Alonso nudged the back of the Red Bull in turn two, damaging his front wing. Webber had made good progress up to third and after passing Alonso at the end of the first lap the Ferrari's front wing folded under the car at high speed and saw him slide off at turn one.

The first crucial move came in the first pit stops, when Vettel pitted earliest for slick tyres despite sector one still being very wet. Webber stayed out for another two laps and rejoined in the lead, with Vettel unable to get too close to his team-mate. Hamilton was third but would have been much closer to the leading two but for a pit lane error when he pulled in to the McLaren area for his first stop as his old team waited to receive Jenson Button.

Button was up to fifth after the first round of stops and looked set to complete a three-stop race that would leave him on for solid points when a loose wheel at his final stop ruined his chances and eventually forced his retirement.

Webber dictated the pace at the front - with Vettel at one stage saying "Mark is too slow, get him out of the way. He is too slow" - and the two Mercedes closed within five seconds to make it a four-car race for victory.

Further back, the two Force India's were forced to retire after a wheel nut problem saw both drivers suffer long pit stops before parking up in the garage. There was good racing up and down the field with Raikkonen struggling to find a way past both Hulkenberg and Perez.

At the second round of pit stops Hamilton came in earlier to get the jump on Vettel, managing to do so but then losing out in the DRS zone six laps later. That was enough to give Webber a cushion and when the final round of pit stops took place he was over four seconds clear of his team-mate. However, Webber rejoined with Vettel right behind him and had to impressively defend for the rest of the lap.

Vettel was warned to be "careful" by the team on the radio, but he didn't heed the message and attacked again on the following lap, almost hitting the pit lane wall as he squeezed down the inside of Webber's car. Christian Horner radioed to Vettel "Come on Seb, this is silly", but Vettel didn't relent and eventually Webber left him enough room to pass around the outside of turn four.

The drama was on a smaller scale at Mercedes where Rosberg kept asking to be allowed to pass Hamilton who was conserving fuel, but team principal Ross Brawn denied the request.

While Vettel took the chequered flag to take the championship lead, the drama continued ahead of the podium. Little was said between the two drivers with Webber saying Vettel took matters in to his hands as focus shifted from the race to the Red Bull dynamic...

In the back Charles Pic finished 14th, one position ahead of Giedo van der Garde, 15th for Caterham, while Max Chilton finished last on the 16th position for Marussia.

1 S Vettel (GER) Red Bull 25
2 M Webber (AUS) Red Bull 18
3 LC Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 15
4 N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 12
5 F Massa (BRA) Ferrari 10
6 R Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 8
7 KM Räikkönen (FIN) Lotus 6
8 N Hülkenberg (GER) Sauber 4
9 S Perez (MEX) McLaren 2
10 JE Vergne (FRA) Toro Rosso 1
11 V Bottas (FIN) Williams
12 E Gutiérrez (MEX) Sauber
13 J Bianchi (FRA) Marussia
14 C Pic (FRA) Caterham
15 G van der Garde (NED) Caterham
16 M Chilton (GBR) Marussia

ESPN / Edit giedovandergarde.net

Tyres and toilets on everyone's mind

Sergio Pérez was next in line as the queue formed in the narrow corridor that runs alongside the McLaren garage. The toilet can never be too far away when you are racing at the steamy Sepang circuit.

Photo: CaterhamF1

The Malaysian Grand Prix is probably the biggest physical challenge of the season for the drivers and the teams. The state of the weather is never far from their minds and bodies - they are either looking up at the skies or down into the urinal.

"You use a lot of salt and you drink a lot during the day," said Giedo van der Garde, the new boy at Caterham preparing for his first Malaysian Grand Prix. "We drink five or six litres, but you pee a lot." As Pérez found out when he discovered the drivers' toilets were somewhat engaged yesterday.

The immediate threat is not the heat, although it was a consistent 32C (90F) throughout practice yesterday and is not due to get any cooler. But the humidity here is the killer, a sweatinducing torment that means any physical activity ends in a pool of water and breathless exhaustion.

Drivers have attempted to acclimatise by exercising outdoors and Lewis Hamilton spent time up country in jungle territory to get used to the conditions. After a run around the Sepang track, though, he had to admit: "It is horrible."

Ice vests have been issued to drivers and key mechanics will be taking similar precautions in garages more like steam rooms during tomorrow's race.

All this will matter little if it rains. When it rains here, it comes down like a giant, wet blanket. The 2009 race was abandoned after 31 laps amid torrential rain and the downpour on Thursday, which forced the postponement of the nearby Malaysian Open golf tournament, indicates what might lie ahead.

The biggest factor in deciding the Malaysian Grand Prix, though, remains the round black things that were shredding and leaving rubber deposits all over Sepang yesterday. As Mark Webber, the Red Bull driver, said: "The whole category is geared around tyres at the moment. Everything is around tyres - tyres, tyres, tyre, tyres, tyres."

Sebastian Vettel, his team-mate, raised the alarming question of "survival" because degradation of the Pirellis is so high. "It doesn't look very nice," Vettel, the world champion, said. "I hope we have enough tyres to survive the race. Tyre wear was severe for everyone, so you go around way under the [performance potential of the] car. It is not a lot of fun, but that is how it is."

There were 75 pitstops at last year's race and Pirelli predicts a minimum of three per car, but the pit crews should be ready with their wheel guns. A race that runs wet and dry could make them the busiest people in Malaysia tomorrow.

The Times, London

Saturday Qualifying Sepang - Report Giedo

Weather

FP3: Dry, sunny; min / max track temp 43° - 48°, air temp 34°

Q1: Dry, sunny; track temp 41°, air temp 32

Fastest laps / positions:

FP3: PIC 1.38.995, 19th / VDG 1.40.209, 21st

Q1: PIC 1.39.314, 20th / VDG 1.39.932, 22nd

Total laps:

FP3: PIC 18 / VDG 18

Q1: PIC 6 / VDG 6

Runplan

Giedo van der Garde, car #21, chassis CT03-05

FP3

1300 - 1313: Run 1, 6 laps (hard tyres)

Changes: brake balance, front torsion bar

1322 - 1335: Run 2, 6 laps (hard tyres)

Changes: brake balance, front wing flap angle, front torsion bar

1345 - 1402: Run 3, 6 laps (medium tyres)

Q1

1603 - 1609: Run 1, 3 laps (medium tyres)

Changes: front wing flap angle, brake balance

1616 - 1622: Run 2, 3 laps (medium tyres)

Driver quotes

Giedo van der Garde: "Qualifying didn't go well for me today to be honest. I've had an issue with a lot of oversteer on the option tyres all day and really couldn't get them to work as well as they did at the last race and that obviously hurt my pace. It's odd as the car felt good on the hard compounds in FP3 today but I just couldn't get the mediums to work so we'll have to look at that again tonight.

"However, with the car performing well on the primes and the pace we have on the inters I think tomorrow could be interesting. It's rained every day at about the same time as it'll be halfway through the race tomorrow so strategy's going to be really important. Physically I feel really good, totally prepared for the race, so we'll look at the plans for the race and hopefully pick up where we left off in FP3."

Caterham / Shortened: giedovandergarde.net

Formula One drivers limber up for 'sauna' heat

Nico Hulkenberg keeps cool by freezing his underwear, Valtteri Bottas says the climate is like a sauna, and Giedo van der Garde says the drivers drink so much water they constantly have to pee.

Welcome to life at the Malaysian Grand Prix, where fierce heat and humidity mixed with frequent torrential downpours make for one of the toughest races in Formula One.

As if an abrasive, tyre-shredding track and the G-force through a series of hairpin turns is not enough, tropical conditions at the Sepang circuit, built on former jungle just three degrees from the equator, pose a unique challenge.

On Friday, the first day of practice, ambient heat reached 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) and the track was measured at 41 degrees Celsius, the same temperature as the average bath.

"I don't enjoy the heat and the humidity of the place but the circuit is nice," said Lotus's former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, a winner at Sepang in 2003 and 2008.

Lewis Hamilton put it more directly.

"It's 36 degrees C here and must be about 80% humidity, sweating my ass off in this place," he tweeted, before adding: "But it's beautiful here. Tomorrow I get to go to the Petronas Twin Towers, can't wait."

As perspiring fans held iced drinks to their cheeks and sat beneath palm trees for shade, drivers said they eat salty food, drink gallons of water and even train in heat chambers to better cope with the conditions.

"There's not really much training you can do," said Marussia rookie Max Chilton. "You can do heat-chamber work which will help but the main thing is making sure your body is always hydrated to its absolute maximum."

The only relief comes in the form of rainstorms so heavy that they make driving dangerous or impossible -- as seen midway through Friday's second practice session, when a sudden downpour cleared the track.

Hulkenberg acclimatises by playing tennis in the midday sun, and he also has a special trick -- soaking his undergarments in water and putting them in the freezer, giving him a precious few minutes of icy cool.

"You use a different philosophy with food, you use a lot of salt, you drink a lot during the whole day," said Caterham's van der Garde. "I think we drink up to five or six litres, so you pee quite a lot."

Bottas, in his first season for Williams, comes from the snowy landscape of Finland but he says Malaysia reminds him of one aspect of home -- the saunas.

"Of course, we have the saunas in Finland, so maybe that helps with the heat," he said.

Any extra preparation will be helpful come Sunday, when drivers may have to grapple with both the heat and the rain during the race.

In 2009, the Malaysian race was called off after a relentless storm, and last year's edition was also interrupted by heavy rain.

France24.com

Giedo: Practice 1 and 2

Giedo van der Garde: "I think we've had a pretty good day. We've completed a lot of laps on all the tyres except the full wets and run through the whole program. In FP1 it was the normal runplan, focusing on the hard prime tyres and starting to understand deg levels on those - our pace on that compound and the wear rates were both encouraging, but we'll have to work a bit more on getting them up to temperature efficiently and then keeping them in that first phase of degradation as long as possible.

 

"In FP2 we did a couple of short and long runs on the primes and one on the medium tyre, as well as a stint on the inters when the rain started. It wasn't the intense rain we had on track yesterday but it was still enough to mean we needed to run the inters and with rain possible in quali and in the race that's more good data for us. It's also good for me to get as many laps as possible done on the intermediates - it's all part of the learning process and with full running in both FP1 and FP2 today, compared to Melbourne, we're in a better position for tomorrow and Sunday than we were last weekend."


FP1

1001 - 1004: Run 1, installation lap, 1 lap (hard tyres)
Changes: front / rear brake duct blanking
1041 - 1053: Run 2, 6 laps (hard tyres)
Changes: front / rear brake duct blanking, front toe-in
1115 - 1134: Run 3, 10 laps (hard tyres)

FP2

1400 - 1411: Run 1, installation lap, 7 laps (hard tyres)
Changes: front wing flap angle
1415 - 1434: Run 2, 9 laps (medium tyres)
Changes: front wing flap angle, brake balance, front / rear brake duct blanking
1438 - 1449 Run 3, 4 laps (hard tyres)
Changes: brake balance
1508 - 1520: Run 4, 7 laps (intermediate tyres)
Changes: front wing flap angle
1523 - 1533: Run 5, 5 laps (hard tyres)

 

Caterham

FIA Friday press conference - Cyril Abiteboul - Caterham - Malaysia

Team Representatives - Bob Bell (Mercedes), Cyril Abiteboul (Caterham), Robert Fearnley (Force India), Sam Michael (McLaren), James Allison (Lotus), Pat Fry (Ferrari).

 

Cyril Abiteboul - Team boss Caterham

 

Cyril Abiteboul - Caterham

Q: Cyril, Caterham one of I guess three teams that were perhaps a little disappointed with performance in Melbourne - perhaps along with Williams and McLaren - what’s going on behind the scenes at Leafield that gives you confidence going forward?
Cyril Abiteboul: Clearly, I think that we have chosen to go for a strategy that is a little bit different from other teams, in the sense that we do not operate our new car for now. We have strategies that will make the car evolve according to different packages, the first of which will come in Bahrain. So we are running right now on hybrid car, so we are pretty much where we expected it to be. It doesn’t mean it is where we wanted it to be. Having said that, we have been analysing clearly the difference, the gap between Marussia and our car. First we want to diminish a little bit the fight between Marussia and ourselves. We are just competitors and we would like to make our way up through the grid, not backwards but up towards the front. Clearly we see most of the developments that we did over the last year, the last 12 months, we think they made two-thirds of the difference over the last 12 months and only one-third over the winter. And of that one-third only half is coming from KERS. So I think that we have a real chance to be optimistic. Some good stuff is happening in the wind tunnel. Obviously we want to make sure this is translating into reality in Bahrain.

Q: Obviously it’s a home race for your Malaysian shareholders. How’s it looking for this weekend?
CA: It’s looking pretty much similar to the last weekend in the sense that it’s going to be on the edge with Marussia. I think the utilisation of tyres and driver familiarisation, driver mistakes also can make a difference so this is what we are getting ready for. We are going to have our shareholders present, so we want to make sure we have a good show at that moment.

 

Read the whole press conference here.

 

FIA Pressconference / Formula1.com

Van der Garde ready for Malaysian heat

Giedo van der Garde is looking forward to getting back on track at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, hoping that Caterham continues to build on a solid weekend in Australia.

Although his run was affected by an early collision that damaged his CT03, the Dutchman was happy to get a full race distance under his belt as the F1 circus gears up for one of the hardest weekends of its schedule. Having already sampled the extremes that Sepang can throw at a driver, having raced there several times in GP2, van der Garde knows that managing tyres in the highest temperatures seen so far this season will be key in the battle with Marussia, which went the way of the Banbury team 'down under'.

 

“Sepang gives us an interesting challenge,” he confirmed, “We haven't seen track temperatures in pre-season or in Australia close to what we'll have this week and, as the circuit evolves quite a bit over the weekend, managing degradation levels from Friday through to Sunday will be critical. We saw in Australia that our car performed well on the primes, so we'll look to build on that this weekend.

“The cars run pretty high downforce levels at Sepang and that helps throughout the lap, but one of the key areas we'll work on in the practice sessions will be maximising our pace in the really quick corners. Something the engineers have told me is that, since the team came into the sport in 2010, their cars have always performed better in hot temperatures, so let's see if that continues this year!”

The heat and humidity of Malaysia will also put extra strain on the drivers and team personnel, and van der Garde wasted little time after his Melbourne debut before beginning his acclimatisation.

“After Sunday, I went straight to Malaysia as it's important to start adjusting to the heat,” he explained, “I raced in GP2 there last year, but F1 is a big step up in terms of the physical and mental preparations you need to make, so my trainer and I had a busy programme planned to make sure I'm ready for every session in the car.

“Hydration is particularly important in that preparation and I'll be building up the amount of liquids I take on board throughout the week to around six litres on race day, as well as spending as much time as possible outside and away from air-con so I can acclimatise quickly.”

Van der Garde, who won the final race of last year's GP2 campaign for the Caterham team, will sport a special one-off crash helmet design this weekend to mark the Leafield squad's links with Malaysia.

“We have a really busy week away from the circuit in Sepang,” he noted, “Last year, we had a fantastic reception from the Malaysian fans and I think this year it's going to be a great feeling to race [there]. I have a special surprise planned just for this race, a new crash helmet design that we've worked on that I think the Malaysian fans will love! We'll unveil the design during the week and I'm excited to see people's reaction to it. Our crash helmet designs are one of the best ways drivers have to express something cool and it's a chance for me to show what it means to me to take part in our home race. I can't wait to get started – it's going to be a great week!”

 

Crash.net

FIA Thursday press conference - Malaysia - Giedo's questions

Drivers - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Giedo Van Der Garde (Caterham), Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Max Chilton (Marussia).

Giedo's questions and answers:

Q: Giedo, you out-qualified your team-mate and got an 18th-place finish in Melbourne. What did you take from your first experience of Formula One?

Giedo Van Der Garde: It was a tough race. Max hit me in the first stint, so the floor got damaged quite badly. Anyway, we managed to finish the race and it was a good experience for me. I learned a lot with the tyres. Now this is the next step and we’ll see what we can do here.

Q: Looks like you’re starting out the year chasing Marussia. Do you see reasons in the pipeline to be positive?

GVDG: I think with here you never know what the weather is going to be. I think we looked quite strong, I have to say, so I hope for a bit of rain here. And then the next two [races] we know we still have the same car and in Barcelona we’ll get a big upgrade, so let’s see where we are then.

Read the whole press conference here.

Formula1.com

Giedo hopes for good race on Caterham’s ‘home’ track

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (MARCH 22-24)

LET it rain. Caterham F1 driver Giedo van der Garde has no qualms if the heavens open up during the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit.

The 26-year-old Dutch driver, who is competing in his first F1 season, is expecting to have a good race with the CT03 car on the “home” track of Caterham.

“Our cars have a good grip in the rain with the intermediate tyres as we can see from Melbourne last week. I would say that I’m hoping for it to rain,” said Van der Garde.

Caterham F1 team is owned by Malaysia’s Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

Van der Garde has been an integral part of the Caterham family after competing and winning GP2 races with Caterham Racing last year. He served as a reserve driver for the F1 team, behind Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov.

The Dutchman will be joined on the grid this year by Charles Pic, who raced for Marussia last year.

“It won’t be easy at Sepang ... with the heat and humidity. But it will be an important race for us, especially in front of the home crowd and we want to give our 100% in the race,” said Pic.

 

Both Van der Garde and Pic had a poor outing in last Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Pic finished 16th behind Marussia’s Max Chilton while the Dutchman ended up 18th.

As a tribute to the home fans, Van der Garde will wear a specially designed helmet which spots a Tiger livery, synonym to Malaysia’s sporting spirit.

“At first I wanted to incorporate a flag design to the helmet. But then I realised that the Tiger has a close connection to Malaysians,” said Van der Garde.

A similar version of the helmet will be up for auction in an event with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’azam Shah today. The proceed of the auction will be donated to charities.

With the F1 going for a major revamp next year with new engine regulations, team Caterham found themselves in the middle of making advancements for the CT03, whilst developing the new car for 2014.

However, this does little to change Van der Garde’s mindset in the race, as he looks to learn a lot in his first year of F1 racing.

“I would say I jumped in at the right time for racing. With teams making a lot of developments for next year, this is the time for me to learn as much as possible.

“Next year will be different as everyone will start on a clean slate. But my focus this year is to race to my maximum ability and learn as much as possible,” said the Dutchman.

The Star.com

Van der Garde wants rain!

A SPECIAL edition helmet adorns the tiger livery synonymous with the Caterham F1 Team's home race at the Petronas Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend and Giedo van der Garde will be hoping for some lucky rain.

 

Caterham’s Charles Pic (left) and Giedo van der Garde show off their new crash helmet design yesterday.
Pic by Goh Thean Howe

 Left startled by the quickness of main rivals Marussia F1 Team, who aptly won the battle amongst the rear-enders in Australia, F1 rookie van der Garde still thinks Sepang will provide a slightly, if not more of a different perspective on the team's performance.

"For a race like this, what is most important is the preparation we have and this being our home race, we have better information about the conditions, so it should help us in that sense," said Dutchman van der Garde, 27.

Teammate Charles Pic of France qualified a rung below van der Garde as the two Caterhams rounded up the back end of the grid in Australia, but the tables were turned in the race.

Significantly both Caterhams had a Marussia finish in front of them in the race -- Jules Bianchi beating Pic to 15th spot, while Max Chilton took 17th spot ahead of van der Garde.

"For the moment it does look like Marussia are a little bit faster than us but coming to Sepang we have conditions that will suit our cars better," said van der Garde.

"In testing we found that our car performs quite well in the wet and when we arrived here, in the past two days it has rained at 4pm, which is the time the race starts on Sunday.

"So, with good preparation and some improvements to the car, then with some rain, we can expect a totally different picture here in Sepang."

Van der Garde and Pic yesterday attended their first meet-the-press session with the local media in Kuala Lumpur where the Dutchman also presented his one-off helmet designed especially for this weekend.

"At first we thought of putting the Malaysian flag on it but then we found out that the tiger is a special symbol of this country so we went with that. The helmet will be auctioned off for charity after the race," said van der Garde.

Caterham are the sole Malaysian team on the grid, but hopes of them registering their first ever points on home soil this weekend look unlikely.

 

 

Photos: Giedo meeting media and fans in Kuala Lumpur

Meeting the media and fans in KL before the race weekend begins.

Giedo at the media session

Giedo being interviewed by Malaysian media

Giedo's Malaysian Tiger crash helmet

Giedo and his special Malaysian Tiger crash helmet

Giedo at the media session

Giedo signs his Malaysian Tiger crash helmet

Giedo and Ma present a rear wing endplate to Pavilion Shopping Centre

Giedo and Ma meet the fans

Giedo signs a team cap

Giedo and Ma check out the merchandise

Giedo's special Malaysian tiger crash helmet (with Charles Pic)

Credits: CaterhamF1 Facebook

Giedo showing special Malaysian crash helmet

Giedo proudly shows off his special Malaysian tiger crash helmet. It's a special design for Caterham's home race.

Caterham / Giedo Twitter

Giedo's Malaysia preview

Giedo van der Garde: "After Sunday I went straight to Malaysia as it's important to start adjusting to the heat. I raced in GP2 there last year but F1 is a big step up in terms of the physical and mental preparations you need to make so my trainer Carlos and I have a busy program planned to make sure I'm ready for every session in the car. Hydration is particularly important in that preparation and I'll be building up the amount of liquids I take on board throughout the week to around six litres on race day, as well as spending as much time as possible outside and away from air-con so I can acclimatise quickly.

"On track, Sepang gives us an interesting challenge. We haven't seen track temperatures in pre-season or in Australia close to what we'll have this week and as the circuit evolves quite a bit over the weekend managing degradation levels from Friday through to Sunday will be critical, but we saw in Australia that our car performed well on the primes so we'll look to build on that this weekend.

"The cars run pretty high downforce levels at Sepang and that helps throughout the lap, but one of the key areas we'll work on in the practice sessions will be maximising our pace in the really quick corners. Something the engineers have told me is that since the team came into the sport in 2010 their cars have always performed better in hot temperatures, Tony has said before it's because the team has a Malaysian heart, so let's see if that continues this year!

"We also have a really busy week away from the circuit in Sepang and I have to say I can't wait. Last year we had a fantastic reception from the Malaysian fans and I think this year it's going to be a great feeling to race in Tony and Kamarudin's home. I have a special surprise planned just for this race, a new crash helmet design that we've worked on that I think the Malaysian fans will love. We'll unveil the design during the week and I'm excited to see people's reaction to it - our crash helmet designs are one of the best ways drivers have to express something cool and it's a chance for me to show what it means to me to take part in our home race. I can't wait to get started - it's going to be a great week!"

Caterham