Kobayashi: Caterham at GP2 level, maybe lower
Kobayashi was in action on days two and four of the test in Sakhir last week, concluding proceedings a lowly 16th on the combined times, his best effort a 1 minute 39.855 seconds, leaving him more than 6 seconds off the pace set by Mercedes man, Nico Rosberg.
It is a situation that clearly worries the former Toyota and Sauber pilot, as he looks to bounce back after having to spend 2013 on the sidelines.
Asked what is the difficulty in race trim and if it is just the speed or reliability, he replied: “Both – everything! We are not at race pace. In race condition at the moment we should bring a GP2 car – it is like that, the lap time is similar to GP2. We have so many car problems and we need to do a lot of work. If we had to race now, I think, the car is not at F1 level.
“But when I look at the base lap time and what we could do it is amazing – the possibility is there. We need to work a lot and it looks like we have a lot of steps to do. We will try and work and progress. I just need to believe in them and then we will see in Melbourne the season opener."
“It is very difficult to say if the gaps will be so big there," he continued in a chat with reporters, including Crash.net, at the BIC on Saturday. “It is difficult to predict. I don't know the engine system – what we have is very difficult. It is very difficult to guarantee, there are lots of new things. We have had power problems and we have had to stop. In the races we will have to go at maximum power and maximum recovery – that is the first target. If we can go maximum recovery we can start working a little bit more. It is very important for us that we don't lose time. We have to move right now or else we will be very weak. I believe the next four day test will be pretty important for everybody – and our team especially. Also the engine guys Renault have a lot to do.
“We will have to see…" More at crash.net