Owner Fernandes lifted by Caterham progress

Caterham owner Tony Fernandes believes the good times are just around the corner for his improving team.

After two years building up a marque formerly known as Lotus, the last few days have been some of the most encouraging Fernandes has enjoyed in F1.

Caterham no longer appears a rookie team, and the pace of their new car suggests a points breakthrough could be in the offing following two barren seasons.

With the KERS power-boost system installed on the car for the first time on Wednesday, Heikki Kovalainen completed 139 trouble-free laps – the equivalent of two race distances around the Circuito de Jerez.

Reserve driver Giedo van der Garde added another 74 and Jarno Trulli completed 119 on his first day in the car on Thursday.

The veteran Italian finished slowest of the nine cars on show, over three seconds down on Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, but Fernandes was nevertheless ecstatic.

He said: “The number of laps completed is something we never came close to last season. For that reason we really have arrived as a Formula One team, and to accomplish it in two years is something I’m extremely proud of.

“The start we have made in testing has already far exceeded my expectations.”

Fernandes feels Caterham could finally start to mix it with more established outfits such as Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso this year.

“For me, if we’d scored a point last year then it would have been a lucky one based on other people’s misfortunes,” he said.

“This year, and I know it’s only the first test, but we can really go into a race and think, yeah, we have a chance.

“That’s based on what we have seen so far because there are still another two tests to go. But you would tend to think a team like ourselves, from where we are coming from, has a chance to improve further than established teams.”

However, the Malaysian entrepreneur, who also runs English Premier League club QPR and airline AirAsia, appreciates that times in testing can often be misleading.

“The first test I went to Sauber looked so fast, and then they ended up somewhere where we were,” said Fernandes.

“So it’s very hard to tell what people are doing, with tyres, fuel and everything else.

“You would think we should again be ahead of the other new teams (Marussia and Hispania, who also entered F1 at the start of the 2010 season), and at the moment we seem to be giving one or two of the established teams something to think about.”

The teams now move to Barcelona for the next four-day test, starting on February 21.