Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
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Constructor | Caterham | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Mike Gascoyne | ||||||||||
Predecessor | Lotus T128 | ||||||||||
Successor | Caterham CT03 | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | Carbon-fibre monocoque. | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | Pushrod, inboard springs. | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Pullrod, inboard springs. | ||||||||||
Engine | Renault RS27-2012 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) 90° V8 DOHC, limited to 18,000 RPM with KERS mid-mounted | ||||||||||
Transmission | Red Bull Technologies Seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear. | ||||||||||
Weight | 640 kg (1,411.0 lb) (incl. driver, tank empty) | ||||||||||
Fuel | Total | ||||||||||
Lubricants | Total | ||||||||||
Tyres |
Pirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet) BBS Wheels (front and rear): 13" |
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Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Caterham F1 Team | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 20. Heikki Kovalainen 21. Vitaly Petrov |
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Debut | 2012 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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The Caterham CT01 is a Formula One racing car produced by the British-based Caterham F1 Team which competed in the 2012 Formula One season. The car, designed under the leadership of the team's technical director Mike Gascoyne, is the third car to be produced by the team and the first to carry the team's new name, following their renaming from Team Lotus at the end of 2011. The CT01 was the first car launched for the 2012 season, when an online launch initially planned for 26 January, was cancelled and the car was released a day earlier instead. The car was driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, who replaced Jarno Trulli after the first test at Jerez.
The CT01 is the first car the team has built that features KERS. After a disappointing first half of the season where the team failed to score any a points, the team announced before the 2012 British Grand Prix that several upgrades would be implemented for the next Grand Prix.
The team started the year in Australia where Kovalainen and Petrov qualified the new CT01 in 19th and 20th respectively, albeit, over two seconds off the pace of the Q1 pacesetter. About halfway through the race, Petrov retired the car with steering issues on the start/finish straight causing a safety car period; Kovalainen later retired with suspension failure. At the next race in Malaysia, the team repeated its qualifying performance of 19th and 20th on a rain soaked track, where it became apparent the team still had the edge over the Marussias and HRTs, as it had last season. The car appeared to have made some gains on the midfield too, with Kovalainen only 0.02 seconds behind Toro Rosso driver Jean-Éric Vergne in qualifying. After a race full of heavy rain, safety cars periods and a red flag, the team managed to bring home both cars home for the first time in the season with Petrov in 16th and Kovalainen in 18th. For the third race in a row, in China, Kovalainen and Petrov qualified in 19th and 20th. Petrov managed to bring the car home in 18th while Kovalainen finished as the last of the cars still running, 2 laps down on his team-mate.