We must gain ground on rivals, says Petrov

Silverstone (England), June 29 (IANS/RIA Novosti) With many teams introducing car upgrades at the next Grand Prix here, Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov hoped changes to the car will help gain ground on his rivals.

Caterham comes into the July 8 British race on the back of its best performance of the season at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, when Petrov finished 13th and teammate Heikki Kovalainen 14th.

The team hopes tweaks to the car, including new rear bodywork and a revised exhaust layout, will help it maintain the pressure on midfield rivals such as Torro Rosso pair Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

"As we'll be bringing more new parts to the British Grand Prix, I think it's another race where we'll be able to take a step forward," Petrov said in comments on the team's website Friday.

"I'm sure everyone else will be bringing upgrades, so we need to make sure that we don't just make gains, but we improve more than our nearest rivals," he added.

Technical director Mark Smith was optimistic about the potential lying within the car upgrades.

"I do not want to make any predictions at this point on what they could be worth, but if we repeat the step forward we made in Valencia we should have another positive weekend."

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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