Pic: Suzuka was a fantastic experience

Hi everyone!

It’s been a little while since I was last in touch, but with the oriental double-header it was better to combine the two races into an even Bigger PICture!

So, what of South Korea and Japan? Well, we equalled our best finish of the year in Yeongam, although 14th was still one place short of where we need to be if Caterham is to overhaul Marussia in the constructors’ championship. We’ll need a bit of luck to do that over the remaining races but the team is working very hard to achieve it. Meanwhile, as ever, Suzuka was a fantastic experience where we battled hard to make up for the early drive-through penalty. The car felt good and I really enjoyed the circuit. Most of the drivers agree it’s one of the best on the calendar.

I’m sure you’ve heard all about that already though, so here are a few things that perhaps slipped under the radar…

Taxi driver

We start with an event a little closer to home than Asia with the World Series by Renault round at Paul Ricard in France, where I was a guest of Renault’s before flying to South Korea.

I competed in both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and FR3.5 during my junior career so it was cool to be a spectator for a change. I didn’t mind not racing and really enjoyed the day, especially when offering hot-lap passenger rides to Renault’s guests in a Megane RS. One of them was film actor Frédéric Diefenthal who, coincidentally, starred in the French film series ‘Taxi’! I was also asked to present the FR2.0 race winner with their trophy and had some spare time to meet a few fans.

It was the first time I’d visited a WSR event since the same round at Paul Ricard last year. Like then my brother Arthur was racing in FR3.5, although we didn’t spend a lot of time together as I didn’t want to interfere with his preparations.

Getting to grips with R/C

The Wednesday before the Korean Grand Prix Giedo and I were invited to attend a Renault Samsung Motors remote control racing car event in Seoul. To be honest I wasn’t sure quite what to expect, but having now tried it for myself I can safely say it’s not easy at all!

The cars, which were mini scale versions of my Caterham CT03, were so agile and very quick. It was a bit odd to be driving something like that from a distance because when the circuit loops back on itself the controls become reversed. Pushing the direction stick left doesn’t necessarily mean the car turns left, which isn’t the case when sat directly behind the wheel! The cars are constantly changing direction so it’s difficult to adapt and learn. It’s certainly much harder than playing a video game.

Of course what made it even more difficult was the level of opposition. We were up against some regular contenders from the Korean championship who were very impressive and experienced racers. We had definitely met our match!

We then travelled from Seoul to Mokpo on the fast KTX train, which is like Korea’s version of the Bullet Train. I was interested to see it had been made by Alstom, a French company…!

Catch of the day

After the Korean Grand Prix we flew straight to Japan, one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited. Naturally one evening myself and a few of the Caterham engineers visited Yasu, a local Sushi restaurant, which was like no other I’d ever eaten in!

As you’d expect the food tasted fantastic. But that’s not surprising when it was alive not five minutes before! All these fish are swimming around in the tank and you say to the chef, “I’ll have that one, please.” So he nets it and begins preparing your dinner right there on your plate. It can’t get any fresher than that, although I have to admit to being a bit surprised by the whole process!

Strolling with the locals

It wasn’t just the food that impressed me about Japan. I’d say its Formula 1 fans are the world’s most passionate and a step above anywhere else. I signed so many autographs!

On Thursday before the grand prix – when there is no track action don’t forget – the organisers split the circuit itself in half with a cordon and opened up one side to the fans. They lined the entire layout while drivers and team personnel conducted their usual track walk. They were right there, no more than a metre away the whole time, always being friendly. What I really appreciated was how disciplined they were. Despite their passion for the sport they would wait patiently until we had finished working before approaching. That’s not something I’ve encountered anywhere else.

Win, lose or draw

F1 drivers are asked to do a lot of TV features during the season but Japan was the first time that French broadcaster Canal+ had managed to get the four French guys together at once.

They wanted us to draw Suzuka, which isn’t straight forward at the best of times as it’s a figure-of-eight circuit, only on this occasion we’d be blindfolded! It wasn’t easy and, to be honest, all of our efforts were a bit poor. Romain’s was probably the best and Jean-Eric managed to scribble on Jules’ paper! But it was a funny experience.

From sushi in Suzuka to Dhansak in New Delhi, the Indian Grand Prix is next up for me on October 25-27. I’ll let you know what we got up to in a couple of weeks.

Speak soon
Charles