Pic admits Caterham axe ’a surprise’

Charles Pic has admitted being dropped by Caterham ahead of the 2014 season was "a surprise".

In the wake of the blow, the Frenchman will try to put his race aspirations back on track for 2015 by testing this year for the Lotus team.

"I’ll have days of private testing as well as free practice sessions," he told the French-language F1i.

"All I can say is it will be a good number of Fridays and the right number of test days. I’ll let the team say more but I think it is a very good programme for me."

Pic, 24, admitted it was a challenge to put the Lotus programme together after being told his services were no longer required at Caterham.

"Their (Caterham’s) decision was taken very late, and I still had a contract running for 2014. So it was difficult to bounce back from that," he said.

"So, yes, it was a surprise.

"On the other hand, I am very happy to have found this solution with Lotus. It was important to find a third driver role that allowed me to drive a lot, and this is the case with Lotus, a super team. I am very happy," he said.

Pic admitted however that his real ambition is to return to the grid in 2015.

"Of course," he said, "but I think we should do everything in its time. When we approach the end of the summer, that will be the time to start looking around for 2015."