Pic: I’m looking forward to a bit of down time

Hi everyone,

It might have been a few weeks since I last sent something but there’s still been plenty going on to keep me busy. I’m sure you will have seen last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, so I’ll try and steer clear of that in favour of the things you might be less familiar with.

Gunning it up the Goodwood hill

A couple of weeks ago every sphere of motor racing united for the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain, and as there was no grand prix that meant I was able to attend for the first time. What an event!

First and foremost I was there with Caterham to demonstrate my F1 car and the new Caterham 7 620R. It was really great and I enjoyed sharing these moments with the crowd.

But it was on a personal level that I was most impressed with the Festival of Speed. There are just so many different cars and motorcycles, many of which I’d never seen before, starting with the very earliest racing examples and going right through to the modern day, while legends of the sport also attend. You learn so much and, unlike a GP weekend, can spend time looking around and learning a thing or two, remembering why you have a passion for motor racing in the first place. It’s like a motor show and racing event rolled into one, and the access is fantastic for families too.

My favourite cars from the Festival were those with wooden wheels from the beginning of the 20th century. I was also a big fan of the jet bike that had its engine between the rider’s legs.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

Straight after Goodwood Caterham travelled to Silverstone for the Young Driver Test. Due to the problems some teams had experienced with tyres the final day’s running saw the regular drivers evaluating Pirelli’s new specification and construction, meaning myself and Giedo had half a day each on the Thursday.

We used the tyres for the first time in anger at the Hungaroring. It looks like we’ve gone back to something a bit more conservative in terms of degradation as those were among the hottest conditions we’ve seen this year.

During the first half of the season, we have managed the extreme degradation of the tyres well. I am certain that we will adapt quickly to the new compounds in order to extract the maximum.

Walk before you can run

Part of our routine at every grand prix is the track walk and, despite appearances, it’s an extremely important element of the weekend.

Firstly, all of the circuits we visit tend to change from year to year so it’s a good opportunity to get up close and check what’s different for yourself. As well as helping to get your eye in, you can also learn a lot and perhaps even have ideas on set-up while out on that initial look around.

It also allows you to discuss plans with the engineers, helping to prepare and optimise the car for the weekend ahead. At established European circuits that you grow up racing around the information tends to be embedded in your mind already, but it’s really beneficial to go over it all again.

Quiet on the set!

I was delighted to meet rally legend Jean Ragnotti and French F1 presenter Margot Laffite for an advert shoot in Paris.

We spent a whole day in some warehouses with Renault Clio RSs having a good laugh while filming general shots for the advert. There was even a stunt thrown in for good measure. You’ll find out more about it in due course…

With F1 now on its summer break there’s a chance for me and everyone at Caterham to take some well-deserved time off before the Belgian Grand Prix. Spa-Francorchamps is an amazing circuit so although I’m looking forward to a bit of down time, the Ardennes can’t come quickly enough.

Speak soon,

Charles Pic