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MONACO - Tail-ender team Caterham could have been midfield on the Formula 1 log by now had it not tried to be too clever in 2012.
That's the view of team owner Tony Fernandes, expressed on Friday while speaking to reporters ahead of the 2013 Monaco GP, the sixth race of the season.
He described 2012 as "a blip, a disappointment" for a team still seeking its first race point in three seasons.
'HAD WE JUST CONTINUED...'
"I thought by this year we would be midfield," he said after a business presentation. "I think we tried when (aerodynamics head) John Iley came over (from McLaren) to try to be a bit too clever with the blown diffuser and that screwed us up.
"If we had just continued on the normal pattern we probably would have been in the midfield by now. We've learned the hard way."
The team finished 10th for three years in a row but was almost beaten by 11th-placed Marussia in 2012.
Caterham started out in 2010 as Lotus Racing then became Team Lotus for its second season, rang the changes again at the end of 2012 by replacing experienced drivers Vitaly Petrov of Russia and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen.
That's the view of team owner Tony Fernandes, expressed on Friday while speaking to reporters ahead of the 2013 Monaco GP, the sixth race of the season.
He described 2012 as "a blip, a disappointment" for a team still seeking its first race point in three seasons.
'HAD WE JUST CONTINUED...'
"I thought by this year we would be midfield," he said after a business presentation. "I think we tried when (aerodynamics head) John Iley came over (from McLaren) to try to be a bit too clever with the blown diffuser and that screwed us up.
"If we had just continued on the normal pattern we probably would have been in the midfield by now. We've learned the hard way."
The team finished 10th for three years in a row but was almost beaten by 11th-placed Marussia in 2012.
Caterham started out in 2010 as Lotus Racing then became Team Lotus for its second season, rang the changes again at the end of 2012 by replacing experienced drivers Vitaly Petrov of Russia and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen.