In the days leading up to the first practice session of the 2014 Italian Grand Prix, it has been announced that Andre Lotterer has refused to race with Caterham. Lotterer was originally selected from the team to replace Kamui Kobayashi, who has been absent since the Belgium Grand Prix. Lotterer, a rookie to Formula One, debuted in the sport at the previous race: qualifying faster than his teammate, but experiencing and retiring from a power failure in the opening laps of the race.
In a Wednesday press conference, Colin Kolles, the chief of the Caterham Formula One team, announced the plan. Spanish rookie, Roberto Merhi, would make his first appearance in Formula One, during the first free practice session. It was then planned that the car would be handed over to Lotterer for the remaining two free practice sessions, qualifying sessions and the race. This plan did not sit well with Lotterer.
Lotterer surrendered his seat, claiming that he disagreed with the team’s decision to run Merhi in the first session. Lotterer stated that since he is a rookie himself, that he would need the entire weekend to gain every amount of experience. Missing the first session would cut down on his time to practice for the race. Was this a smart decision for Lotterer to make or will it come back to haunt him later on in his career?
First off, I would just like to comment on the current Caterham situation. Kamui has been off for what will be his second race, apparently because of some contract issues. Since the team is already running a rookie for the race, the team’s decision to run another rookie in the first free practice session despite the fact that he will not be racing, leads me to believe that a return from Kamui may be far off. It seems to me that they may be looking to replace Kamui with Lotterer and that now that are looking to train Merhi to be their third driver. Of course this is just speculation and nothing he yet been confirmed.
Now for the original question: Was this a smart decision for Lotterer to make or will it come back to haunt him later on in his career? Well is certainly think that this was a very silly decision for Lotterer to make. As a rookie with such little experience, he needs these little part-time rides to further his experience and to hopefully earn a full-time career. Driving with a team like Caterham would be a way to “get your foot in the door”. Right now he isn’t really known amongst teams, meaning that he will be less likely to be signed compared to a driver with more experience.
And it is not only that. By refusing to accept a ride because they are not fully concentrated on him, teams may think that he is self-centered. In a team sport, you cannot have someone who thinks that the team will cater to only one driver. Many fans hated when this happened with Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
The media has not currently released any other plans by the team. It is unclear who we will see in the car come race day. Whoever it is, best of luck.
