Caterham’s team boss insists Vitaly Petrov is just as good as the experienced grand prix winner he replaced.
Just ahead of the 2012 season, Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes decided to oust former Monaco grand prix winner Jarno Trulli with Russian Petrov, the well-sponsored Russian and former Renault driver.

“I think he (Petrov) is as good a driver as Trulli, but he obviously brings a Russian commercial element,” Fernandes told the US cable news channel CNN.

“It gives us the ability to exploit commercial opportunities in Russia. We’ve watched Petrov very closely. He brings in sponsorship. He’s competent enough to be a second driver,” he added.

Fernandes, who also heads the Malaysian airline AirAsia and the English premier league club Queens Park Rangers, said Caterham is once again targeting tenth place in the constructors’ championship for 2012.

“We want to get into the midfield,” he confirmed. “We said it’s going to take us two years, we want to be tenth then we want to be racing.

“And looking at the times right now, we’re there or thereabouts. Maybe half a second, a second away from the midfield pack.”

Tony Fernandes on Friday admitted he would like Group Lotus, the Proton-owned maker of British sports cars, to be involved with his formula one team.

But in reality, Lotus Racing – Fernandes’ entirely separate Malaysian-owned outfit – and Norfolk based Group Lotus, seem to be moving even further apart.

Group Lotus is reportedly retracting the license for the Lotus Racing moniker, meaning Fernandes has had to buy the separate and historic Team Lotus name in order to continue to be called Lotus in formula one.

At the same time, the Malaysian airline millionaire admitted he was surprised when he learned that Group Lotus is getting involved in GP2 next year with the top team ART.

Asked pointedly in Singapore if there is a link between Lotus Racing and Group Lotus’ new motor racing plans, he answered: “No.”

Fernandes admitted that, when originally founded by Colin Chapman in the 50s, Group Lotus and Team Lotus were entirely cooperative.

“Of course they cooperated and of course we would like to cooperate but if Group Lotus doesn’t want to then there’s not much we can do about it,” he said.

“The door is always open,” continued Fernandes. “It makes sense if they did.

“If I was sitting there and there was a formula one team going around the world with 20 races, promoting a brand, if I was the CEO, I would definitely want to get involved, especially if I’m not putting any money in it,” he added.

British sports car maker Lotus is entering F1′s main feeder category GP2.

Lotus Motorsport, an arm of the Proton-owned Lotus Cars, is entirely separate to Lotus Racing, the new formula one team headed by Tony Fernandes.

Amid reports Group Lotus is set to retract its license of the use of the Lotus Racing name for the F1 team, it is expected that Fernandes’ outfit will become known as Team Lotus for 2011.

The Team Lotus name was owned separately by David Hunt, brother of the late 1976 world champion James Hunt. Hunt acquired the name after the original Team Lotus folded in 1994.

It was announced late on Tuesday that Group Lotus’ Lotus Motorsport is entering GP2 next year with Nicolas Todt’s top line team ART.

“We come together with a common goal: to continue our great success in motorsport,” said Lotus’ communications boss Gino Rosato, formerly the security man at Ferrari.

The deal sees Lotus commit to “providing technical and engineering support for the GP2 and GP3 race series for the foreseeable future”, a statement read.

Added director of operations Miodrag Kotur: “Lotus won’t simply be partner in name only, ART will also benefit from our considerable engineering and technical support and experience.”

Fascinatingly, Fernandes will also be linked to the GP2 grid in 2011, with his team to be called Team Air Asia, after his low-cost Malaysian airline.