Caterham open to Kovalainen advisory role

© Caterham F1 Team

Caterham boss Cyril Abiteboul says he is interested in retaining the services of Heikki Kovalainen in a different role.

The Finnish driver and his team-mate Vitaly Petrov were dropped at the end of 2012 to make way for a new line-up of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.

The Frenchman says discussions with Kovalainen are ongoing, with an eye to adding some experience to their in-experienced line-up.

"Heikki is not one of our two race drivers; we continue to have discussions with Heikki to see if a different project could be possible," the 35-year-old told Sky Sports.

"Let's be honest, we'd be keen to keep experience in our line-up. That's something we'd both be interested in under the right conditions. I would not undermine the importance of experience in general in F1."

Explaining why Kovalainen is no longer with the team in a driving capacity, Abiteboul admitted their relationship broke down because of a lack of respect and trust.

"I think we disappointed our drivers and let them down, in the sense that we under-delivered in comparison to the promises we made to them.

"I think at a certain point at the end of last season, maybe there was not the sort of trust and confidence and respect – on both sides – that you should be counting on for the development of the team and driver," he added.

"Of course he [Kovalainen] wasn't happy with the progress. No-one was happy – the shareholders are not happy with the progress. So it’s about making sure we do better than that."

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