Marussia driver Charles Pic admits that his rookie Formula One season will be used mainly as a learning experience.
Marussia rookie facing challenging 2012 campaign
Marussia driver Charles Pic admits that his rookie Formula One season will be used mainly as a learning experience.
The 22-year-old Frenchman will drive alongside Germany's Timo Glock at the team that finished bottom of the pile in the 2011 constructors' championship.
With Marussia, who were known as Virgin in their two previous seasons in F1, expected to be among the backmarkers again this season, Pic knows that the chances of recording any eye-catching results are minimal.
"This year my target will not be to win races, but to learn and learn fast," Pic told
Sky Sports News HD.
"I've got Timo, a team-mate who is very good and a very experienced driver, so I will be able to learn with him."
Step up
Pic finished fourth in last year's GP2 championship, winning at Barcelona and Monaco, before making the step up to the top tier of single-seater racing.
He added of his new team: "It's a good team, I've known them since January - I moved to England and spent the month of January with them to get to know the team and start to work with my engineer."
Pic has racked up plenty of laps during pre-season testing at Barcelona in order to get used to F1 machinery, although he has been driving in last season's car.
Marussia chief engineer Dave Greenwood explained that rolling out the 2012 challenger at Barcelona may not have allowed Pic to get to get the required amount of running under his belt.
Greenwood said: "We've got an '11 car which is reliable so we can go out there and do all the stuff that, if we had a '12 car here and we had a few teething problems, it would be really difficult for Charles to get out and get all that work done."
