Brazilian GP: Caterham thrilled with 'deserved' 10th place

Vitaly Petrov's 11th place finish moved Caterham ahead of its back-of-the-grid rival Marussia, which had taken 10th in the constructors' standings when Timo Glock finished 12th in Singapore.

Abiteboul said after the season finale that while Caterham had not done a good enough job in 2012, the team still deserved to land 10th in the standings for the third year running.

"On behalf of the whole team I want to say how proud we are of the job we've done today," he said.

"It's been a tough year, one where we have not performed at the level we want to, but today we have very good reason to celebrate.

"On balance, we deserved to regain 10th place. Our results over the whole season were better than our nearest rivals and when it mattered we were able to seize the opportunity that came our way.

"That is the mark of a good team and it means we head into the winter break and next year in a positive frame of mind."

Petrov said it meant a lot to him to land the team the result it needed to overhaul Marussia.

"Seeing what regaining 10th place in the championship meant to everyone when I got back to the garage was really special," said the Russian.

"I think we deserve it after all the hard work we've put in through the whole year.

"Now we can celebrate and everyone has earned it - all the team on track, the factory back in Leafield, our team partners and our technical partners Renault Sport and Red Bull technologies."