Caterham F1 team puzzled by Kobayashi comments after Russia DNF

Kobayashi told television crews that he was "really a bit surprised" and had no idea why he had been called in to retire from last place on lap 21 at Sochi, saying "the team just decided to stop".

The official reason given for his retirement was overheating brakes, and team boss Manfredi Ravetto said he could not understand why Kobayashi had suggested otherwise.

"Actually, I was very surprised to hear Kamui referring to some mileage-saving instruction coming from the team's management," said Ravetto.

"We saw via telemetry that there was a potential issue with the brakes and we decided to avoid any risks.

"Kamui officially confirmed this as well and I'd like to add that he had also asked us to change the previous set before qualifying because he felt some vibration.

"To be clear: yes, we instructed Kamui to retire because the safety of our drivers is our first concern."

Ravetto said there was plenty of evidence that Caterham was not suffering from any form of component shortage.

"Regarding Kamui's comment, all I can say - and again, I'm answering with facts - is that the team has continuously made progress since the British Grand Prix, we've managed to qualify very well in the last two races, getting very close to Q2, and in Suzuka we repaired Kamui's heavily damaged car in time for the next session without any problems, so I cannot understand his comment," he said.

He added that he was frustrated that Caterham's current management team was coming under fire for its financial situation, which Ravetto argued was caused by the previous regime under founder Tony Fernandes.

"Knowing that this team, under previous ownership, was due to stop racing before the British Grand Prix, we - the new management - are proud of having completed not only the European season but also the Asian season," said Ravetto.

"We are on a high and we keep fighting day after day, even if there are a few negative comments or scepticism from some people who would be happy to see us failing.

"We can live with this, we have no problem at all; what we do is answer with facts, starting with the technical improvement of the car and stabilising of the team's financial side.

"But we just want to remind everybody that we are those brave ones who try to firefight; we are not the ones who left the team in a critical status."