Vitaly Petrov believes Caterham can put up a "good fight" against nearest rivals Scuderia Toro Rosso at Silverstone's British Grand Prix this weekend, if aerodynamic updates deliver what they have promised in the wind tunnel.
Caterham brings developments to Silverstone including new rear bodywork, a revised exhaust layout and a series of aerodynamic surface modifications elsewhere on its chassis. Petrov believes the Valencia weekend, which featured him running in the top 10 before a clash with Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo dropped him to 13th, shows the team is developing in the right direction to move into the midfield fight.
"We've improved [the car] quite a lot by bringing some parts to Valencia but we're aiming for some good results here because we will have some good updates," said Petrov.
When asked if they could be enough to allow him and Heikki Kovalainen to challenge Toro Rosso, he replied: "I hope so. Sometimes [parts that are tested] in the wind tunnel, you don't know if they'll work on the track. The wind tunnel can be very different, in terms of temperature, but if the parts work as they did in the windtunnel, it will be a good fight with them.
"The Toro Rosso is a good car. Probably they're not as quick in qualy as they are in the races, they are able to manage the rear tires very well."
When pressed how much the new upgrades would be worth, he added: "They have given us a target, but I cannot tell you what it is."
Petrov has shrugged off his collision with Ricciardo at Valencia, calling it a "racing incident" but added that "he really needs to leave me more room in future."