Caterham: A three-week deadline to save the team
The administrator in charge of Caterham estimated that the team needed to be saved within the next three weeks to have a chance to line up on the starting grids in 2015. After this period, it will be too late.
While the Caterham team is present in Abu Dhabi to participate in the Grand Prix this weekend, its future remains very uncertain.
Finbarr O’Connell, the financial administrator tasked with saving the team, estimated that it needed to find a new owner within the next three weeks to be able to participate in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship: « Work on next year’s car has stopped. But the technical team told me that if a new owner is found in the coming weeks, the team could participate in the championship next year. We are on a very tight deadline, three weeks I think, to make a decision and get everyone back to work. »
The race in Abu Dhabi is going to be very important for Caterham, as it will serve as a showcase to prove its capabilities. As O’Connell points out, several potential buyers are already known, and it’s a matter of making the right choice: « There have been about fifty approaches, and I think only four of them are truly serious. For some of them, it’s quite logical… if it’s ever logical for anyone to buy a Formula 1 team. For others, it’s more about ‘you want to be a proprietor in the world’s most exclusive club.’ »
The future of the team and its employees should therefore be known fairly quickly after the end of the season. Let’s recall that the team will be racing this weekend with Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens, who were confirmed late this week.
