- Caterham
Caterham vows to race on despite administration threat
The Caterham Formula One team insists it will not be affected by Caterham Sports Limited (CSL) going into administration, despite reports that the administrator has laid claim to its cars.
The official entry rights to F1 are owned by 1Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT), which runs the racing team, while CSL was used to manufacture cars and employ staff in Leafield. A spokesperson for the team told ESPN that CSL going into administration "has nothing to do with the F1 team and it does not affect us".
However, the cars are due to leave for the US Grand Prix at the weekend and Finbarr O'Connell, a joint administrator of CSL for London-based Smith & Williamson, told Reuters that an agreement needed to be reached for them to be released with meetings set to be held on Wednesday.
"My legal advice is that I own the cars and won't be allowing the cars out of the factory until I reach an acceptable agreement," O'Connell told Reuters.
"We are allowing 1MRT to use our facility while we negotiate a settlement. They need to reach an agreement with us."
The Caterham F1 team was sold by Tony Fernandes in July this year, but has faced a struggle for survival under new ownership. Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix bailiffs seized items from the factory in an action against CSL, although the team raced on in both Japan and Russia.
Administrator Smith & Williamson told the BBC that "positive discussions" had been held with team manager Manfredi Ravetto and financial backers over the future of CSL but if an agreement is not reached it would look to sell the manufacturer and its assets. Above all, Caterham intends to see out the season in order to protect its entry, which is arguably the most valuable asset the team owns. Meanwhile, work on a 2015 car is being undertaken in Germany rather than Leafield, with the team making no secret of its plans to move from its Oxfordshire base in the future.
Further questions were asked of the team this week when a deleted Facebook post by race driver Kamui Kobayshi expressing his concerns about the safety of his car ahead of the Russian Grand Prix went public. He questioned a repair job on a damaged rear wishbone, which had been patched up rather than replaced, but removed the post a few hours later after being reassured of the car's safety by the team.
Earlier this week the team clarified the situation to ESPN: "We noticed a small inconsistency on the left rear suspension of Kamui Kobayashi's car. It was extensively evaluated at Sochi and Leafield and ultimately a carbon fibre wrap was applied to provide additional reinforcement - a normal procedure.
"The component was signed off as safe and re-checked between each subsequent session, to be absolutely sure there was no issue. Kamui withdrew the post you mention and drove the car in this form throughout the rest of the weekend with no hint of any other problem with the suspension. Kamui was kept informed at all times and at no time did he have any reason to believe it was not safe."
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