 | |
| Full name | Caterham F1 Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Leafield Technical Centre Leafield,Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Founder(s) | Tony Fernandes |
| Noted staff | Tony Fernandes Cyril Abiteboul Mike Gascoyne John Iley Mark Smith |
| Noted drivers |  Marcus Ericsson Giedo van der Garde Kamui Kobayashi Heikki Kovalainen Vitaly Petrov Charles Pic Will Stevens André Lotterer |
| Previous name | Lotus Racing/Team Lotus |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 2012 Australian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 56 |
| Engines | Renault |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 (best result: 10th,2012) |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 (best result: 19th,Vitaly Petrov, 2012 andMarcus Ericsson,2014) |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final entry | 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
TheCaterham F1 Team was a Malaysian,[1] later British ownedFormula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under aMalaysian licence.[2] The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One World Championship from2012 to2014, following the acquisition of British sportscar manufacturerCaterham Cars by former owner and team principalTony Fernandes, forming theCaterham Group.[3]
In July 2014, Tony Fernandes and his partners announced that they had sold the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.[4] The "Caterham" name was later used under licence after the Caterham Group separation.[5]
In October 2014, Caterham entered administration and did not attend a race weekend for the first time in its history beginning from theUnited States Grand Prix. In November 2014, after also missing theBrazilian Grand Prix, Caterham became the first F1 team ever to resort tocrowdfunding, enabling it to race at thefinal Grand Prix for 2014 and take part in end of season testing both held inAbu Dhabi.[6] On 27 February 2015, theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) published a revised entry list withManor Marussia being reintroduced and Caterham being removed from the list,[7] and by March of the same year, the team's assets were put up for auction, spelling the official demise of the team.[8]
Fernandes's team originally entered Formula One in2010 asLotus Racing, using the Lotus name under licence fromGroup Lotus.[9] Dubbed as1Malaysia F1, the team was operated by 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd.[10] The project was part of the formerPrime MinisterNajib Razak's1Malaysia initiative.[11][12] WhenProton – the parent company of Group Lotus – terminated the licence, Fernandes acquired the privately ownedTeam Lotus name for use in the2011 season. As Proton began legal proceedings against the team, Fernandes acquiredCaterham Cars. In November 2011, the team applied to the Formula One commission to formally change their constructor name for the2012 season from Lotus to Caterham, whileRenault changed their name toLotus.[13] Permission was granted before being formally ratified at a meeting of theFIA World Motor Sport Council.[14] The team finished 10th in the Constructors' Championship in 2011, with three 13th-place finishes (two from Trulli, one from Kovalainen).
Trulli and Kovalainen re-signed with the team, under its new guise of Caterham, for the2012 season.[15]
On 18 January 2012, it was announced that the team would be moving to theLeafield Technical Centre inLeafield, Oxfordshire, the previous headquarters of bothArrows andSuper Aguri F1 teams.[16] TheCaterham CT01 was the first car the team had built to runKERS.
On 17 February, the team announced thatVitaly Petrov would replace Trulli alongside Kovalainen for the 2012 season.[17] Trulli was unsatisfied with the lack of development and he himself asked from the team if he could be replaced with another driver.[18] Mark Smith took over pitwall operations from Group CTOMike Gascoyne starting from theChinese Grand Prix.
The Caterham car looked slower than expected at the beginning of the season. However, Caterham quickly found pace through Kovalainen, who made it into Q2 for theBahrain Grand Prix, eliminatingMichael Schumacher in the process. At theMonaco Grand Prix, Kovalainen achieved a season's best thirteenth place, staving offMcLaren'sJenson Button until the latter spun trying to overtake him. Kovalainen again made it into the second part of qualifying, inValencia, qualifying 16th for the race, after eliminating bothToro Rossos and title contenderMark Webber with the final lap of the first session. Caterham continued their good form into the race with both Kovalainen and Petrov running well until Kovalainen collided with Toro Rosso'sJean-Éric Vergne. The incident caused a safety car, but Kovalainen recovered to finish 14th behind Petrov, who managed what was at this point the team's joint best finish in 13th. At theBritish Grand Prix, an engine failure on Vitaly Petrov's Caterham on his way round to the grid meant he had to return to the pits and retire the car before the race had even begun. The team then went on to secure 10th place in the Constructors' Championship, pippingMarussia at the final post, after a hard last race where Vitaly Petrov achieved a team record-breaking 11th-place finish in front ofCharles Pic while Kovalainen finished in 14th behind STR-Ferrari's Daniel Ricciardo.[19]
On 23 November 2012, it was announced thatMarussia driverCharles Pic signed a multi-year contract with the team[20] and his teammate was rookieGiedo van der Garde. On 1 March 2013, the team announced thatAlexander Rossi andMa Qinghua would be its reserve drivers for the 2013 season.[21]
On 17 April 2013, it was confirmed that the team had re-signedHeikki Kovalainen as a reserve driver (formal technical development role) in order to test their upgrades.[22]Ma Qinghua consequently lost his reserve driver seat. At the2013 Belgian Grand Prix, Giedo van der Garde achieved Caterham's best-ever qualifying position with 14th place. Despite having a faster car than rivals Marussia, Caterham finished behind them in the Constructors' Championship, in 11th place.
On 21 January 2014, it was announced that the team would have a brand new driver line-up withMarcus Ericsson andKamui Kobayashi taking the seats.[23] Team owner Fernandes warned team members that he would quit if results did not improve in the 2014 season.[24] After the2014 Monaco Grand Prix, Caterham became the record holders for the most race starts without scoring a single point, after fellow rivals Marussia scored their first points finish since entering the sport in 2010, courtesy of the 9th-place finish fromJules Bianchi.
In July 2014, Caterham F1 announced that it was now owned by a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors, advised by former F1 Team PrincipalColin Kolles. Former Dutch F1 driver,Christijan Albers, assisted byManfredi Ravetto, became responsible for the day-to-day running of the team.[4] Under this new management, unexpectedly, Kobayashi did not compete in theBelgian Grand Prix atSpa-Francorchamps. In his place, former Jaguar F1 test driver and three-time24 Hours of Le Mans winner,André Lotterer, made his début in Formula One.[25] He retired early from the race due to mechanical issues and turned down the chance to further race for Caterham, or in Formula One unless under better conditions.[26]
On 21 October 2014, it was announced that Caterham had entered administration,[27] and had withdrawn its management team. A statement issued on behalf of Caterham said that the administrators,Smith & Williamson, were now in control of the team.[28] Bernie Ecclestone gave Caterham special dispensation to miss theUnited States andBrazilian Grands Prix while they attempted to find a buyer for the team.[29]
In spite of the above dispensation, absence from any Grand Prix breached Formula One regulations. Nevertheless, at the United States Grand Prix, because of the team's current financial circumstances – similar to those ofMarussia F1 – the FIA stewards decided to not impose any penalties. Instead, they referred the matter to the attention of the FIA president.[30] In addition, for 2015,Sauber announced the engagement of Caterham's driver,Marcus Ericsson,[31] who terminated his contract with Caterham on 12 November 2014.[32]
On 5 November 2014, the FIA released the provisional 2015 entry list which included Caterham, who were listed as CF1 Caterham F1 Team.[33] During the same week, it was also revealed that the team had arranged a surprise 3-race deal withRubens Barrichello who last raced in 2011 and would have taken over Kobayashi's seat for the remainder of the 2014 season.[34]
During the2014 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, Caterham's administrators resorted to crowdfunding in order to keep the team's chances of a return to the sport alive, much to the dismay of some Formula One personalities includingBernie Ecclestone.[35] On 14 November 2014, it was reported that Caterham had succeeded in raising the necessary funds,[36] via the crowdfunding initiative, to compete at the final Grand Prix of the2014 season inAbu Dhabi. In contrast to multi-national logos adorning other team cars, according to media reports, a crowdfunding on-car sponsor for Caterham was a small UK pub: the Windmill Inn inLittleworth, West Sussex.[37][38]
On 16 November 2014, it was announced by Caterham that Kobayashi would drive for the team in Abu Dhabi,[39] and, on 20 November, that the second driver would be 23-year-old British driver,Will Stevens[40] who had previously tested for the team and would also take part in post-season testing also at Abu Dhabi, immediately after the race weekend.
On 1 December 2014, it was announced that the team had received special dispensation to use their 2014 cars in the2015 season, which would assist the administrator in finding a buyer for the team.[41] Despite this, the team's assets were sold by auction, starting March 2015, meaning that attempts to race in 2015 had failed.[42][43] The team then officially folded.
On 25 July 2014, it was announced that over forty former employees were taking legal action against the team for unfair dismissal, following a number of cost cuts by Caterham F1's new owners.[44]
In November 2014, despite Caterham F1 returning to racing under the control of its administrator following a successful crowdfunding initiative, 230 staff members not directly involved in Grand Prix preparations were made redundant.[45]
The staff that were redundant received a redundancy payment in January 2019, over four years after the team was declared bankrupt.[46]
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | CT01 | Renault RS27-2012 2.4V8 | P | AUS | MAL | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | EUR | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | KOR | IND | ABU | USA | BRA | 0 | 10th | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | Ret | 18 | 23 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 14 | ||||||
| Vitaly Petrov | Ret | 16 | 18 | 16 | 17 | Ret | 19 | 13 | DNS | 16 | 19 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 11 | ||||||
| 2013 | CT03 | Renault RS27-2013 2.4V8 | P | AUS | MAL | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | KOR | JPN | IND | ABU | USA | BRA | 0 | 11th | ||
 Charles Pic | 16 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 17 | Ret | 18 | 15 | 17 | 15 | Ret | 17 | 19 | 14 | 18 | Ret | 19 | 20 | Ret | |||||||
| Giedo van der Garde | 18 | 15 | 18 | 21 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 18 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 15 | Ret | Ret | 18 | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| 2014 | CT05 | Renault Energy F1-2014 1.6V6t | P | AUS | MAL | BHR | CHN | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | RUS | USA | BRA | ABU | 0 | 11th | ||
| Marcus Ericsson | Ret | 14 | Ret | 20 | 20 | 11 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 17 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Will Stevens | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kamui Kobayashi | Ret | 13 | 15 | 18 | Ret | 13 | Ret | 16 | 15 | 16 | Ret | 17 | DNS | 19 | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||
| André Lotterer | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources:[47][48] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
During Caterham's time in F1, the team supported multiple drivers through theCaterham Racing Team in theGP2 Series and gave them the opportunity to participate in Formula One test sessions.Giedo van der Garde andWill Stevens were the only drivers of the programme to compete for the team in F1. The drivers included:
| Driver | Years | Current series | Titles achieved as Caterham driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giedo van der Garde | 2012 | None | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
 Alexander Rossi[49] | 2012–2014 | IndyCar Series | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Matt Parry[50] | 2012–2014 | None | InterSteps Championship Formula Renault 2.0 NEC |
 Weiron Tan[51] | 2012–2014 | None | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
 Daim Hishamuddin[52] | 2012–2014 | None | Rotax Max Challenge Asia - Junior RMC Asia Championship - Rotax Junior |
 Sergio Canamasas[53] | 2013 | None | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
 Ma Qinghua[54] | 2013 | World Touring Car Cup | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Aurélien Panis | 2013 | GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Will Stevens | 2013–2014 | FIA World Endurance Championship | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Seb Morris[55] | 2014 | GT Cup Championship | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Robin Frijns | 2014 | Formula E World Championship FIA World Endurance Championship | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
| Nathanaël Berthon | 2014 | European Le Mans Series FIA World Endurance Championship | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
 Kevin Giovesi[56] | 2014 | None | none as Caterham F1 development program member |
Media related toCaterham F1 Team at Wikimedia Commons
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