Caterham will race on despite administration threat

This morning, 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. O'Connell stated the following to the media:-

'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. 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 Caterham team clarified the situation to ESPN. The Caterham team issued the following statement:-

'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.'

In regards to the issues with Kobayashi's car in the Russian Grand Prix, it has now been clarified that the left rear suspension caused him to retire from the race even though the procedures the team take before, during and after the session did not pick up the problem. It is clear that Caterham informed Kobayashi at all times regarding this and that his safety was never compromised. But it is clear the team have resolved the issue and Kobayashi has retracted his post to the request of the team and the matter is now resolved.

But with the issue of the team being under the threat of administration, all I can say is that the team need to resolve the issues with the company involved as quickly as possible. The company in question is more than willing to do an agreement with the Caterham team and I think that the Caterham team are working behind the scenes to reach that objective that is best for all concerned as fast as they can under the timeframe they have.

But ultimately, Caterham's objective no matter what the future may hold for them is to resolve this matter to the satisfaction of all involved and allows them to continue racing for the remainder of the season. And I really hope that is the case for the team.