I don't remember an American F1 team operating from the States. Gurney was based in England for his Eagle F1. Carl Hass and Teddy Mayer built their Beatrice in England too. I am not sure about the Sirocco-Powell or Parneli Jones and his Vel's Parneli. Roger Penske was baseds in England as well. Well, I am wrong, Lance Reventlow built his Scarab F1 in the States. So, Gene Haas won't be breaking new ground...but I hope he has better fortune than the team I mentioned.
Sounds like you're ready to shoot that dog. I agree that Caterham's time is up. Sad but true. Hopefully the cars will become avail for paid laps.
To me there is no greater waste than a F1 car, which is no longer needed and NOT offered to paying customers. We've discussed this here before, but I'll never understand what happens to the 20+ cars each year and where they go.
Apart some that are kept for the team own collection (McLaren, Ferrari, etc...), most of them are bought by investors for their private collection, or for historic racing in future when they will become eligible. They will fetch a high price in 20/25 years. Some collectors have plenty of F1 cars they reserve year after year. Bernie Ecclestone (him again), is reputed to have 60 F1 cars in his collection, so is Martini & Rossi (the vermouth producer), Mas du Clos in France, and some American collectors as well.
The collection here that I volunteer for has a USF&G/ARROWS of the first turbo age. Engine rebuilds are 50K. Like all the rest of the cars its in running order and exercised periodically.
Must have been. Car&Driver started a write in campaign to elect Dan President a while ago. In hindsight he might have been the best choice. The rest of the collection isn't too shabby.
People said the same thing about Ken Block when he went into WRC rallying, and that didn't turn out as many people hoped/predicted! The Administrators have stated that they see Abu Dhabi as being a last chance to find a buyer for Caterham, but the fact of the matter is, Caterham is simply not an attractive proposition for anyone to want to buy it! First off, their finances are a mess, with money owed here, there and everywhere to suppliers. They have debts of $12M~$15M, and if they did somehow manage to be classified as the 10th team then they would receive $10M, so they would still owe $2M~$5M at least. They have God knows how many ex-employee's taking legal action against them due to having their contracts terminated without notice, half the equipment has been seized by bailiffs, and there's a fair bit of confusion as to who actually owns the company/team! And if they did manage to run in 2015, how well are they likely to do? - They've done no development work on a 2015 car and so would spend the whole season, running round on their own at the back of the field, racing no one with last seasons car! What the hell would be the point of that? Would they be entitled to the $50M that would have gone to Marussia? I doubt it! As I see it, unless Marussia are disqualified from the 2014 season then they will retain their 2 points and whatever position that relates in the Championship standings (Just because the team is no longer racing doesn't mean that they never scored those 2 points this season). Bernie will then judge them to be in breach of contract due to missing races and so not have to pay them the $50M that they would have got had they seen out the season. If Caterham do not manage to score more points than the 2 that Marussia scored this season then how can they be classified above Marussia in the final standings? It would be ridiculous to have: 9th Caterham: 0 points. 10th Marussia: 2 points. And it would be even more ridiculous to pretend that Marussia didn't score any points this season, or didn't even exist as a team due to their financial issues. My suspicions are, that if Caterham did try to lay claim to the $50M earmarked for Marussia, then Bernie would simply declare that Caterham were in breach of contract due to missing races and refuse to pay out. Caterham need to learn some lessons from history: Even King Canute eventually admitted that there are some things you can't prevent, no matter how hard you try!
Agreed on the first part, but not the second. According to the 'Payment structure' breakdown Joe Saward did, 10th is worth around $60MM. True. That does seem to be a disaster. But nothing the administrator, at least, can't figure out. That's why he makes the big bucks.... They're still out there trying! And with only 10 teams next year, they're guaranteed another ~$60MM again..... And I suspect they've done a lot of work on the '15 car already. It's probably no more than computer files right now, but I'm sure there's something..... Marussia are very definitely in breach of contract - As noted previously, they're all 'allowed' to miss two, but not three races due to 'force majeure'. Assuming, if as now claimed, they make Abu Double they're in good shape. Marussia are done, gone, it seems. I don't claim to know what will happen, but I could see Marussia's breach resulting in them being simply dropped from the standings. Forfeit their points, whatever. Would move Caterham up a spot, which would be huge for them. Cheers, Ian
According to James Allen, 9th is only worth $50M and Caterham are hoping to qualify for $10M in prize money by being at the last race (From: Caterham F1 team to compete in Abu Dhabi as administrator says: ?Let?s go racing!? | James Allen on F1 ? The official James Allen website on F1 ) : The teams statement read: The Caterham F1 Team is delighted to announce that it will be racing at the final Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi next week thanks to the support of the fans, who have helped the team raise enough money. The objective is to complete the season, collect the US$10 million in prize money owing to the team and then attempt to use that platform of a team as a going concern to complete a sale. The team has debts of around US$12-15 million, but has not gone into liquidation, as its rival Marussia team did. With Marussia no longer a going concern there will be discussions about whether Caterham therefore is classified 10th in the championship despite scoring no points, while Marussia was 9th with 2 points and in line for US$50 million in prize money as a result if it had kept going. David Coulthard was saying on the BBC that with all the issues that they've been having this season, there's been no real work done on designing and developing a 2015 car, which would make sense to Me. If you're struggling to pay your 2014 bills (to the point where you're sacking half your work force!), how can you afford to spend money on the following years car? And let's be honest here, for 2014 they were already using the entire arse end of the 2014 Red Bull and the car was still a dog with no signs of getting any further up the grid! According to Bernie, talking to Eddie Jordan on the BBC, he said that whatever becomes of Marussia, they will always be shown to have won the 2 points. Basically he said, that's just an historical fact now. Having said that though, who knows with the FIA! The nearest comparison we have to this current situation is 2007 when McLaren were disqualified from the WCC and had all of their points removed, but does failure to complete the season mean that Marussia will be disqualified from the 2014 F1 WCC? - again who knows! They won their 2 points fair and square so would it be fair to remove those points? - As I see it, if the FIA decide to remove Marussia's 2 points then they'll not only be robbing Marussia of their rightful place in F1 history, but they will be doing a dishonour to Jules Bianchi and what he achieved in his all too brief F1 career. And as for Caterham "racing" in Abu Dhabi: What happens if they only do a single lap in free practice, a single lap in qualifying and a single lap in the race just to try to qualify for the 10th spot in the Championship? - Would that really make them more entitled to the 10th place money (having scored no points whatsoever all year), than Marussia who at least scored 2 points? To My mind it would not, but since when has F1 been fair or cared to be fair?
with all the talk of Caterham being 9th, what about Sauber? When teams don't have points, don't they go by the highest single finish of one driver?
Caterham staff made redundant following crowdfunding success Caterham staff made redundant following crowdfunding success | News | Motorsport.com It is dismaying to see the amount of publicity surrounding the success of the crowdfunding on the same day that the entire workforce was made redundant while owed seven weeks' salary. Jim McManus So with O'Connell now faced with claims the crowdfunding project was at least in part a PR exercise, it now emerges that on the very same day it was declared a success, Caterham's 230 race team was made redundant. No less than scandalous.
I like James Allen, but I think Joes 'graphic' (duplicated below) is pretty close to what's actually going on..... You're probably right on that one. Latest report at Pitpass says everyone has just been made redundant. The administrator is hiring the 50 guys needed for the race back as consultants, to be paid £1000 ahead of the race and the same again when they get back. Indeed - 'fairness' has never been a part of their MO. It's a mess for sure. However, assuming they make it, I'd love to see them score a few points. Would certainly make them a lot more attractive to any potential folks (idiots?) who want to get involved. No doubt the record books should reflect Marussia's two points, but I don't think they're going to get any money, so surely it should be paid to those behind? Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
Andre Lotterer turns down Caterham F1 team's Abu Dhabi GP offer Andre Lotterer turns down Caterham F1 team's Abu Dhabi GP offer - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Roberto Merhi insists he has Caterham F1 race deal for Abu Dhabi GP Roberto Merhi insists he has Caterham F1 race deal for Abu Dhabi GP - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com This has desperation written all over it.
News releases later today say Kamui will be driving, but that the 2nd Caterham driver is not official yet.
Chilton seems to be getting the second seat for what I hope is his last race. Will be fun seeing him getting vaporised by Kamui
