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Mark
23rd October 2014, 14:08
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-29738116

Staff working at the Caterham F1 team site in Oxfordshire have been locked out of the firm's premises, the administrator has told the BBC.

Finbarr O'Connell, from Smith & Williamson, said Caterham F1 operator 1MRT had made an "inadequate" offer to continue using the Leafield site.

Smith & Williamson owns the building, where the F1 cars were made.

Mr O'Connell said he was trying to resolve the situation with 1MRT but until then had locked staff out.

Employees from Caterham Sports Limited - which manufactures cars for the F1 team and is run as a separate company - were transferred to 1MRT when the company was placed into administration on Monday.

Doc Austin
23rd October 2014, 18:44
Looks like Fernandez got out just in time.

Maybe we will see some of the big teams run three cars next year after all.

driveace
23rd October 2014, 22:17
And Caterham may not run in Austin

anfield5
24th October 2014, 02:16
I feel sorry for the workers - all of them including team management and drivers. Sure Caterham are one of the wortst performed teams in F1 history, but everyone working for them is extremely dedicated and hard working and have put in an effort every bit as big (if nor bigger) that the workers at teams like Red Bull and Mercedes.

driveace
24th October 2014, 11:33
If only Bernie gave them a pocket full of change ,or a helping hand !

AndyL
24th October 2014, 12:22
The story just gets more bizarre.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/10/battle-between-past-and-present-caterham-owners-turns-toxic-f1-team-in-crossfire/
Supposedly Fernandes still technically owns the team, he never transferred the shares because he says he hasn't been paid for them yet.

Hawkmoon
24th October 2014, 16:50
If memory serves we were supposed to get 4 new teams a few years ago. USF1 never made the grid. HRT disappeared after a few fruitless seasons and now Caterham are essentially a dead team walking (rolling?). Only Marussia remain and they've had a couple of ownership changes along the way. I wouldn't like to bet on their continued survival either.

steveaki13
24th October 2014, 17:14
They have achieved points too

Milan
24th October 2014, 20:56
Yeah Get Well Very Soon Bianchi,
You are missed so badly

steveaki13
24th October 2014, 23:25
Yeah Get Well Very Soon Bianchi,
You are missed so badly

Wrong thread again bud:confused::mark::andrea:

Duncan
25th October 2014, 06:31
The story just gets more bizarre.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/10/battle-between-past-and-present-caterham-owners-turns-toxic-f1-team-in-crossfire/
Supposedly Fernandes still technically owns the team, he never transferred the shares because he says he hasn't been paid for them yet.

The latest statement from Tony is that the buyers have not yet met all of the terms of the contract. According to him (and I have no reason to doubt what he says) the contract requires the buyer to not only pay for the team but pay off any current creditors before the shares are transferred. It sounds like Tony is saying that he has been paid, but since the creditors haven't been paid yet he is not required to hand over the shares.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9530528/tony-fernandes-says-caterhams-buyers-to-blame-for-troubles-at-crisis-hit-f1-team

driveace
26th October 2014, 10:22
Which fool took on that deal .?
Who the he'll would pay money for a bankrupt company and clear all the debt to creditors ?
Can the salesman who brokered the deal get up here and sell my house and get the buyer to pay off all my debt ?

Malbec
26th October 2014, 12:06
Which fool took on that deal .?
Who the he'll would pay money for a bankrupt company and clear all the debt to creditors ?
Can the salesman who brokered the deal get up here and sell my house and get the buyer to pay off all my debt ?

Its a common kind of deal, buy the company and assets for next to nothing, often something nominal like £1 but take on all the debts. Its up to the new owner to turn the business around and make it profitable.

Fernandes has proven himself a liar already by declaring that he and his companies no longer had any connection with Caterham f1 when he was clearly the majority shareholder all the time. The answer to this mess lies in the legal documents laying out the sale of the company which will indicate which side's version of events particularly to do with the debts is correct. Personally I feel both sides are stretching the truth and I also suspect Kolles and Albers agreed to a deal only to find that the investors backing them were not keen or able to provide the money they promised.

N. Jones
26th October 2014, 14:35
Now Marussia is out too??? This is so sad. Competition is a good thing, a healthy thing. I don't know what the solution is, but more teams on the grid is good for the sport.

Starter
26th October 2014, 17:31
Now Marussia is out too??? This is so sad. Competition is a good thing, a healthy thing. I don't know what the solution is, but more teams on the grid is good for the sport.
It all comes down to money. As in it costs way too much to be a player at this level. Only the most well heeled and supported teams have a ghost of a chance of being mid pack which leaves no support for the lesser teams. Or at least not nearly enough support to cover the costs of participation.

steveaki13
26th October 2014, 18:08
What has happened here????

Caterham are in a very strange position where no one seems to know what is going on with ownership and money.

Now whats happened to make Marussia miss the rest of this season? I didn't realise they were in such a bad situation. Obviously Bianchi's crash has not helped, but they shouldn't be withdrawing from F1.

Their 2 points from Monaco look likely to go to waste.

F1 needs to reduce costs to enter F1 at least. The rich teams will always win, but lower costs would surely at least let more teams enter towards the back of the grid. Like early 90s. They spent little to get in back then and many gave it a go.

steveaki13
26th October 2014, 18:10
It all comes down to money. As in it costs way too much to be a player at this level.

As I stated though, it used to be teams would enter for I assume less money, and they would race around at the back, but at least they were racing each other and boosted cars

I mean all those cars in the early 90s made F1 great fun to watch, despite the fact 4 teams would be the only ones winning.

Mia 01
26th October 2014, 18:19
I Think sauber needs to score one or two Points.

steveaki13
26th October 2014, 19:31
I Think sauber needs to score one or two Points.

I agree Mia, otherwise they could be gone come the end of the season.

16 cars for 2015 is a horrible thought. 3 car teams are also a bad idea IMO, but I would rather 24 cars than 16.

Doc Austin
26th October 2014, 19:38
I Think sauber needs to score one or two Points.

Looks like they have four less cars to beat, and the teams they need to outscore won't be there.

Bernie said something interesting. He asked if it was better to have Caterham and Marussia, or to have an extra Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams and Mercedes on the grid. I'm thinking more competitive cars would be better than wondering each week if Marussia and Caterham are going to show up.

steveaki13
26th October 2014, 21:05
You might as well get Mercedes to design every car then. All have the same car and then the season will be really competitive

I would go for 26 cars from 13 teams any day over 26 cars from a few teams. Just a personal opinion

Malbec
26th October 2014, 21:20
Now whats happened to make Marussia miss the rest of this season? I didn't realise they were in such a bad situation. Obviously Bianchi's crash has not helped, but they shouldn't be withdrawing from F1.

Their 2 points from Monaco look likely to go to waste.

If Marussia goes down it because it isn't turning up to races the owner will truly be one of the biggest idiots around. If they hang on till the end of this year they will receive a massive boost to their income thanks to the 2 points at Monaco. He will be forfeiting that by not forking out the costs for one or two races and making the team worthless.... The mind boggles really if the guy can't do his calculations and can't be bothered to dig deeper to keep the team going for just three more races.

steveaki13
26th October 2014, 22:48
Absolutely. To withdraw now seems crazy. Surley someone could keep them going. Even if it was still one car for the last 3 races

DazzlaF1
26th October 2014, 23:49
I dont think the "elite" teams care too much really, remember Ferrari and their long desire to run three cars, they can only do that with less teams on the grid

steveaki13
27th October 2014, 00:07
I know the top teams wont care, but F1 fans will care and it is a better place with a full grid with many teams IMO.

Hawkmoon
27th October 2014, 00:08
F1 has made many changes recently designed to make F1 more viable yet nothing has changed. All these long-life parts and the restriction on testing have apparently done nothing to help small teams stay in the sport. HRT, Caterham and probably Marussia are all finished it would seem. Sauber are questionable and I don't think Force India are as secure as they need to be. Ol' Vijay is going to run out of money at some point. I don't think Torro Rosso would survive without Red Bull money.

Rollo
27th October 2014, 00:48
If I was grand high poo-bah and in charge of F1, I'd seriously be suggesting to companies like Hyundai, Mahindra, Great Wall or SAIC that they should buy the teams.

The fact that F1 Management engages so badly with Asian countries is scandalous. If Bernie is supposedly in charge, then why isn't he in charge?

Tazio
27th October 2014, 02:29
Caterham F1 staff locked out of Oxfordshire site (http://www.motorsportforums.com/showthread.php?34890-Caterham-F1-staff-locked-out-of-Oxfordshire-site/page3)
:wave:

pob
27th October 2014, 06:19
Bianchi's points in Monaco really should be enough to save Marussia, but they've been living week to week since their title sponsor went bust in April. The writing was on the wall for them since the weird incident in Belgium where Chilton was dropped then later reinstated: Daddy Chilton owns half the team, so it was a sign of serious money issues.

A couple of points won't make much difference to Sauber, only a miracle from Caterham in Abu Dhabi would drop Sauber out of the top 10, so their Category 1 prize money for next year is fairly safe.

Caterham is just a mess and have little of hope of survival, but maybe some of the i.p. will magically turn up with Kolles at Forza Rossa in 2016.

Bagwan
27th October 2014, 13:33
If Marussia goes down it because it isn't turning up to races the owner will truly be one of the biggest idiots around. If they hang on till the end of this year they will receive a massive boost to their income thanks to the 2 points at Monaco. He will be forfeiting that by not forking out the costs for one or two races and making the team worthless.... The mind boggles really if the guy can't do his calculations and can't be bothered to dig deeper to keep the team going for just three more races.

I believe Joe Saward wrote that they can miss three races and still be classified .
With no Caterham on the grid , so no chance of being beaten , it would seem a bit idiotic to go off to Texas and blow a bunch of money , wouldn't it ?

Duncan
27th October 2014, 16:47
...and now Marussia is in administration as well. Unless additional investors show up, both will likely close their doors at the end of the season.

Bagwan makes a good point, though. With Caterham not showing up, what's the benefit of Marussia spending the money to go? Based on Bernie's remarks last week, I don't think there's a penalty for them in not participating for two races, so there's no benefit to them in terms of standing by showing up.

Doc Austin
27th October 2014, 17:38
Marussia had to get special dispensation from Bernie to miss Austin and Brazil, so there has to be some rule that you don't get paid unless you make all the races. that, or some sort of other penalty. Otherwise, why would they need permission?

Go to the second paragraph.............. http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/marussia-to-join-caterham-in-administration-report

Duncan
27th October 2014, 20:58
Marussia had to get special dispensation from Bernie to miss Austin and Brazil, so there has to be some rule that you don't get paid unless you make all the races. that, or some sort of other penalty. Otherwise, why would they need permission?

Go to the second paragraph.............. http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/marussia-to-join-caterham-in-administration-report

Right - that was what I was alluding to in Bernie's remarks. I wasn't meaning to imply that anybody could miss those two races, but rather that both Caterham and Marussia have been given that dispensation. Given that they have permission to miss those two races without penalty, why would they not?

jens
1st November 2014, 16:25
Does missing a few races mean Marussia loses its 9th place in WCC and doesn't get the money? Because Marussia would not have fulfilled its contract to run all races. It's a pity, considering Marussia finally had some success, scored points, and is about to outscore even Sauber.

I am evil Homer
7th November 2014, 15:38
According this story Marussia, as we know it, is dead and buried: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29954250

Not really a surprise they struggled to find a buyer. But no appearance in the final GP it seems...so Sauber will move up a place in standings

RS
7th November 2014, 20:51
Wow, the administrators didn't give much time to find a buyer for Marussia. A great shame, especially those two points from Bianchi will go to waste. I guess someone may now buy the assets and resurrect the team in that way?

Meanwhile, Caterham's administrators launched a crowd-funding project to make the Abu-Dhabi grand prix: https://www.crowdcube.com/caterham/

Somebody
8th November 2014, 19:04
When would Marussia have got their prize money? If it was before the end of the year, daft to quit now when keeping a skeleton company going would have paid the debts, at least.

As for Caterham, they're actually almost a quarter of the way there, which surprises me.
They WAY underpriced all the limited car bits and so on, though. Went far too quickly.

RS
10th November 2014, 21:38
Meanwhile, Caterham's administrators launched a crowd-funding project to make the Abu-Dhabi grand prix: https://www.crowdcube.com/caterham/

Come on guys, dig deep.. they're nearly half way there...

AndyL
11th November 2014, 11:22
There's an interesting piece on the James Allen site about how Crowdcube is linked to the accountancy firm that's administering Caterham, with the clear implication that this crowd-funding effort is half aimed at promoting Crowdcube. With this, cleaners being made directors, disputes over who owns the team and who's been paid what, there's so much dodgy business going on that maybe it would be best to just euthanise the outfit now.

RS
11th November 2014, 12:27
Allegedly there is a serious party interested in the team: http://m.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/318808/new-party-interested-in-caterham/