Where to for Caterham?

[bella]

nah. pic's a bit blonde, he got caught napping. petrov was going to get past anyway, come hell or high water. caterham also have kers, where marussia don't so in a straight battle there's a pretty obvious winner.

[p-matt]

I think the dynamics of the Caterham / Marussia situation were fascinating.

You had Pic in that coveted 12th place fending off a someone from the team he's moving to next year. If he let him through, he would be moving to a team with 10-15m more in terms of budget.

You had Petrov who sealed 11th in the end, who may not get any personal reward for it. Instead it might be his teammate who gets the seat next year, who wasnowhere in this race (admitedly after an incorrect call to go on full wets). But still, KJovalainen's pace hasn't looked that great in the latter part of the year. It feels a bit like the old McLaren Heikki is coming back.

Then there's van der Garde, who probably was hoping Caterham wouldn't get 10th as it would be his best chance to get an F1 seat next year!

[Peat]

Hehe. Glad you lot were as cynical as me.

I said at the time that it was somewhat of a 'conflict of interest'.

[bella]

i'm surprised nobody's suggested that caterham paid jev to drive into the back of glock on the restart yet

[luke g28]

No caterham paid hulkenburg to take out Hamilton, thus allowing them to get into 11th position.

Its all so obvious

[wolfhound]

Caterham have confirmed they will be using Renault engines next year and probably for much longer as they a long term partnership with Renault.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107630

[321Go]

Off to Le Mans we go...

http://life.caterham.co.uk/news/cate...24-hours-debut

[karimbo]

Caterham have to fire Mike Gascoygne. With the budget they have and Renault engine, they really should be doing better.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by karimbo

Caterham have to fire Mike Gascoygne. With the budget they have and Renault engine, they really should be doing better.

That's at least part of the issue with the lower grid teams, they have the same engines as the 'hot' teams, but cant stand the pace on entry/exit of anything that looks like a bend...

... so stupid things like Mr Van Der Garde and Potsie keep happening

[chunder]

I simply think Caterham, are an embarassment

When you consider the budget available the underachievement here is staggering

I have seen better results from Hispania an Marussia or even teams over the years like Jordan, Minardi, AGS etc.

The sport is different now admittedly. Rememebr BAR and how long it took them?

But this lot have money, good engines and good people and they are still woeful.

Needs putting down it really does I'm afraid coz it appears there is something endemically wrong there.

[Hawkwood]

How much money do Caterham actually have?
I mean, they needed two pay drivers for this year.
So might their budget be smaller than we all think?

[GTRMagic]

Are they waiting for 2014 to reveal their boatload of innovations?

[bella]

i wonder if they had already written this season off, as per their use of an adapted 2012 car until relatively late in the season. thus, paying silly money for 2 decent drivers who would only grow frustrated with a car that handled like a skateboard on ice made no sense at all. and if there was more than 1 driver waving their wallet at the team then take their cash and let them trundle around in a car that doesn't really mean anything anyway. i'm sure heikki would be delighted to return next season, particularly if he was given a handsome retainer this year and a few keeping the eye in/calibration friday sessions for example.

they'd already said that this season was going to be a tricky one with the factory move and the staffing changes, hadn't they? i think if you know a bit about how they're evolving right now the iffy performance makes more sense.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by karimbo

Caterham have to fire Mike Gascoygne. With the budget they have and Renault engine, they really should be doing better.

from what i can tell, Gascoyne has not had much to do with the F1 team since last year. they dont even list a role for him on the team website anymore either.

http://www.caterhamf1.com/team/management

[Bononi]

So 'where to' is actually 'staying put'...

[321Go]

So... where to for Caterham then??

They fired their technical director Mark Smith last Saturday morning. Replaced with a technical committee consisting of John Iley, Jody Egginton and Gerry Hughes. None of whom a standout to take the team forward. They owe Renault money, and they're behind in payments to Red Bull Technology.

After 5 years, 81 races, not a single point has been scored by the team. Has been a very expensive exercise for Tony Fernandez, with very little, or possibly no gain what so ever. Is the writing on the wall for Caterham? Will 2014 be the final season for the Caterham F1 team as it's known today? A for sale sign to be placed on the door in the near future perhaps?

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by 321Go

So... where to for Caterham then??

They fired their technical director Mark Smith last Saturday morning. Replaced with a technical committee consisting of John Iley, Jody Egginton and Gerry Hughes. None of whom a standout to take the team forward. They owe Renault money, and they're behind in payments to Red Bull Technology.

After 5 years, 81 races, not a single point has been scored by the team. Has been a very expensive exercise for Tony Fernandez, with very little, or possibly no gain what so ever. Is the writing on the wall for Caterham? Will 2014 be the final season for the Caterham F1 team as it's known today? A for sale sign to be placed on the door in the near future perhaps?

It would not surprise me to see a change of ownership at Caterham judgeing by this recent article by Joe Saward.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/...s-at-caterham/

It must be very frustrating for Tony Fernandez to see very little progress after 5 years despite spending very large amounts of money not to mention the major changes of the entry conditions after he entered. I am talking about the original 40 million budget cap.

[chrisrb2002]

The leafield curse strikes again?

[Greem]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

It must be very frustrating for Tony Fernandez to see very little progress after 5 years despite spending very large amounts of money not to mention the major changes of the entry conditions after he entered. I am talking about the original 40 million budget cap.

A salutory lesson to anyone who thinks they can pitch up at F1's door with a bucketload of money and successfully take on the establishment.

In order to do that, two or more bucketloads are needed...

[bella]

i'm not sure they ever thought they'd be able to take on the establishment. especially not after the budget cap fell over. the same goes for marussia.

they have done incredible amounts for f1 in other ways though - it's arguable that their use of social media revolutionised the way the fans and teams connect, and started the current trend of autograph sessions and not-fota events. hopefully that revolution will start to infiltrate beyond simply the teams and circuits.

and i still find it incredible that a team can produce a car on the technology level of the front runners that's only a few seconds a lap off the pace. i really hope their future is secured, no matter who and how it's done.

[Paradise City]

He said he was going to sell out if there was no improvement and it seems that he's slumped.

Meanwhile Gene Haas is busy trying to start an aquarium in the desert.

[Bononi]

Was F1 ever any different ?

[Nikki Katz]

While I don't want to lose a team, I would be very angry if I was Fernandes. Instead of the promised progressive cost cuts, costs have actually spiraled. Caterham are still last. Yes, they might be closer to the pace than, say, Minardi, but cars broke down in the 90s. Today we are only 5 races into the new spec of car and there were just two failures last race.

The only thing that must keep the team going for this long is the competition with Marussia. I think the two really need each other as otherwise they'd only get a mention when being lapped. If one folds they both will.

It's not like either team has done anything massively wrong either. F1 needs a serious rethink if it's going to be sustainable.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Was F1 ever any different ?

I suppose not. Brilliant, clued-in entrepreneurs suddenly losing alltheir marbles when they eye up the sport is not a new phenomena. The likes of Gene Haas could do with taking a page out of Penske's book. As for Fernandes I wonder what the fate of Caterham Cars will be when he does withdraw.

[ECW Dan Selby]

I really do think this season is the last we see of Caterham, and probably Marussia (after hearing about their financial difficulties with the car company).

Tony even said he'd drop out at the end of the year if they didn't score a point, and quite frankly, I think they've missed that window of opportunity.

It's a shame. I always root for the underdog, but unfortunately there's no room for underdogs in this day and age of F1. The reliability is simply bullet proof. Races of attrition are genuinely a thing of the past. If a complete rule change isn't enough to encourage more retirements, I honestly think they're stuffed.

Sad, but true.

Selby