Background
Fernandes's team originally entered Formula One in as Lotus Racing, using the Lotus name under licence from Group Lotus.[9] Dubbed as 1Malaysia F1, the team was operated by 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd.[10] The project was part of the former Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia initiative.[11][12] When Proton – the parent company of Group Lotus – terminated the licence, Fernandes acquired the privately owned Team Lotus name for use in the season. As Proton began legal proceedings against the team, Fernandes acquired Caterham Cars. In November 2011, the team applied to the Formula One commission to formally change their constructor name for the season from Lotus to Caterham, while Renault changed their name to Lotus.[13] Permission was granted before being formally ratified at a meeting of the FIA 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).
2012 season
Trulli and Kovalainen re-signed with the team, under its new guise of Caterham, for the season.[15]
On 18 January 2012, it was announced that the team would be moving to the Leafield Technical Centre in Leafield, Oxfordshire, the previous headquarters of both Arrows and Super Aguri F1 teams.[16] The Caterham CT01 was the first car the team had built to run KERS.
On 17 February, the team announced that Vitaly 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]
2013 season
On 23 November 2012, it was announced that Marussia driver Charles Pic signed a multi-year contract with the team[20] and his teammate was rookie Giedo van der Garde. On 1 March 2013, the team announced that Alexander Rossi and Ma Qinghua would be its reserve drivers for the 2013 season.[21]
On 17 April 2013, it was confirmed that the team had re-signed Heikki 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 the 2013 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.
2014 season
On 21 January 2014, it was announced that the team would have a brand new driver line-up with Marcus Ericsson and Kamui 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 the 2014 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 from Jules 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 Principal Colin Kolles. Former Dutch F1 driver, Christijan Albers, assisted by Manfredi Ravetto, became responsible for the day-to-day running of the team.[4] Under this new management, unexpectedly, Kobayashi did not compete in the at Spa-Francorchamps. In his place, former Jaguar F1 test driver and three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, André Lotterer, made his début in Formula One.[25]
Administration
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 the United States and Brazilian 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 of Marussia 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]
Return to racing
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 with Rubens Barrichello who last raced in 2011 and would have taken over Kobayashi's seat for the remainder of the 2014 season.[34]
During the 2014 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 including Bernie 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 the season in Abu 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 in Littleworth, West Sussex.[37]
Staff controversies
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]
