Fernandes blames the big teams for Caterham’s downfall

Tony Fernandes believes that teams like Caterham, which he sold at the end of June, will never be able to progress in Formula 1 if the big teams continue to have excessively large budgets in his opinion.

« People can blame whoever they want, but the big teams have as much responsibility as anyone else. The gap has become too large and there’s the money. And then I thought, ‘Well, I can’t fight anymore.’ But I can fight with QPR [Queens Park Rangers, a football club owned by Fernandes, Ed.]; I can fight with Air Asia, » the Malaysian businessman told Sky Sports News.

Neither Caterham nor Marussia will be present this weekend in Austin for the United States Grand Prix after being placed under the control of administrators.

Furthermore, following the problems related to the sale of the team to Engavest, Fernandes admitted that he was looking for a new buyer but no longer wished to continue in the field of motorsport: « There are people who want to do motorsport, for different reasons and Caterham has everything needed to do it. There might even be F1 teams that want a second team – a situation like Red Bull/Toro Rosso. So we will offer our maximum support but it’s not something I want to continue being involved in. You need to fully immerse yourself. Motorsport is over for me. »

Over the months, the Leafield team has accumulated a number of debts totaling nearly 52 million euros according to an article by F1 economic specialist Christian Sylt for the Daily Telegraph. The team also reportedly has total receivables of nearly 21 million euros from various companies.

The team’s largest creditor is Renault Sport F1, which supplies it with engine blocks, totaling more than 9 million euros. Following them are Total with nearly one million euros in claims and Dell with 900,000 euros. The car manufacturer has not been paid despite contributing more than approximately 3.8 million euros in sponsorship, the team’s largest source of revenue this season, as the team generates only limited income, just 6.33 million euros in nine months this year.

The situation is therefore critical for the Caterham team, and according to some observers, the absence from two races could be extended, and the team might follow the path of the Spanish team HRT. This is notably the opinion of Ted Kravitz, a respected member of the Sky Sports F1 team, who considers it unlikely to see the Caterham team racing in Formula 1 again one day.