Caterham F1
The Caterham F1 Team is the current Formula 1 racing team of the Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd, one of the Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes founded in 2009 consortium of Malaysian companies. The team travels with Malaysian license. It first appeared in 2010 under the name of Lotus Racing and 2011 as Team Lotus in Formula 1. After a legally discharged name dispute with the former Renault factory team, in turn, used the word " Lotus " from 2011, the team name was changed in 2012 in Caterham. It refers to the British sports car manufacturer Caterham Cars, which also belongs to the group of Tony Fernandes.
In the Formula 1 2014 season Caterham occurs with hybrid engines from Renault; Drivers are Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi. Caterham also maintains a team in the GP2 series.
- 2.4.1 2012: halt with Renault engines
- 2.4.2 2013: continuation of the previous concept
- 2.4.3 2014: a new beginning with hybrid technology
- 4.1 Formula 1 4.1.1 Statistics in Formula 1
- 4.1.2 All drivers in Formula 1
- 4.1.3 Results in Formula 1
Location
The seat of the team was initially in British Norfolk, where a Toyota built and used previously used Bentley workshop shed with appropriate infrastructure. 2012 the team moved to after Leafield. Here Caterham took over the former plants of Arrows and Super Aguri.
History of the Formula 1 teams
Founded in 2009
Tony Fernandes ' team was one of three teams that participated at the beginning of the new 2010 season of Formula 1. The other racing teams were HRT and Virgin Racing (now Marussia F1 Team).
The FIA pursued in 2009 its intention to extend the starting field of Formula 1 in the following years significantly. After the 2009 season, only ten teams and 20 drivers were lined up, you should go to the start from next year a total of 13 racing teams with 26 riders. After a tendering procedure in which half a dozen had involved projects, the FIA chose in June 2009 of three teams that were registered for the Formula 1 2010 season. In addition to HRT and Virgin this included the U.S. project U.S. F1 team, which, however, already failed in the planning phase. Fernandes ' team has not yet been taken into account in the decision in June 2009. He received until 15 September 2009 the contract to start as the 13th team in 2010. This was possible because the BMW - Sauber team surprisingly declared the fall of 2009 to try to finish at the end of the 2009 season his Formula 1 activities. Thus, the 13th on the grid for the 2010 season was free again.
Team name and name dispute
The team entered the first year of its existence under the Lotus Racing, the second year it used the name Team Lotus. With this designation, the team wanted to continue the tradition founded by Colin Chapman and 1958-1994 involved in Formula 1 racing team Team Lotus, which had won six times in the course of its existence the driver and seven times the Constructors' World Championship. In fact, Fernandes ' team was not a legal successor of the Team Lotus. The rights to the name Team Lotus had taken over from David Hunt, who had in turn acquired after the bankruptcy of Chapman's team in 1994 Fernandes. Also to the homonymous British sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars was only an indirect connection. It was replaced by the automobile manufacturer Proton conveys, who was the owner of Lotus Cars and also belonged to the Malaysian consortium that financed the Fernandes team. To compensate for the lack of affiliation with the classics, was the team logo in the first season in 2010 from the contours of the Lotus Cars logo and the traditional Lotus team colors, green with yellow markings.
In the 2011 season of the British car manufacturer Lotus Cars acted as main sponsor of the former Renault factory teams. This meant that this season, two independent racing teams with the part of the name Lotus were enrolled in the Formula 1 World Championship: on the one hand, the Malaysian team of Tony Fernandes ( Team Lotus ), on the other hand, the traveling with British Royalty Team Lotus Renault GP, which in the meantime was taken over by Genii Capital. Lotus Cars tried in early 2011 to leave prohibit the Malaysian team using the name Lotus in court. In May, it was confirmed by the court that the team name Team Lotus allowed to continue to use. 27 May 2011 confirmed a British court that the Malaysian Team Lotus is the official successor of the well-established name and this term leads to some law. At the same time, the court allowed the company Lotus Cars to use the Lotus name in Formula 1 sport; Lotus Cars but had to forgo the word " team ". This Lotus Cars and Genii Capital had the right to designate the former Renault factory team as Lotus Renault GP.
Tony Fernandes decided in autumn 2011 to his Formula 1 team from 2012 to report under the name of Team Caterham. Thus the name dispute ended after more than a year.
2010 and 2011: The Lotus Years
Formula 1 season 2010: Debut with Cosworth
In the 2010 season with Lotus Racing stepped up to the constructed model by Mike Gascoyne Lotus T127. The name of the car sat consciously continues the tradition of Team Lotus, whose last Formula 1 model 109 (1994 ) had been. The development of the car was made in light of the late approval of the team under high time pressure. Nevertheless, the T127 of observers was widely seen as the best of the cars used by the three new teams. As the HRT F110 and the Virgin VR -01, also used the Lotus eight-cylinder engines from Cosworth. As power transmission served a transmission from Xtrac. The tires came from Bridgestone. As a driver Fernandes committed with Heikki Kovalainen, who had previously driven for McLaren, and the former Toyota driver Jarno Trulli two racers who possessed some experience in Formula 1.
Unlike the competitor HRT, Lotus Racing was fully ready in his first race in Bahrain. The pilots qualified in front of a Virgin and in front of both HRT drivers. Kovalainen was ranked 15, the Trulli 17 position: In the race, both drivers were counted. In the course of the season, Lotus proved to be the best of the three new teams. The riders qualified for every Grand Prix. In most cases, they went there in front of the cars from Virgin and HRT in the race. The driver came mostly to the finish; throughout the season only 11 technically related or attributable to driver error failures were recorded. However, Kovalainen and Trulli did not reach finish in the points. The best result was the 12th place Kovalainen at the Grand Prix of Japan. Since HRT and Virgin did not achieve an equally good or better result, Lotus was seen end of the season in tenth place in the constructors' championship.
Lotus Racing celebrated the Grand Prix of Canada in 2010 as Lotus 500 race.
Formula 1 season 2011: Change to Renault
For the Formula 1 2011 season equipped Fernandes ' team in technical terms, and lifted so that from the other two so-called new teams from that held more or less unchanged at their previous technology packages for financial reasons. The now called Team Lotus team used this season an eight-cylinder engine from Renault (type RS27 -2011). Within the framework of a cooperation agreement with Red Bull Lotus took over for the new, again developed by Gascoyne T128 of the world champion team whose power transmission and the entire hydraulic system. On the use of energy recovery system KERS, the team like last year waived. The driver line-up remained unchanged in the second year of the team. Only the Grand Prix of Germany Jarno Trulli was replaced by the Lotus test driver Karun Chandhok.
As the season progresses the Lotus -Renault was again a reliable car. With 19 Grand Prix, there were only nine failures. The car was, like last year, much faster than the cars of the other two new teams. However, it was not possible Lotus to close the gap to the midfield teams. In 2011, Fernandes ' team failed to reach a World Championship point. The best result was several thirteenth places. They meant that the Team Lotus in the Constructors' Championship at the end of turn, was ranked 10.
From 2012: Caterham
2012: halt with Renault engines
For the 2012 Formula 1 season Gascoyne constructed the Caterham CT01, which represented an evolution of last year's Lotus model. The most striking design feature was a step-like vehicle nose, which was due to rule changes to the aerodynamics. The drive technology came again from Renault and Red Bull for the first time a KERS system was used. Heikki Kovalainen remained as the riders in the team, while Jarno Trulli was replaced four weeks before the start of the season by Vitaly Petrov. Petrov brought a sponsorship package to the team whose volume included 10 million euros, according to press reports. The CT01 was faster than its predecessor. Kovalainen succeeded several times in the qualifying session in the second training section penetrate ( " Q2 "). The best result was the 11th place while Petrov's season finale in Brazil, at the same time the best result in the history of the team. In the final classification Caterham was thus again on the 10th place in the constructors standings.
2013: continuation of the previous concept
For 2013, the last Formula 1 season, which was held under the previous regulations, Caterham developed a new car. Referred to as CT03 vehicle was merely a revised version of last year's CT01. Hardly Different could be seen. The team also maintained the aesthetically dubious stages nose; a cover by a so-called Eitelkeitsblende, of which most other teams took advantage this year, has not been developed. The team leader said to be dependent for financial reasons, the use of two Paydrivern. Instead of Kovalainen and Petrov committed Caterham Frenchman Charles Pic and the Dutch debutant Giedo van der Garde. With the natural material, the performance of the team faded in comparison to the previous year: Best result were two 14th places ( Pic in Malaysia and van der Garde in Hungary). This Caterham fell at the end back to the 11th and last place in the constructors' standings, after Marussia Racing had scored with a 13th place finish a better individual result.
2014: a new beginning with hybrid technology
In the Formula 1 2014 season Caterham occurs with hybrid engines from Renault; Drivers are the Swedish Formula 1 debutant Marcus Ericsson and the Japanese racing driver Kamui Kobayashi, who returns after a year's break into Formula 1. Before the season starts Caterham had as the other Renault team also significant problems with the implementation of the new hybrid technology. During the tests before the season starts, the Caterham drivers were able to travel with the newly developed CT05 only a few rounds; repeatedly led to interruptions caused by electrical defects.
At the season opener in Australia both Caterham drivers loaded in the Friday practice not return any timed lap. At Ericsson car there was another electronics problems, while the carriage of Kobayashi burst into flames after a defect in the fuel line.
History of the GP2 teams
For GP2 Asia Series season of 2011, the team went under the name of Team Air Asia in the GP2 Series. The team was the team manager Tony Fernandes named after the Malaysian budget airline AirAsia and also in his possession. As a driver acted Luiz Razia and Davide 2011 Valsecchi two test driver of the Team Lotus Formula 1 team. In the GP2 Asia Series was reached, with a third place of Valsecchi as the best result, in seventh place in the team standings. In the season of the main series Valsecchi scored the first victory for the team in the main race in Monaco. Both drivers scored two podium finishes and the team finished the season in sixth place on the team standings. The team changed their name during the season in Caterham Team Air Asia. As part of the renaming of the paint of the cars was matched to that of Formula 1 teams and assumed the color combination green-yellow. Previously, the team with white- red cars, the colors of the AirAsia launched.
For the 2012 season the team started as Caterham Racing. The two drivers from the previous year changed both within the series in other team, so Caterham hired two new drivers. The choice fell on Rodolfo Gonzalez and Giedo van der Garde. Both drivers had already raced several years in the GP2 Series. Van der Garde went during the season regularly in the points and won two victories, making him the sixth overall. González was once traveling in the points and defeated van der Garde with six to 160 points. In the end, he finished in 22nd place overall. In the team standings Caterham finished the season in seventh place.
2013 got van der Garde a cockpit at Caterham in Formula 1, González was a test driver for Marussia. The new driver for the 2013 GP2 Series season were Sergio Canamasas and Ma Qinghua. While Canamasas drove the entire season, Ma was replaced after the first race by Alexander Rossi. On May 17 it was announced with EQ8 a new title sponsor, which the team from the race in Monte Carlo under the name EQ8 Caterham Racing took. Rossi was already in his first race of the season and drove to convince the podium. In the further course of the season Rossi drove regularly in the points. In the main race of the last race in Abu Dhabi him his first win was in the GP2 series, which he eventually graduated to ninth position overall. Canamasas went twice in the points and defeated Rossi with three to 92 points, making him the 25th overall. In the team standings, Caterham deteriorated to ninth.
2014 remains Rossi at Caterham and Rio Haryanto gets a new teammate who is in his third GP2 season.
Facts and Figures
Formula 1
Statistics in Formula 1
Status: Grand Prix of Malaysia, March 30, 2014
All drivers in Formula 1
Status: Grand Prix of Malaysia, March 30, 2014
Current drivers are shown in yellow.