Caterham (formerly Lotus)

Team Lotus

FIA Entry: Team Lotus
Car 20: Heikki Kovaleinen
Car 21: Jarno Trulli
Engine: Renault V8
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes
Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne
Race Engineer Car 20: Juan Pablo Ramirez
Race Engineer Car 21: Gianluca Pisanello

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2010
Races Entered 20
Race Wins 0
Pole Positions 0
Fastest Laps 0
Driver World Championships 0
Constructor World Championships 0

Team Lotus

Tony Fernandes' 1Malaysia F1 team lay claim to one of the most iconic names in F1, Team Lotus. Team Lotus, under the guidance of one of the greatest innovators in F1 Colin Chapman, was in F1 from 1958 to 1994. They took part in 491 Grands Prix, winning 73 races, 7 Constructors Titles, 6 Drivers Championships, 102 poles and 65 fastest laps. During this time some of the greatest F1 drivers drove for Team Lotus including Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Ayrton Senna, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jochen Rindt and Nigel Mansell.

2010 Team Lotus

With the support of the Malaysian government via Proton cars and two Malaysian Companies, Tune and Naza Groups, Tony Fernandes entered F1 under the Team Lotus name. Using Cosworth engines and Xtrac gearboxes Lotus signed up experienced drivers for their first season in F1 with Heikki Kovaleinen and Jarno Trulli.

The cars proved reasonably reliable although not quick enough to threaten the mid-field teams. Kovaleinen managed Lotus’ best finish with a 12th place in Japan and the team, based on count back of non-points scoring finishes, were placed 10th in the Constructors Championship – the best of the new teams for 2010.

2011

Lotus announced during 2010 that they would switch to Renault engines for 2011 along with Red Bull gearbox and hydraulic technology. The same driver line up is retained and they will use the T128 chassis.

Whether the team continue to use the Lotus name will be decided in the British High Court. Proton, owners of the Group Lotus name, have moved their allegiance to the former Renault team although ownership of the Team Lotus name is in dispute as this was owned by David Hunt, brother of 1976 World Champion James and sold to Fernandes.
 
2.35 million in 7 days. :wave:

Screen Shot 2014-11-07 at 15.01.17.png
 
As usual he bangs in about all the money that is given to the teams whilst conveniently leaving out how little Caterham have had. Hello, Mr Ecclestone, Caterham are actually an F1 team, you know, that circus that made your fortune. If the number of teams goes down so does the interest which feeds back to your pocket. And there won't be many putting in to the whipround for you.
 
It might be financially stupid, but how often is some random guy on the street going to be able to say they directly contributed funding to an F1 team? There's nothing wrong with intangible rewards. I have no difficulty at all imagining most of the contributors so far have found it emotionally rewarding or fulfilling in some way. If I had a few dollars to throw to Caterham for this, I probably would do so, because for me, it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity . Alas, I'm in just as dire straits as Caterham.
 
Its ok, they have sort of done it before, I believe that Kobayashi was in F1 this year due to something similar to crowd funding.

I am more concerned with what happens to donated money if they do not hit the target, or if they hit the target, race in Abu Dhabi then fold?
 
Wouldn't it be more emotionally rewarding to give money to a worthwhile charity rather than a shit F1 team?

For some people, yes. Others don't find that rewarding at all. Personally, I do find it rewarding. But you're missing the significance that for many, helping fund an F1 team is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can contribute to charity any time. Contributing to an F1 team as random Joe on the street is only rarely going to come up.
 
Dash Racing

Frankly, that's bullshit. You can send a cheque to any F1 tam right now, and they will take your money and you will have helped fund it!

You could even go and buy a baseball cap for £40, and get exactly the same outcome!

Crowd funding is like the emperor's new clothes. One of these days, people will realise that since there's no return, there's no point!
 
Dash RacingFrankly, that's bullshit. You can send a cheque to any F1 tam right now, and they will take your money and you will have helped fund it!

How many people know that? As for buying merch, if you already have one of their baseball caps, why would you want or need another one?

It's clear you and I have very different attitudes on crowd funding. It's been an interesting discussion, but I can tell we're not going to see eye to eye. Thanks for the discussion.
 
Of course, even if Caterham make their target, there's no guarantee that they'll actually be on the grid in 2015... This strikes me as an attempt to milk the fans, to ensure they get the prize money in 2015, and then there'll be no actual obligation to build a new car.

Out of interest, did you also know that crowd cube will take approximimately 7p out of every pound pledged? For small pledges, the fees could be as high as 28%.

1. Entrepreneur listing fees
Membership fee: FREE

Pitch listing fee: FREE (subject to £250 exc. VAT) pre-check where company has shareholder agreement; modified Articles of Association; or any bespoke shareholder rights)

2. Fees Incurred Upon Reaching Target
Success fee: 5% of total funds processed

Company Secretarial completion fees: £1,250 (exc. VAT) - payable in any event, regardless of whether company uses own lawyers. If Ashfords are used for legal advice this fee is passed to Ashfords.

Administration including EIS fees: £1,250 (exc. VAT) - covers filing of EIS forms; issue of share certificates and other filings. Payable in any event.

3. Payment Processing Fees
The Payment Processing Fees will be dependent upon the chosen payment provider(s) and are charged by the provider directly to the entrepreneur when the raised monies are transferred.

GoCardless: 0.5% of the funds processed

Stripe: 2.4% of the funds processed + 20p per transaction
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom