zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
You Could Have Bought Caterham F1 For The Price Of A Pack Of Gum
You Could Have Bought Caterham F1 For The Price Of A Pack Of Gum-February 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:47

or a single British pound: that's how much Caterham Sports Limited was sold for back in September. For a fourth of the price of one of my morning quadruple lattes, you could have had the entire manufacturing arm of a Formula One team.

Granted, Caterham Sports Limited was only the supplier arm of the team that put together Caterham's cars at the time, but it has since been , the arm that handles Caterham's staffing and the license to participate in F1. Let's be honest, though: what you'd need for a hoon-factory would have been found under Caterham Sports.

Another wrench was thrown into Caterham's plans to make the United States Grand Prix next week:…

Remember the drama between Tony Fernandes and Engavest SA, the company he claimed for the shares of 1MRT? That was from back in June, and no shares for 1MRT were transferred because Fernandes didn't see those dolla dolla billz.

Earlier this summer, the Caterham F1 Team was sold by reputable businessman Tony Fernandes to a…

Enter Constantin Cojocar, the man who purchased Caterham Sports Limited in September for $1.60.

"There is one issued share in the Company, and I purchased this on 24 September 2014 for £1," explained Cojocar in his witness statement for Caterham's administration proceedings. "I am now the sole shareholder and director of the Company."

Cojocar is one of the most bizarre parts of this entire story. Tony Fernandes that Cojocar was promptly promoted from cleaner to director of Caterham Sports Limited. Cojocar was a soccer star for Steaua Bucarest in the 1980s, per a statement released by Engavest SA. How this man was qualified to lead the supplier arm of a Formula One team, we're still not sure, but he's the fellow who bought it and now claims he is the only shareholder.

Visit ESPN for live scores, highlights and sports news. Stream exclusive games on ESPN+ and play…

Per , Cojocar came with some experience in logistics, having been director of Romanian transport and logistics company SC Transbus Codreanu, but that seems to be the extent of his relevant experience for owning Caterham's supply arm.

Surprise, surprise: he couldn't find the money to run the team after having purchased it, which is how Caterham Sports Limited ended up in administration. 1MRT was supposed to pay Caterham Sports for its services in design, testing and race support, but after the failed sale of 1MRT in June, no one quite knew who was on the hook for actually managing the day-to-day business of 1MRT. 1MRT's previous directors under Tony Fernandes had resigned. Engavest had appointed new ones in their place, but as Engavest never received shares for the sale they (allegedly, per Fernandes) didn't pay for, those directors weren't sure if they were now responsible for Caterham's debts and proceeded not to pay them.

Additionally, per , Romanian officials were supposed to chip in $3.2 million a week to keep Caterham Sports operational. However, Cojocar's witness statement in the administration proceedings claims that the money never materialized due to all of the legal proceedings surrounding the team, most notably the by the police to seize assets over unpaid bills. By early October, Caterham Sports Limited owed over $1.2 million to 34 different entities.

The Caterham F1 team office has reportedly been raided by police, according to Emma Buxton. It's…

Cojocar's Romanian investors didn't want to throw their money away on a failing product.

Cojocar had plans to sell Caterham Sports Limited's services to new team Forza Rossa, which the FIA had approved in June.

In October, Cojocar parted ways with his purchase entirely, also turning his back on all of the money Caterham Sports Limited owed. Caterham Sports Limited went into administration and its embattled parent company 1MRT joined them shortly afterwards.

Administrators at Smith & Williamson rolled both of Caterham's corporate entities into one and brought us the to promote the administration firm and its business partn—er, um, try and keep the team operational long enough to find a buyer.

Per Autoweek, financially distressed Formula One team Caterham has been given approval to run their

So, there you have it: why did fans bother the team's operations again? If someone had just had a dollar and sixty cents (and perhaps a few million on hand to pay the back-debts afterwards), they could have just bought the team outright and saved everyone from the possibility of seeing a 2014 car running slow parade laps during F1 races next year.

The Caterham F1 team has had a very tough year, so tough that they just missed the USGP in Austin…

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Mexico's Daniel Suarez Can Tell Off The Haters In Three Different Languages
Mexico's Daniel Suarez Can Tell Off The Haters In Three Different Languages
Being the first Mexico-born driver , as well as the , Daniel Suarez is making history almost by the day. But, naturally, Suarez is getting some flak for English not being his first language. That’s right. Suarez is breaking records and cultural barriers left and right after moving to the...
Feb 1, 2026
An Electric Car Finished The Grueling Dakar Rally For The First Time Ever
An Electric Car Finished The Grueling Dakar Rally For The First Time Ever
Where is your range anxiety now?! For the first time ever, an all-electric vehicle finished one of the most grueling races on the planet: the . Acciona is a Spanish company that focuses on renewable energy, and they use their unique Dakar entry as a big rolling example of what...
Feb 1, 2026
Roads Like This Are Why Rallye Monte Carlo Is Legendarily Treacherous
Roads Like This Are Why Rallye Monte Carlo Is Legendarily Treacherous
It’s going to be a slow ride in parts of the World Rally Championship’s Rallye Monte Carlo this year, with recce videos showing nice, fast dry sections interrupted by sheets of straight-up ice. Fun! Recce is where competitors check out the stage roads before the event, and that often happens...
Feb 1, 2026
The Tesla Model S Race Car Is A Crazy-Fast Modified Street Car
The Tesla Model S Race Car Is A Crazy-Fast Modified Street Car
You probably think the Tesla Model S P100D is quite a fast car, and that’s for a good reason: It is quite a fast car. It , if you want to get specific. But the racing spec of the car is even faster, with 778 horsepower and a 0-to-60 time...
Feb 1, 2026
Valtteri Bottas Gets Mercedes F1 Seat, Felipe Massa Un-retires After Two Months
Valtteri Bottas Gets Mercedes F1 Seat, Felipe Massa Un-retires After Two Months
The international nightmare is over; . The Mercedes F1 team, whose newly crowned champion , will add Williams’ Valtteri Bottas to its lineup. Taking Bottas’ seat will be Felipe Massa, who retired from Williams less than two months ago. The vacant Mercedes seat was an unexpected twist, given that champion...
Feb 1, 2026
The Lexus RC F GT3 Proves The Best Application For Lexus' Grille Is 'Menacing Race Car'
The Lexus RC F GT3 Proves The Best Application For Lexus' Grille Is 'Menacing Race Car'
Yet again, race cars hold the answer. This time, it’s with an aesthetic grievance: Lexus’ . While impressive in their complexity, the end result on the road car looks like some kind of unsettling alien web meant for trapping possums on the road and shooting them into an alternate dimension....
Feb 1, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved