Tony Fernandes is said to have put Caterham up for sale
After yet another negative result in Monaco, Caterham still hasn't scored a single point in five seasons. It's too much for Tony Fernandes, who is said to have circulated a call for bids to sell his Formula 1 team.
According to the economic magazine Bloomberg, Tony Fernandes, the owner of Caterham, is looking for a buyer for his team, which is on sale for the sum of £350 million, approximately €430 million.
Before the start of the season, the Malaysian president of AirAsia had warned that the season would be a pivotal one for his team and threatened to withdraw from Formula 1 if the results were not forthcoming.
When Caterham entered Formula 1, Tony Fernandes was counting on a reduction in costs that never materialized. The Malaysian team, not being part of the strategic group composed of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, and Lotus, has not seen the budget reduction project take shape, which is a source of frustration for the South Asian magnate.
Fernandes, who is also the owner of the Queens Park Rangers football club, drew a parallel in 2013 between Premier League football and Formula 1.
When questioned about the gap between small and large teams, he stated to *Skysports*: “I think football has done a better job than Formula 1 at reducing the gap. There are still the haves and the have-nots, but in Formula 1, there are two or even three levels. Formula 1 needs to take a good hard look at itself – the gap between the top and bottom of the Premier League is not as steep as in Formula 1, and when you go to a football match, you never know who is going to win.”
I was promised a sport that would reduce its costs every year, but it has increased every year, and I don’t think it’s sustainable in the long term.
With the result of the last Monaco Grand Prix, <a href="/f1/actualite/17736-une-9eme-place-qui-peut-valoir-35-millions-de-dollars-pour-marussia.html" target="_blank" title="
A 9th place that could be worth 35 million dollars for Marussia. The Marussia team, the main rival of Caterham, scored the first points in its history, ensuring at least a 10th place that guarantees a substantial financial inflow at the end of the season. Barring an incredible turn of events, it seems unlikely how the Malaysian team could achieve a better result. The last place in the constructors' championship seems once again destined for Caterham, which could well spell the end of Tony Fernandes's ambitions in F1.
