Caterham F1 staff locked out of factory

Caterham F1 staff were locked out of the team's factory in Leafield on Thursday as administrators seek a resolution to ownership problems.

Finbarr O'Connell, a joint administrator of Caterham Sports Limited (CSL), confirmed that 1 Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT) had made an offer to continue work at the factory on Wednesday which he had rejected. Following that, the new buyers of the team claimed they aren't the legal owners and said Tony Fernandes still had control.

With the new buyers saying Fernandes has to now sort out the situation, O'Connell confirmed the factory has been closed.

"They [the staff] can't get into the factory today," O'Connell told Reuters. "They [1MRT] are using my facilities and haven't paid me.

"Effectively 1MRT have been in the building for last few days since I arrived. We are trying to reach an acceptable arrangement for them to be there. We had a meeting yesterday with 1MRT and lawyers and the offer they made was unacceptable. So I've sent them away.

"Hopefully they can come up with an acceptable proposal."