In an interview with the media this morning, Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi says the Caterham race team are waiting for the arrival of team boss Manfredi Ravetto at Suzuka to learn more about the current situation at the embattled outfit.
Last night, Caterham issued a strongly-worded statement following reports that bailiffs had been called into their Leafield headquarters and seized goods. The bailiffs in question, The Sheriff’s Office later announced ‘the impending sale of goods seized and removed from a Formula One team’ with the items listed including the team’s 2013 test car, a simulator and car parts due for this weekend’s Japanese GP.
However, Caterham have stressed that the action was taken against a supplier which is thought to refer to former owner Tony Fernandes and “uncontrolled” rumours that their future was in immediate jeopardy were unfounded.
Caterham Team Principal Manfredi Ravetto, who only took the helm at the cash-strapped outfit last month following Christijan Albers’ short-lived tenure was at the factory when the bailiffs arrived and is expected to arrive at Suzuka on Friday.
With the race team over 5,000 miles away from the goings on at Leafield preparing for the Japanese GP, In his interview this morning to the media, Kobayashi admitted they were currently largely in the dark as to what was happening back at base. Kobayashi stated the following:-
‘Our boss is flying over to here, so we are waiting [to find out] what happened really. Very difficult to say. At the moment we can still communicate with the UK so it looks as though the company is okay, but I don’t know for the rest, unfortunately.’
For me, Kobayashi sums the situation up best. At the moment, Ravetto is on his way over to Suzuka as planned to run the team during the GP this weekend in Japan. Even though with everything going on with the team at the moment, Kobayashi rightly points out that it would seem that things seem okay but he doesn’t know the full details.
With Caterham’s statement having done little to quell long-running speculation over their future, it has been reported that a staff meeting has been called for 11am at their Leafield base and Ravetto himself will give an interview to the media tomorrow to further clarify what has been ongoing this week.
And until we receive further clarification on the matter, I consider that the matter is closed and that the important fact is that Caterham are still running in Japan, even if things still need to be sorted out and have to be sorted out using the correct and proper channels by the Caterham management as quickly as possible.
