Caterham F1

History

Fernandes’s squad first entered Formula One under the Lotus Racing banner, having secured a license to use the Lotus name from Group Lotus. It was also known as 1Malaysia F1 and run by 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd, forming part of former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia initiative. After Proton, Group Lotus’s parent company, ended that license, Fernandes bought the privately owned Team Lotus name for the 2011 season. As Proton launched legal action, Fernandes purchased Caterham Cars.

In November 2011, the team asked the Formula One commission to officially change its constructor name from Lotus to Caterham for 2012, while Renault rebranded as Lotus. The request was approved and later formally ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council. The team placed 10th in the 2011 Constructors’ Championship, achieving three 13th-place finishes—two from Trulli and one from Kovalainen. Trulli and Kovalainen both re-signed with the team, now called Caterham, for the 2012 season.

On 18 January 2012, the team announced a move to the Leafield Technical Centre in Leafield, Oxfordshire, previously home to Arrows and Super Aguri. The Caterham CT01 became the team’s first car equipped with KERS. On 17 February, Vitaly Petrov was announced as Trulli’s replacement alongside Kovalainen for 2012, after Trulli, unhappy with the lack of development, asked the team to find another driver. From the Chinese Grand Prix onward, Mark Smith took over pitwall operations from Group CTO Mike Gascoyne.