The remarkable story of F1’s most unpredictable team ‘Boss’

It was one of the more surprising scenes of the 2014 Formula 1 season, as Finbarr O’Connell took his place at the FIA ​​Team Principals’ press conference at the Abu Dhabi GP. O’Connell was working for the bankrupt firm Smith & Williamson, which had in turn taken over the administration of Caterham Sports Limited.

O’Connell arrived wearing the white and green Caterham kit after the team raised £2.3 million through a crowdfunding campaign to secure a place in the final race of the season. Caterham’s poor financial condition meant that it was unable to receive both the US and Brazilian GPs as coffers ran dry. By raising the money, O’Connell hoped to be able to demonstrate the Caterham to any potential buyers.

Now a decade later, Autosport caught up with O’Connell, one of F1’s most unpredictable team owners, and asked him his lasting memories of Caterham’s swansong at the Yas Marina Circuit.

“I have four lasting memories from the Abu Dhabi GP,” he says. “The first is of the Caterham F1 team spirit. These ladies and gentlemen all came together simply because of their love for the team, paying their own expenses. I remember saying to the press in Abu Dhabi that this team had two engines, Renault power units under the bonnet and men and women of the team who gave their all for something that to them was just a job. What was more than that was his team, his life and his pride.

“The second memory was sitting on the pit wall with the ‘box’ over my head and being in direct contact with the drivers and the race team. When Kamui Kobayashi’s car developed a serious problem, I gave him ‘box box’ instructions to get in.

“On my third I got a call from the FIA ​​to inform me that Will Stevens could not race in the GP because he did not have a superlicence. As a contingency, I contacted a friend of mine who owned one of the other teams and asked him if I could ‘borrow’ one of his drivers if I needed another driver. In the end, Will’s superlicence came in handy and he was able to get to the ball.

“My fourth was to run on the track in my Caterham Green Runners. All I can say is that it seemed like a good idea at the time!”

O’Connell’s appearance at the FIA ​​press conference was truly a surreal moment. He sat on a panel that included Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and then-team boss Marco Mattiassi (Ferrari), Claire Williams and Ottmar Szafnar (Force India), joined by Lotus deputy Federico Gastaldi.

O’Connell recalls, “I went there to try to save an F1 team and I felt nothing but support and friendship from him and the other F1 team principals.” “After the Abu Dhabi GP, I went to Switzerland to attend a meeting with the FIA, which was about supporting me as much as possible in my efforts to restructure or sell the Caterham team.

“Bernie didn’t want the world’s motor racing press wondering who the guy was who was shaking hands on the grid with the Caterham drivers and it was being explained that I was a restructuring specialist, whom he probably saw as a corporate undertaker. I used to watch”
finbar o’connell

“I put forward the idea of ​​having one of the other F1 teams acquire Caterham and adopt it as a second team for their brand. The downside would have been a very different car, but the positive side would have been the cost of entering another team and the speed of getting that new team on the grid.”

O’Connell had raised funds to take Caterham to Abu Dhabi and attended press conferences, but the one place he was not allowed to go was the grid. This was blocked by former F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, who took the view that an administrator on the grid would send the wrong message about F1.

“Bernie wanted to have Caterham on the grid and racing in Abu Dhabi, especially because Marussia wasn’t going to be racing,” explains O’Connell. “He assisted the team in organizing the transport of all the racing kit, although I paid handsomely for it. Bernie also helped organize our tires and petrol.

“But, as ringmaster of this wonderful traveling circus, Bernie had also decided to whom he would issue pit passes and he did not want to see me on the grid. Bernie did not want the world’s motor racing press to hear about this. I wondered who the guy was who was shaking hands on the grid with the Caterham drivers and it was being explained that I was a restructuring specialist, which he probably saw as a corporate undertaker.

“He even blocked my lawyer from coming into the enclosure, but it turned out he worked for one of Bernie’s relatives, so he was eventually allowed entry…”

Sadly, despite considerable interest, no buyer was ever found for the team. Caterham eventually split up, its parts and equipment sold off, the same fate befell its Leafield technical centre.

“Unfortunately, at the time, no party was in a position to acquire this ready-made F1 team,” says O’Connell. “It was dismantled and the cars and engineering parts were sold by auction. The Leefield Technical Center was put on the market and sold to the highest bidder and all the racing teams were relocated to other teams and other racing businesses.

The Leafield site remains disused and in a dilapidated condition. What could have been an ideal home for a modern F1 team is now likely to be converted into a luxury hideaway.

“I know the new owners had huge difficulties getting planning permission for the scheme they supported,” says O’Connell. “I now understand that developers are bidding to build a luxury holiday park there and the proposed development would consist of 51 holiday cabins, eight barn-style cabins and two loft houses which would be created from the existing building.

“The concept is to create a ‘first-rate hideaway experience’, which will include creating a new indoor swimming pool, a spa, outdoor hot tubs, changing rooms, a shop, a new bar and restaurant, a covered open socializing space and studio space Is. ,

O’Connell’s time in F1 was short, but it was certainly colourful. It also left a lasting impression, as he signs his emails to this writer with the words “Best, F1n”.