Caterham say they're preparing to race in Japan as bailiffs seize goods at factory

Caterham say they're still preparing to race at the Japanese GP this weekend, even though bailiffs seized goods at their Leafield factory on Wednesday.

The cash-strapped team, which was bought by a Swiss-Middle Eastern consortium in July after previous owner Tony Fernandes sold up, issued a statement saying that the action was taken against a supplier.

It is understood that refers to Fernandes, who owns assets his former team still uses. However, the assets are now being pursued by creditors owed money.

'There have been unfounded and unsubstantiated rumours concerning actions against 1MRT, the entrant and owner of CaterhamF1,' the statement read.
 
'An action was threatened yesterday against a supplier company to 1MRT. This company is not owned by 1MRT and it has no influence over the entry of CaterhamF1 or the entrant.
 
'Also contrary to uncontrolled rumours, all operations are currently in place at Leafield and the race team is doing its preparation in Japan.'

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The bailiffs in question, The Sheriffs Office, later announced 'the impending sale of goods seized and removed from a Formula One team'.

According to them, among the items removed were a 2013 Caterham test car, Caterham car parts due for this weekend's race, and a simulator.

The bailiffs added that the items will be sold by public auction, most likely in mid-October. However, Caterham have said that they intend to recover them beforehand.

Speculation about the seizures spread across social media on Wedneday evening, suggesting that staff had been asked to leave the premises and that the police were called.

Caterham said the police were indeed called - but by them, as they consider the bailiffs' intervention to be unlawful.

The development is the latest in a number to befall Caterham since Fernandes, the Air Asia mogul and owner of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, carried out his threat to sell the team.

Caterham's new owners are advised by former Jordan/Midland/Spyker and HRT team boss Colin Kolles, who installed his former driver Christijan Albers at the helm prior to July's British GP.

However, Albers lasted little more than two months before handing over to Manfredi Ravetto.

Around 40 employees sacked by the new owners have launched a claim for unfair dismissal while Kamui Kobayashi was replaced by Andre Lotterer at the Belgian GP, although the Japanese is now back driving for them on a race-by-race basis.

Fernandes believed F1's business model left smaller teams like Caterham - who have failed to score a point since their arrival in 2010 - unable to make progress.

However, the suggestion is that Caterham's troubles stem from Fernandes' desire to run them like a big team, in spite of their lack of success, with the new owners left to repay loans.

"This is a small team which was structured as a mega, state-of-the-art, supersonic, top team - and it cannot work like this. You have to be realistic," Ravetto told the official Formula 1 website recently.

"I don’t know what the target of the previous owners was, but this is not sustainable - and it has proven not to be sustainable."

Ravetto was at Leafield when the bailiffs arrived and is expected to give Caterham's side of the story when he arrives at Suzuka on Friday.

The 2014 Japanese GP is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Extensive coverage of Race Day at Suzuka begins at 5.30am on Sunday with lights out at 7am.