MONACO: AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes (pictured) is trying to sell his Caterham Formula One team and sportscar company, a Malaysian newspaper reported yesterday.
A team spokesman had no comment at the Monaco Grand Prix while Fernandes - who was in London celebrating the promotion of his English soccer club Queens Park Rangers to the Premier League - was not immediately available.
The Edge Malaysia, citing an unidentified source, reported on its front page that Fernandes was looking for about £350m ($589.45 million) for his Caterham Group of companies. It said an information memorandum was being circulated in the Middle East.
Fernandes, who said on Twitter yesterday that he hoped Caterham could pull off a surprise in Monaco, warned in January that he could walk away from Formula One if the team’s performance on the track did not improve.
Caterham have not scored a point since entering the sport as Lotus Racing in 2010 and are currently last in the championship with Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi and Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson as their driver line-up.
Ericsson caused a collision in qualifying on Saturday and was ordered to start yesterday’s race from the pit lane. Kobayashi will be the last man on the grid in 21st place.
“If we are at the back, I don’t think we are going to carry on,” Fernandes had said in January. “After five years and to get no points, there’s a limit to everyone’s patience.”
Meanwhile, Quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel looked for a quick getaway after his 100th race for Red Bull ended in retirement after just eight laps of Monaco yesterday.
“How do I escape from this? I don’t have a boat here, but I’ll try to get home as quickly as I can,” the 26-year-old German said after enduring another miserable weekend in a troubled season.
Vettel, who had energy recovery problems in qualifying, had made a good start to take third place from Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo behind the two Mercedes drivers but slowed on lap four and reported he had no power.
“Come on guys,” exclaimed the frustrated driver, before adding: “I mean, you’re trying everything.”
Agencies
