27/06/2014
NEWS STORY
Confusion reigns as Caterham owner Tony Fernandes posts mysterious tweet before closing his account.
Early this morning the Malaysian entrepreneur tweeted "F1 hasn't worked, but love Caterham Cars", the account closing shortly afterwards with no further updates.
The Leafield based team has remained quiet, neither confirming nor denying the authenticity of the tweet, leaving the media to come up with its own theories.
Whilst some suggest this could be the end of the team which entered F1 in 2010, lured by the promise of budget capping that would level the playing field, others believe he has already concluded a deal with a buyer though, again, there is no agreement on who this might be.
A few weeks back there was internet talk of the team not seeing out the season, but this was quickly denied by insiders at Leafield.
The lack of official word, even via journalists who also enjoy directorships alongside Fernandes, albeit with the Caterham Cars Group not the F1 team, is worrying not only for the sport and fans but for the several hundred employees at Leafield.
Following his high profile arrival in the F1 paddock, Fernandes soon became disillusioned with F1. Along with Hispania and Virgin his (then Lotus) team were enticed by the promise of a budget cap that would allow them to compete with the more established outfit. Instead, the scrapping of the cap and the introduction of the new formula meant that costs rose and the new teams were left struggling, many feeling they had been effectively conned into entering.
Despite the lack of success at Caterham, which now looks set to finish last in the constructors' standings for the second season running, and had recently witnessed fellow newbie, Marussia, score its maiden points, Fernandes has branched into other forms of motor sport, including GP2 and MotoGP, for a fraction of the cost, He also owns football club Queens Park Rangers which recently won promotion to the Premiership.