Administrator expects Caterham to race in Abu Dhabi
By Alan Baldwin
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Caterham administrators expect the Formula One team to be in a position to race in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after missing races in Texas and Brazil, they said on Wednesday.
"We are now extremely hopeful that we will be going to Abu Dhabi," Finbarr O'Connell told Reuters ahead of Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the championship.
"I think I've got enough confidence now to say I'd be very surprised if we were not racing in Abu Dhabi," he added in a telephone conversation. "I'm now really hopeful for the future of the team."
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, for which double points are on offer, is on Nov. 23.
Caterham and Manor F1, who raced as Marussia this year and are also in administration, were both named on a provisional 2015 championship entry list published on Wednesday despite their problems.
The International Automobile Federation's (FIA) Twitter feed listed all the 11 teams that started the current season with an asterisk against Manor Grand Prix Racing as subject to confirmation.
Caterham's entry was under the name of 1Malaysian Racing Team, whose ownership is currently unclear.
O'Connell said the entry had been lodged without a fee being paid, with plenty of time before a Nov. 30 deadline.
"We're trying to sell a racing team and clearly a new owner will want to be racing next season," said the administrator, without giving details of potential buyers other than saying their were several interested parties.
Under the sporting regulations, the FIA requests that applications to compete in the Championship be submitted between Oct 21 and Nov 1. Later applications depend on a place being available and incur a late entry fee.
Caterham went into administration on Oct. 24 while Marussia followed on Oct. 27.
O'Connell said he had been struck by the commitment of employees who had continued working at the Leafield factory without pay to ensure they were ready to race: "This is a phenomenal team of people," he added.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
