The remarkable tale of F1’s unlikeliest team ‘boss’

It was one of the more bewildering sights of the 2014 Formula 1 season, as Finbarr O’Connell took his place in the FIA team principals’ press conference at the Abu Dhabi GP. O’Connell was working for insolvency firm Smith & Williamson, who in turn had taken on the administration of Caterham Sports Limited.

O’Connell arrived, dressed in white and green Caterham kit, after the team raised £2.3million through a crowdfunding campaign so it could make the final race of the season. Caterham’s crippling finances had meant it missed both the US and Brazilian GPs, as the coffers were dry. By raising funds, O’Connell had hoped that he would be able to showcase Caterham to any potential buyers.

Now a decade on, Motorsport.com caught up with O’Connell, one of F1’s unlikeliest team bosses, to ask him for his lasting memories of what turned out to be 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 with only their expenses being paid because of their love for the team. I remember saying to the press in Abu Dhabi that this team had two engines, the Renault power unit under the bonnet and the men and women in the team who gave their all for something which was much more than just a job for them, which was their team, their life and their pride.

“The second memory was sitting at the pit wall with my ‘cans’ on my head being in direct contact with the drivers and the race team. When a serious problem developed with Kamui Kobayashi’s car, I gave the ‘Box Box’ instruction for him to come in.

“My third was getting a phone call from the FIA to inform me that Will Stevens could not race in the GP because he didn’t have a superlicence. As a contingency, I contacted a friend of mine who was the owner of one of the other teams and asked him if I could ‘borrow’ one of his drivers if I needed a second driver. In the end, Will’s superlicence came through and he was able to go to the ball.

“My fourth was running the track in my Caterham green runners. All I can say is it seemed like a good idea at the time!”

O’Connell’s appearance in the FIA press conference was indeed a surreal moment. He sat on the panel which included Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and then-team bosses Marco Mattiaci (Ferrari) Claire Williams and Otmar Szafnauer (Force India), joined by Lotus deputy Federico Gastaldi.

“I was there to try to rescue an F1 team and I felt nothing but support and friendship from them and from the other F1 team principals,” remembers O’Connell. “Following the Abu Dhabi GP, I flew to Switzerland to attend a meeting with the FIA that was about supporting me as much as possible in my efforts to try to restructure or sell the Caterham team.

“Bernie didn’t want the world’s motor racing press wondering who that guy was shaking hands on the grid with the Caterham drivers and it being explained that I am a restructuring specialist, which he probably saw as a corporate undertaker”
Finbarr O’Connell

“I pitched the idea of one of the other F1 teams acquiring Caterham and adapting it as a second team for their brand. The downside would have been a very different car, but the upside would have been the reduced cost of entering another team and the speed of getting that new team on the grid.”

O’Connell had raised the funds to get Caterham to Abu Dhabi and attended the press conference, but one place he wasn’t allowed to go was the grid. That 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 Caterham on the grid and racing at Abu Dhabi, especially as Marussia was not going to be racing,” explains O’Connell. “He assisted the team with organising the transport of all the racing kit, although I did pay handsomely for that. Bernie also helped organise our tyres and petrol.

“But, as the ringmaster for this amazing travelling circus, Bernie also called all the shots right down to who he would issue pit passes to and him not wanting me on the grid. Bernie didn’t want the world’s motor racing press wondering who that guy was shaking hands on the grid with the Caterham drivers and it being explained that I am a restructuring specialist, which he probably saw as a corporate undertaker.

Stevens made his debut for Caterham in Abu Dhabi, but O’Connell was conspicuous by his absence from the grid…

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar

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

Sadly, no buyer was ever found for the team, despite plenty of interest. Caterham was ultimately split up, its parts and equipment sold off, the same fate meeting its Leafield Technical Centre.

“Unfortunately, no party was in a position to acquire this ready-made F1 team at the time,” adds O’Connell. “It was broken up and the cars and engineering parts were sold by auction. Leafield Technical Centre was put on the market and sold to the highest bidder and the racing team all found places in other teams and in other racing businesses.”

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

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

“The concept is to create ‘first-rate hideaway experiences’, including creating a new indoor swimming pool, a spa, outdoor hot tubs, changing rooms, a shop, a new bar and restaurant, a covered open socialising space and studio space.”

O’Connell’s time in F1 was short, but it was most definitely colourful. It’s also left a last impression, as he signs off his email to this writer with the words “best, F1n”.

O’Connell’s efforts to save Caterham proved unsuccessful and Abu Dhabi 2014 became its farewell outing

Photo by: Andy Hone