Frenchman Cyril Abiteboul has been promoted to team principal at Caterham with immediate effect, after Tony Fernandes elected to step down from the role to focus more on the company’s road car business. This comes after Cyril Abiteboul was appointed CEO of the outfit in September, a role he will continue to hold.
Caterham were formally known as Lotus in Formula 1, after making their debut in the sport under the leadership of entrepreneur Tony Fernandes back in 2010. Since then, the outfit have remained the strongest out of the three “new” teams in the sport, and have recently been rebranded as Caterham for the 2012 season. Heikki Kovalainen has remained the only driver to race during all three seasons for the outfit, however the Leafield-based outfit are still undecided with regards to their driving line-up for next season.
Tony Fernandes is confident that his successor will carry out an excellent job for Caterham, as they continue to work their way towards the midfield of the Formula 1 grid. Despite remaining the faster of the three “new” teams in F1 (alongside Marussia and HRT), Caterham frustratingly remain behind Marussia in the Constructors’ Championship, a fact which the team are eager to alter in the final two rounds of the season.
“Cyril is going to be an excellent Team Principal.” Enthused Tony Fernandes, “He has extensive experience in F1, he is extremely well respected and he shares our vision for what we want our team to achieve. He takes over during a season when we have not yet fulfilled our potential, but at a time when we have everything in place to help us do so. One day we will earn our seat at the top table of Formula 1 and he is the right person to take us there.”
Cyril Abiteboul is honored to be taking up the team principal role at Caterham, a team which is committed to a long-term future in the sport. The Frenchman will also continue as the teams CEO, a post he took up earlier in the year.
“I am honored to take over as Team Principal, now combining that role with the CEO post I took up in September 2012, and I would like to thank Tony and Kamarudin for the chance to lead this team into the next phase of its growth.” Explained Cyril Abiteboul, “We have big challenges ahead of us but the shareholders are committed and behind us to help us take significant steps forward over the coming years, and one day challenge for the highest honors in F1.”
With Caterham still undecided with regards to their driving line-up for next season, it remains to be seen if Heikki Kovalainen will remain a Caterham driver for what would be a fourth consecutive year. With reserve driver Giedo van der Garde, Bruno Senna and even Charles Pic also linked to the outfit, it could well be all change at the Leafield-based outfit for next year.
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