255 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

Will Buxton ‏@willbuxton  6m6 minutes ago

As if F1 fans didn't already pay through their teeth for F1, Caterham now pins hopes on crowd funding of £2.3m to get it to Abu Dhabi.

1:45 PM - 7 Nov 2014 

 

Desperation. No chance in hell of that happening.

[bonjon1979a]

Unless it's a way for Bernie or someone else in cvc to give them the money anonymously.

[Disgrace]

Ridiculous, when you consider that £2m is pocket change to most in F1. I suppose if we want a larger grid, we should be expected to pay for it directly. It would be laughable if 200 jobs didn't depend on it.

[noikeee]

MyCaterhamF1Dream.com?

[Jon83]

The whole thing is a bad joke.

[1Devil1]

Can we vote for drives then? Spent 100 $ and will try to get Alonso into our car next year. #Caterhamnotanmercedesengine 

Edited by 1Devil1, 07 November 2014 - 14:09.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Isn't that how much two ridebuyers would bring? Or extrapolated over the year that's a £43m sponsorship. Which is to say, uh, no.

 

I mean, assuming the story is true.

[TomNokoe]

Tedious, cringeworthy, audacious...

[SPBHM]

good luck for them, I would rather see donations going for "Manor" to be honest... but I guess Caterham has a better chance.

[F1ultimate]

ROI on this investment opportunity:

0%

 

 

Edited by F1ultimate, 07 November 2014 - 14:21.

[Amphicar]

Or alternatively, why not invest in my Tower Bridge time-share scheme? For just £100 I can give you the right to cross the Thames north to south as many times as you want during your chosen hour - without paying a toll each time! If you want to cross in both directions, why not go for the £150 double-cross option?

[pdac]

And if they do get the money, what does it achieve? A team will go to Abu Dhabi, poodle around the track, congratulate themselves on completing the season - and then disappear forever, taking other peoples money with them.

[Disgrace]

ROI on this investment opportunity:
0%

Crowdfunding is not a form of investment, but charity.

[F1matt]

Will Caterham be selling sand to the locals whilst they are at the GP?

[Gyno]

That's small money for the owners of that team.

 

Why the hell would the fans pay that much money to get that team back?

[wj_gibson]

So it's not enough to have to pay to watch on TV now, we have to fund the teams too?

[SanDiegoGo]

whatever money they get will go straight to the administrators, right?

[pRy]

Reminded me of : http://www.theguardi...reddit-dogecoin  but on a much larger scale. It feels unethical to me to go cap in hand to your own fan base for money to then go take part in an over expensive sport on the other side of the world. Either Bernie or the FIA need to step in and shoot this one down now before anyone gives up money they could put to much better use.

[Ross Stonefeld]

In fairness I think the Reddit gang wanted a Dogecar, put some money together, found a team willing to work with them, etc. It ran several races, got mentioned in the race broadcast, and even beat Danica Patrick to the fan-vote wildcard for the All Star race.

[Ernesto]

I think a melting bowl of ice cream would be a smarter investment unfortunately

[HeidfeldsBeard]

Sorry Caterham, my sympathy for you disappeared when you started messing Kobayashi about. And I'm not even bothered about Kobayashi as a driver.

[GoldenColt]

F1 is becoming a hospice-movement.

[HeidfeldsBeard]

Will Buxton is tweeting that Caterham will use the money to get to Abu Dhabi in order to take 10th place and get FIA prize money so they can pay off their creditors and close their doors

[Ross Stonefeld]

Maybe all the creditors should fund it then, because they'd get more back then they put in? Granted it's money they were owed originally but X-owed minus Y-invested is better than the big fat zero they're likely to get.

[krobinson]

Sorry, I know it sounds harsh, but I'd rather pay not to have a team like that on grid. Larger grid has a point only if the teams are competent. Caterham, sadly, is not.

[F1matt]

Will Buxton is tweeting that Caterham will use the money to get to Abu Dhabi in order to take 10th place and get FIA prize money so they can pay off their creditors and close their doors

And all the other teams will let them? They are nowhere near good enough for tenth place, even more so as the car is patched up already. Sounds like a mischievous tweet from Buxton.

[HeidfeldsBeard]

And all the other teams will let them? They are nowhere near good enough for tenth place, even more so as the car is patched up already. Sounds like a mischievous tweet from Buxton.

 

He's taking it to be that Marussia folding means that they won't be classified - meaning Caterham will be classified as 10th if they race in Abu Dhabi regardless of the result.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Although, don't you have to race to get the money? Like Bernie doesn't just pay you off for this year and you can leave, you have to be in the 2015 season to receive your 2014 money.

[pRy]

Up to £104,822 so far.

 

http://www.crowdcube.com/caterham/

 

Based on the rewards it looks like they're selling off all the kit too.

Edited by pRy, 07 November 2014 - 15:39.

[TomNokoe]

15 mins ago they were on 5k...

[turssi]

Bringing the sport disrepute anyone?

If they make it they'll just get a fine for the same value :-)

[Nonesuch]

Crowdfunding is of course nothing new, but the internet has allowed a particular brand of it to flourish. Nothing wrong there.

 

It quickly becomes dubious once big companies start using it as a way to offload their risks on the public. A fool and his money are soon parted, indeed.

 

He's taking it to be that Marussia folding means that they won't be classified - meaning Caterham will be classified as 10th if they race in Abu Dhabi regardless of the result.

 

How would that work? Is that because Caterham was 'allowed' to miss two races but would 'complete' the season - while Marussia withdrew?

 

It seems a bit odd that Marussia would be dropped from the results just because the fail to show up at Abu Dhabi, especially considering that Arrows is still listed 11th in 2002 on most F1-stats websites - which are, of course, not official. They also scored two points and quit before the end of the season.

 

Edited by Nonesuch, 07 November 2014 - 15:49.

[HeidfeldsBeard]

Maybe I should set up a crowdfunding scheme so I can go to Abu Dhabi?

 

Must be worth a try if people are willing to burn their money on Caterham.

[Fastcake]

If you want to crowdfund a team, then go for David Brabham's LMP2 effort. At least he's trying to set up a genuine racing team.

 

This is nothing more than a no hope effort that seemingly has no future. Terrible.

[Giz]

No chance, I might of done it for marussia to ensure the points Jules won in Monaco mean something at the end of the season but not for these jokers

Edited by Giz, 07 November 2014 - 15:54.

[jonpollak]

I'll contribute .0000000001 of what Bernie does to crowdfund Caterham...But I want a season paddock pass to all F1 races .

 

Jp

[Incast]

Maybe I should set up a crowdfunding scheme so I can go to Abu Dhabi?

 

Must be worth a try if people are willing to burn their money on Caterham.

 

I fear you're quite a risky investment, what happens if Nick Heidfeld decides to shave you off? It could happen at any moment!

[kamikaze1]

45k for corporate hospitality..... Got to be f**king joking hahahahha. I was sympathetic until I saw that. Plus the maths doesn't add up. 105k.... From my basic addition skills it looks more like 5350 has been raised. Not sure where the 100k+ comes from

[P0inters]

Ridiculous. Like Buxton said , F1 fans already pay enough for it. Now we have to pay for the teams as well when there's billions floating around the paddock.   

Edited by P0inters, 07 November 2014 - 16:04.

[kimster89]

I give them props for still fighting to survive. If 23million f1 fans give 0.5€ to Caterham the team races

[turssi]

I'll donate ten bucks for every WCC point they managed so far.

[mechadaniel]

 

How would that work? Is that because Caterham was 'allowed' to miss two races but would 'complete' the season - while Marussia withdrew?

 

I think it has more to do with the fact that Marussia F1 no longer exists as an entity - they get their position in this season's Championship, but there is no team to receive the money so the next team on the list gets it...

 

As for the crowdfunding (and as someone who has a DogeCar T-shirt or two, I've been there, done that), I have a couple of major issues with it - especially who actually is running the team, is this initiative from the Administrator or Kolles stooges?

 

Presumably it is the Administrator, so I doubt he cares beyond running a single race and getting 10th place cash to pay off his creditors and then pull the plug - why would the teams fans care about that? Why would I contribute money to help pay off redbull

[Rob]

I think it's quite cunning, as a last gasp roll of the dice. Look how many people paid to have their picture on the Red Bulls a few years back. But obviously it depends what people get in return for their cash.

[LORDBYRON]

Don't knock it  this could be the future for small teams as it would give them more access to small but regular funds

 

5k for a pic of of your company logo on the car is not bad    

 

It stands at just under £170k

[R Soul]

It must be awful for the employees not to know if they'll still have jobs in time for Christmas, but I think if fans rescue a team, the likes of CVC will be able to pretend things are okay for a bit longer. The only way for the financial situation to be sorted out is for people at the top of the sport to get a serious shock. A close call is not enough. There needs to be a situation where circuit owners can claim a breach of contract (<20 cars) and where the mainstream press is reporting how dire the situation is.

 

In the long run those (former) employess will benefit because F1 jobs will once again become available.

[Gilles4Ever]

"@harrismonkey: A crowd-sourced F1 team is either the most f*****-up representation of capitalism, or a new definition of irony. Can't decide which."

[Ross Stonefeld]

Why is it ironic? We pay for these teams one way or another, Caterham is just cutting straight to direct marketing.

[redreni]

I'd suggest the sacked staff set up a crowd-fund as I'm sure most people would be a lot more inclined to contribute to that than to a fund started by a bunch of chancers who bought a team knowing it was heavily indebted and then refused to acknowledge any responsibility for any of the debt, and now want other people to pay the running costs as well. You've got to give them maximum marks out of ten for temerity, I suppose.

[SanDiegoGo]

so, if you've got some cash lying around that you don't want, give it to a failed F1 team who can use it to pay their creditors when they most definitely will not race in abu dhabi. or you could just burn it.

Edited by SanDiegoGo, 07 November 2014 - 17:51.

[SR388]

Ill pass, I think I will donate my money to a charity, not some rich man's failed toy.