The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a Malaysian licence. 

The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One World Championship from 2012 to 2014, following the acquisition of British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars by former owner and team principal Tony Fernandes, forming the Caterham Group.

Team Lotus, originally Lotus Racing, was a Malaysian-licensed Formula One racing team and constructor, based in Hingham, Norfolk, UK, which competed during the 2010 and 2011 Formula One seasons. The team scored no championship points in the two years it competed.

The team was set up by a group of Malaysian businessmen led by Tony Fernandes using a licence from Lotus Cars owner Proton, for the use of the Lotus name in Formula One. It was run by a company called the 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd then. The team gained its entry after the withdrawal of the BMW team in 2009. After having that licence terminated for further seasons, the team bought the historic Team Lotus brand in the 2011 season.

The Caterham Group was set up after Fernandes purchased British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars. Team Lotus, although forming part of the group, continued to compete under the Lotus name for the 2011 Formula One season. 

In November 2011, the team applied to the Formula One commission to formally change their constructor name for the 2012 season from Lotus to Caterham, while Renault changed their name to Lotus. Permission was granted before being formally ratified at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

It also competed under the Caterham brand in conjunction with the Caterham Racing Junior Team which competed in the GP2 Series.

2012

On 18 January 2012, it was announced that the team would be moving to the Leafield Technical Centre in Leafield, Oxfordshire, the previous headquarters of both Arrows and Super Aguri F1 teams. The Caterham CT01 was the first car the team had built to run KERS.

Unique to the CT01 was its modular design ethos, facilitating rapid integration of upgrades such as exhaust layouts and engine covers tested in pre-season sessions at Jerez, Barcelona, and Mugello; the survival cell met FIA crash standards inherent to its carbon-fibre monocoque construction. KERS packaging, likely in pannier-style batteries, influenced chassis layout without compromising the overall structure.

ct01

The Caterham CT01 (originally known as the Lotus T129) is a Formula One racing car produced by the British-based Caterham F1 Team which competed in the 2012 Formula One season. The car, designed under the leadership of the team's technical director Mike Gascoyne, chief designer Lewis Butler and head of aerodynamics Marianne Hinson, was the third car to be produced by the team and the first to carry the team's new name, following their renaming from Team Lotus at the end of 2011. 

The CT01 was the first car launched for the 2012 season, when an online launch initially planned for 26 January, was cancelled and the car was released a day earlier instead.

The chassis was constructed from carbon fibre, with push-rod front suspension and pull-rod rear suspension using carbon fibre arms, Penske and Multimatic dampers, and a Red Bull Technology carbon gearbox paired with a Renault RS27-2012 2.4-litre 90° V8 engine rated at up to 18.000 rpm.

The team secured 10th place in the Constructors' Championship, pipping Marussia at the final post, after a hard last race where Vitaly Petrov achieved a team record-breaking 11th-place finish in front of Charles Pic while Kovalainen finished in 14th behind STR-Ferrari's Daniel Ricciardo.

2013

On 23 November 2012, it was announced that Marussia driver Charles Pic signed a multi-year contract with the team and his teammate was rookie Giedo van der Garde. On 1 March 2013, the team announced that Alexander Rossi and Ma Qinghua would be its reserve drivers for the 2013 season.

On 17 April 2013, it was confirmed that the team had re-signed Heikki Kovalainen as a reserve driver (formal technical development role) in order to test their upgrades. Ma Qinghua consequently lost his reserve driver seat. At the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix, Giedo van der Garde achieved Caterham's best-ever qualifying position with 14th place. Despite having a faster car than rivals Marussia, Caterham finished behind them in the Constructors' Championship, in 11th place.

ct03

The Caterham CT03 is a Formula One racing car designed by Mark Smith and Lewis Butler for the Caterham F1 team. It was used during the 2013 Formula One season, where it was driven by Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. The car was unveiled on the eve of testing for the 2013 season at the Circuito de Jerez.

The first chassis was assembled in early October 2012, completed on 30 January and launched on 5 February. The CT03 aroused controversy during pre-season testing. Lotus technical director James Allison observed details of the car's exhaust outlet that he believed contravened Article 5.8.4 of the technical regulations, that prohibits the use of bodywork within a defined area with respect to the exhaust outlet. The FIA later deemed this system to be illegal. After driving the car during FP1 at Bahrain, Heikki Kovalainen stated the car was basically the previous year's car with nothing done to it.

After the initial three races of the season the CT03 received a major upgrade to improve handling and performance.

Caterham were unable to score any points in 2013 and finished the season in 11th in the Constructors' Championship. The team achieved their highest finishing positions with 14th-places in Malaysia, the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the Korean Grand Prix.

2014

Cooper built up to 300 single-and twin-cylinder cars during the 1940s and 1950s, and dominated the F3 category, winning 64 of 78 major races between 1951 and 1954. This volume of construction was unique and enabled the company to grow into the senior categories; With a modified Cooper 500 chassis, a T12 model, Cooper had its first taste of top-tier racing when Harry Schell qualified for the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. Though Schell retired in the first lap, this marked the first appearance of a rear-engined racer at a Grand Prix event since the end of WWII.

ct05

The Caterham CT05 is a Formula One racing car that competed in the 2014 Formula One season. It was the last Caterham F1 car before the team folded prior to the start of the 2015 season.

The car was driven by debutant Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi who returned to Formula One after a season driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship with AF Corse. André Lotterer replaced Kobayashi for the Belgian Grand Prix, and Will Stevens replaced Ericsson for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The CT05 was designed by Mark Smith, Lewis Butler and Hari Roberts at the new Leafield Technical Centre. The engine was the new Renault Energy F1-2014, and the gearbox from Red Bull Technology. Ahead of 2014, the team had struck an agreement with Toyota Motorsport to utilise their wind tunnel for testing and development, alongside upgraded CFD capacity at the new base.

Alongside the drivers, Caterham also operated a driver programme which expanded in mid 2014 when Christijan Albers took over as CEO. Drivers who were involved with CT05 either through practice runs or development included Robin Frijns, Alexander Rossi, Julian Leal, Rio Haryanto and Nathanaël Berthon.

The car performed poorly throughout the season. Financial difficulties hit the team and they failed to field either CT05 at the United States or Brazilian Grand Prix.

2015

December 2014, the announcement came that the Caterham F1 Team would be on the grid in 2015. The FIA gave Caterham the special dispensation to use their 2014 in the 2015 Formula One season.  To guarantee the teams future in the Formula One and give them some more time to find a new investor for the team. What many don’t know is the fact that the Caterham CT07 was already designed for the next season.

Maybe the Caterham CT07 had the potential to be the saviour of the team, however due the miss management within the team and struggles that brought with it would have been an impossible task to do.

ct07

After the team was sold to new owners, they began designing the Caterham CT07. In August 2014, the team had a wind tunnel model of the CT07 completed and tested. The car would have had a different front end and they did not continue with the futuristic looking beak coin or better known anteater shape. The front fender was different. The flaps were more streamlined, which seemed to improve the airflow to the rear. The rear of the CT07, the car, has not been changed much. The rear fender had more or less the same features as the CT05. The side fenders seemed to have been slightly changed to achieve better airflow. In addition, the CT07's engine cover was straighter.

The car was designed to house the 2015-specification Renault V6 turbo hybrid power unit.

the end

The Caterham F1 Team collapsed in late 2014 following a chaotic ownership dispute, financial failure, and an unprecedented crowdfunding campaign to compete in the final race. Ultimately, the team failed to find a buyer to build the CT07, leading to its removal from the 2015 entry list and the auctioning of all team assets.