Three-week window to secure Caterham F1 team's future for 2015

Although the Leafield-based outfit has returned to racing at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, acting team principal Finbarr O'Connell says with work on next year's car having been stopped, time is running out to restart the project.

"Work on next year's car stopped when Caterham Sports Ltd went into administration," O'Connell told AUTOSPORT.

"But I'm told by the technical team that for 2015, if a purchaser comes along in the next few weeks, we will race next year."

When asked to be more specific on the exact timeframe of when a buyer would need to be in to get work on the car started again, O'Connell said: "It's a very short time. Three weeks, I would think, to make a decision and to have people working again."

FOUR BUYERS IN TALKS

O'Connell said the decision to race in Abu Dhabi was not fuelled by financial considerations over commercial rights income, as he believes Caterham is not entitled to this having missed two races.

Instead he sees the race as a shop window to show potential buyers that the team was not finished yet and could still race in F1.

"There has been no strategic thought put into this race at all," he said.

"This is about money and about drivers who can bring money and about sponsors who can put in money.

"This was about being here. I just had to make sure the books are balanced."

He added that there are viable buyers for Caterham in the wings.

"I've had 50 approaches and I think there are four parties who are serious parties," said O'Connell.

"For some of them it makes complete sense, if it ever makes sense for anybody to buy an F1 team.

"The others are more in the 'you want to be an owner in the most exclusive club in the world'.

"As we've seen in the past, people do actually buy these things."