Caterham confirms Formula 1 team sale

AUTOSPORT reported earlier this week that Caterham owner Tony Fernandes was on the brink of offloading his team, with Kolles always among the frontrunners for the deal.

A Caterham statement said the new owners were "a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors" advised by Kolles, and that they would take over ownership with immediate effect.

The team name will remain and it will keep its current Leafield base.

Albers started 45 grands prix with the Minardi and Kolles-run Midland/Spyker teams in 2005-07.

He will replace current team boss Cyril Abiteboul, and will be assisted by Manfredi Ravetto, a former member of the defunct HRT team.

"We are aware of the huge challenge ahead of us given the fight at the bottom end of the championship and our target now is to aim for 10th place in the 2014 championship," said Albers.

"We are very committed to the future of the team and we will ensure that the team has the necessary resources to develop and grow and achieve everything it is capable of."

Caterham came into F1 under the Team Lotus name in 2010, and immediately became involved in a bitter row over the rights to Lotus branding with the car company of the same name.

That ultimately led to the switch to the Caterham title for 2012.

Although the team initially had the upper hand over fellow 2010 arrivals Virgin/Marussia and HRT, and was able to hire grand prix winners Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, its form slipped in recent years and it began to rely more heavily on funded drivers.

It was beaten to the lucrative 10th place in the standings by Marussia last season and is currently at the foot of the 2014 championship.