The Caterham F1 team has "laid off more than 40 staff as their new owners seek to reduce costs," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC. Among the departures are Deputy Technical Dir Jody Eggington and Head of Track Operations Gerry Hughes. Caterham "refused to comment on the development, which is expected to be the first of several moves to cut expenditure at the struggling team." Earlier in July, Owner Tony Fernandes "sold to a consortium of investors, whose identity is yet to be revealed." The team said the new owners were a "Swiss-Middle Eastern group." Sources "close to the deal" said that the money is "mainly from the Middle East but it is being handled by administrators from Switzerland." The new owners installed Dutch former F1 driver Christian Albers as team principal, with former Midland, Spyker and HRT boss Colin Kolles as an adviser. Sources said that the departures "appear to be mainly those with the largest salaries -- many are heads of department or senior staff -- although some more junior employees have also left" (BBC, 7/16).
