The Caterham F1 team has revealed it made a £75,000 ($116,900) profit on its "controversial crowdfunding plan which allowed it to race at last month's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after collapsing into administration in October," according to Christian Sylt for the London INDEPENDENT. Formula One fans paid a total of £2.4M ($3.7M) to buy team equipment and "get their names on its cars at the race." However, according to recently released company documents, "the value of what Caterham gave back in terms of memorabilia and old kit to those who donated" came to just £160,316 ($249,800), so it made a "huge profit on the crowdfunding." The documents also reveal the team got a £515,298 ($803,040) boost from sponsorship paid by its drivers Kamui Kobayashi, "who retired from the race, and Britain's Will Stevens, who finished in last place." Caterham’s 49 team members were paid just £2,000 ($3,100) each. In fact, its crew "are believed to have been paid less than the workers at any other team this year." The closest comparison is Marussia, another team which "collapsed recently and on Tuesday began selling its assets to pay its bills." Marussia's latest company accounts show that the 168 staff who worked for the team "were paid an average" of £2,800 ($4,400) per grand prix. The documents reveal that Caterham owes a total of £16.4M ($25.6M) (INDEPENDENT, 12/21).
