Ecclestone gives Caterham an ultimatum

It seems Bernie Ecclestone is ratcheting up the pressure on Caterham.

For more on this rumor see AR1's Tuesday F1 News in Brief on the Hot News page.

However, Caterham F1 driver Marcus Ericcson's manager Eje Elgh had a rather interesting quote in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet when asked about the possibility of Caterham returning for next month's Formula One season finale at Abu Dhabi.

"(Bernie) Ecclestone has given them an ultimatum that they must be in Abu Dhabi to get the license for next year," he said.

"Without the license, the bankruptcy trustee cannot sell the team because it will be worthless. I am guessing that the team will be at the season finale and that Marcus will be asked to race," Elgh said.

Seems Bernie Ecclestone has grown tired of the Caterham/Marussia nonsense.

He also said Ericsson, despite the absence of his team, will be in the paddock in Austin and Brazil because "in this business you never know what's going to happen".

(Editor's note: Call us crazy, but it sounds like Bernie is ratcheting up the pressure on Caterham. In other words, either they get their house order soon, or Ecclestone is going to move on. While there's all this broo-hah-hah over cost containment in Formula One, in the wake of the Caterham and Marussia sagas, many continue to miss the underlying reality: Ecclestone doesn't care whether the Marussias or Caterhams of the world survive. He cares about cashing the checks from the enormous sanctioning fees and the worldwide television audience. And if anything, he'd just as well do without them.)