Lotterer offered Caterham ride

Andre Lotterer

From Autosport — Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer says he has been offered another race with the Caterham Formula 1 team in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Caterham, which is currently being run by administrators, announced on Friday that it had raised sufficient finance to return to the F1 grid at Yas Marina next weekend after missing the preceding races at Austin and Interlagos due to its financial problems.

Lotterer made a one-off appearance for Caterham in the Belgian GP in August, replacing Kamui Kobayashi.

The factory Audi LMP1 World Endurance Championship driver confirmed that he had been approached by Caterham, but is uncertain about the situation.

"Caterham wants me to race in Abu Dhabi but I am not sure if I will take up the offer," he said.

Lotterer declined a chance to drive for Caterham again at Monza in September as he would have had to relinquish the car to Roberto Merhi for one of the practice sessions.

Caterham has at least one seat to fill for Abu Dhabi as Marcus Ericsson announced this week that he had cut all ties with the team.

Ericsson has already secured a Sauber seat for 2015.

The Abu Dhabi GP fits into the gap between the Sakhir and Interlagos rounds of Lotterer's WEC programme. His Super Formula campaign in Japan has now finished for the season.

(Editor's note: With few precious rides available, typically any racer jumps at the opportunity to drive an F1 car, which tells you everything you need to know about how dysfunctional the Caterham situation is. The accomplished Lotterer, however, is wise to say 'thanks, but no thanks'.)