Caterham axes 'at least 50' F1 staff

Caterham CT05 tested on Jerezterham

"At least 50" Caterham staff have left the Leafield based team, according to Speed Week.

Ahead of the British grand prix, the Tony Fernandes-founded team's new advisor Colin Kolles admitted that up to a hundred of the 300-strong workforce might have to go as he makes Caterham more "efficient" for the future.

The BBC, Reuters and the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Wednesday said "more than 40" employees were let go in the days between Silverstone and this weekend's German grand prix.

Reportedly among the departures were technical boss Jody Eggington and track operations chief Gerry Hughes.

Test driver Alexander Rossi also exits with immediate effect, although - for now at least - fellow tester Robin Frijns is safe, as are racers Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson.

Speed Week, however, reports that "at least 50" Caterham staff are in fact leaving, including designer Lewis Butler and head of research and development Elliot Dason-Barber.

Caterham, now owned by mysterious Middle Eastern investors operating out of Switzerland, would not comment.

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