Staff at the Caterham F1 team’s Leafield factory have been locked out of the building by administrators.

Caterham’s current owners issued a statement on Wednesday evening threatening to quit the F1 team following accusations that former team owner, Tony Fernandes, has failed to transfer the shares to the new owners and therefore remains the owner of the squad.

With the new buyers saying that Fernandes has to now sort out the situation since he is still in control, Finbarr O’Connell, joint administrator for Caterham Sports Limited – who are the suppliers to the F1 team – confirmed to Reuters that the factory has been closed and staff members are being refused access to the premises.

“They can’t get into the factory today,” he told Reuters. “Effectively 1MRT have been in the building for last few days since I arrived. We are trying to reach an acceptable arrangement for them to be there. We had a meeting yesterday with 1MRT and lawyers and the offer they made was unacceptable. So I’ve sent them away. Hopefully they can come up with an acceptable proposal. I don’t think this is gone. It’s just a case of who has got the money to make it work.”

There is plenty of doubt over whether Caterham will be able to compete in next weekend’s United States Grand Prix. FOM rules dictate that every team must compete in all rounds of the Formula One Championship unless they are able to prove force majeure.

Photo: Caterham F1