Caterham CT05

The 2014 Caterham CT05 was a new design and brought Caterham into the new Hybrid Turbo era. It was designed by Mark Smith with the help of John Illey and was the team's hope for a great 2014. At the end of 2013 the Renault engine and Red Bull Gearbox were king however no one realised how behind the curve this package would be for 2014.

The car was a total redesign from the 2012/13 car and now featured larger cooling as the hybrid turbo V6 engines were an unknown source of concern. This caused Caterham issues as their design had too much cooling. The car had a pull rod front suspension and featured many new design improvements, all of which worked against the team as they consistently struggled to heat the tyres and keep them warm, thus meaning that even with an under powered engine utilisation the car struggled with grip and consistency.

Photographer : Unknown

The car launched in Jerez on the 28th of January 2014 and there were a total of 4 Chassis' built that year.

Chassis#1 which was the launch car and a centre of my focus, plus it plays a dominant part in this website.

Chassis #2 which was crashed in front of the world by Kamui Kobayashi in Melbourne on the first lap of the race. Below is an image of the damage to Chassis #2 taken after the race in the Caterham garage.

Below is the damage, highlighted in Malaysia to Chassis#2 which is why the team stopped using it until it was repaired. The Chassis was sold with the crack in the tub noted during the Administrators auction in 2015.

Once repaired Kobayashi used Chassis #2 for most of the season after moving to Chassis #3 for three events. Chassis #3 which was used by Kobayashi after Australia was sidelined after he hit the wall in Barcelona whilst testing, just after the GP.

Below are team images taken of the damage to Chassis #3 in Barcelona.

The team continued to use Chassis#1 and Chassis#2 until the accident in Hungary which forced them to introduce Chassis #4. Marcus used Chassis #4 for the rest of the season until Will Stevens took it on in Abu Dhabi.

Below is Chassis #3 on the last day it ever ran, 13th May 2014 in season testing Barcelona. I took the picture.

Below is an image I took of the team working on Chassis #1 during the Silverstone test.

The car performed better than the 2013 CT03 against the opposition but as mentioned the lack of tyre temperature linked to the "over" cooling of the car was not great to say the least and the car was seconds away from top 10 in most qualifying sessions.

Below is a typical session, this one is Silverstone and shows how off the pace the car was. BBW was also an issue for both cars.

Below is the driver feedback from the German GP, this mirrored the majority of 2014.

Below is an image taken of Chassis #2 in Germany after a fire haulted running.

On the positive side though the introduction of a new front wing assisted this dramatically and although the team could not afford to make multiple revised front wings this one step made a massive difference.

Here is the spec for testing the front wing earlier in the year in Barcelona, unfortunately the test was never completed.

The team did improve however it was too late and lack of money meant that even with new investors, the issue didnt seem to be salvageable.

Caterham 2014 Worlkd Championship positions.

  1. Australia - ME Ret (#1) KK Ret(#2)
  2. Malaysia - ME 13(#1) KK 14(#3)
  3. Bahrain - ME Ret(#1) KK 15(#3)
  4. China - ME 20(#1) KK 18(#3)
  5. Spain - ME 20 (#1) KK Ret (#3)
  6. Monaco - ME 11(#1) KK 13(#2)
  7. Canada - ME Ret (#1) KK Ret (#2)
  8. Austria - ME 18(#1) KK 16(#2)
  9. Britain - ME Ret (#1) KK 15(#2)
  10. Germany - ME 18(#1) KK 16(#2)
  11. Hungary - ME Ret(#1) KK Ret(#2)
  12. Belgium - ME 17(#4) AL Ret (#2)
  13. Italy - ME 19(#4) KK 17(#2)
  14. Singapore - ME 15(#4) KK DNS(#2)
  15. Japan - ME 17(#4) KK 19(#2)
  16. Russia - ME 19(#4) KK Ret(#2)
  17. USA - Did not attend
  18. Brazil - Did not attend
  19. Abu Dhabi - WS 17(#4) KK Ret(#2)

With one 11th place, Caterham did reach 11th in the Constructors Championship but that wasn't enough to save them.

Chassis #1 sold as a tub at the Administration auction which I purchased, see below.

Chassis #2 was sold at the Adinistration auction and has since been re-sold to a private collector in Europe. See below.

Auction pictures thanks to Bjorn

Chassis #3 was sold as a spare tub at the auction and is now built up into a rolling Chassis in Europe. See below.

The final Chassis, number #4 was sold at the auction and is now in Australasia. See below.

Below are a selection of images I took of the CT05 during 2014 in Jerez, Barcelona and Silverstone.