Ok, I'm calling it. As Gordon Ramsay would say after going through the coolers on an episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - "SHUT IT DOWN!" If Smith & Williamson who are the Administrators for Caterham can't find a buyer by the end of the week - then it's time to turn off the life support and shut this team down.
The BBC is reporting that Smith & Williamson will not be funding the team to take part in the test, so if the team is going to participate, there needs to be a buyer. The firm insists that negotiations are still ongoing, but also admits that they haven't received an offer...
The first 2015 is just shy of 4 weeks away counting this week. If the deal was finalized today - the new owners would have 4 weeks to hire a staff, drivers, and develop the basic operational plans needed just for the team to function... All that without actually doing a lick of development on the car which will have to run last year's uncompetitive chassis...
Now I admit, it wouldn't be unprecedented for a team to miss the first test of the season, even part of the second test - Lotus was forced to do it last year... But the fact remains, the clock is ticking down to race 1 in Melbourne. Every day that passes without a buyer is one more day lost for development of something to improve the 2014 car, like maybe some jet engines or something... Every day of development work lost further cements the car to the back of the grid, and makes it less likely that the car will even be able to qualify to race on Saturdays. Every day of development work lost makes this team that much less of an attractive investment...