F1: Lotterer turns down Caterham offer

Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer will not take up Caterham's offer to make his Formula 1 start with Caterham in next weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

AUTOSPORT reported on Saturday that the 32-year-old had been asked if he would contest the Yas Marina event with the British team, which remains in bankruptcy administration, and that he was still undecided about the offer. But after the Bahrain World Endurance Championship race, Lotterer said that he has decided to forgo the chance, which follows on from his F1 debut in a Caterham-Renault CT05 at the Belgian GP at Spa in August.

"I'm flattered because you don't get the call to do F1 every day," said Lotterer. "The one-off at Spa was a great thing for me to do, but to do more would have to have been in a better situation – I don't want to be a guy driving around at the back.

"If I could see opportunities in F1 to gain a better seat, it might be different, but it doesn't look like that."

Lotterer made his grand prix debut at Spa courtesy of his links with former Caterham team advisor Colin Kolles, with whose privateer Audi squad he made his Le Mans debut in 2009. He subsequently turned down the chance to do the Italian Grand Prix at Monza because he would not have been able to take part in first free practice.

Formula Renault 3.5 frontrunner Roberto Merhi was brought in for the first of three Friday tester appearances in Italy and the Spaniard's camp insists he has a deal that will put him in a race seat for Abu Dhabi.

Former Caterham racer Marcus Ericsson cut ties with the team this week prior to his move to Sauber in 2015. His former teammate Kamui Kobayashi has yet to comment on the latest developments at the squad.