Q&A with Riad Asmat, Caterham Group CEO

As mission Caterham takes off, Group CEO Riad Asmat explains how the Formula One team is still central to the plan and why he believes the journey is only just beginning

The announcement of Caterham Group saw the F1 team become part of a much larger vision, so can you explain how all the elements fit together?

If you look at how we’ve developed as an F1 team we’ve simply taken that growth and branched out into new areas of interest, which, directly or indirectly, bring in revenue. We’ve established a structure where we have a holding group, owned by the same shareholders, and from here we’re moving into areas that have a relation to what we do with the Formula One team, which is how this whole adventure started.

We’ll still continue to run races, and do it with passion, but the extension into the car business is a very interesting progression. We see a huge amount of potential in it. It’s very well run but with the synergies we believe we can develop – with F1 being the marketing platform – we are ensuring that we have a global audience, and via that there’s a direct correlation with sales and technology transfer. All of that should assist us in growing the car business.

As an extension of all that, we also realise that there is more value to be extracted from the technology we’ve developed in F1. We now have engineering services, which is Caterham Technology and Innovation. They will hopefully extract as much as they can from the Formula One side of the business and apply that to the car models we intend to launch. We hope to introduce a new model in 2014. That car should have a lot, if not all the aspects we have in the Formula One car: high technology, performance and superb handling.

Also Caterham Technology and Innovation will look outwards, towards the possible sale of knowledge to other parties that may be interested in that kind of engineering. We have a customer, in the shape of the F1 team, but Caterham Technology and Innovation is looking to find external parties who might benefit from that high technology.

And then there’s the composites side of the group. We deal with this kind of material on a daily basis, so there’s value there and we want to extract it. That’s where Caterham Composites comes into the equation. We have so much knowledge in that arena that we think we have a lot to offer the aviation business and also a lot to contribute in the nautical arena. So we’re looking into areas that are not normally explored but it just makes sense for the group that we apply our knowledge to other sectors. It’s new, but we see a lot of potential, and hopefully that will generate revenue and make the group stronger, all of which can feed back to the F1 team and give it greater stability.

The synergies, via Tony’s involvement in aviation and Mike’s interest in the nautical industry, are clear, but have we been allowed to explore them because of the people we have working in the F1 team? Does it all stem back to the Formula One programme?

I think if you look at what we have developed here, and the excess we have in terms of the knowledge we have garnered over the past two years, and also being part of a larger group in terms of the connection to AirAsia etc, there has always been an inclination towards developing synergies. So it’s a progression really. We identified such synergies, especially in the aerospace industry, that could use our help in creating better lightweight materials. We have the know-how and they have a platform that needs that knowledge. I think we can cater to that very new need. We just have to push it to a level where it becomes a consumer-friendly product that’s accepted by businesses.

So what is the significance of the F1 team now?

Being a marketing platform is at the pinnacle of every brand we get involved in and Formula One is seen globally. We go to 20 different territories. It’s an amazing platform for us. But there are a lot of unseen areas within it that add value to the group that we can bring out and gain from. This is where working across the broader group, with people such as Tony, Kamarudin and Nasa is important, because the shareholders understand that there is a lot more we can realise from Formula One. We can bring the technology we develop into the real world, so to speak.

I can’t deny that other people are doing this, or have done it, but we believe our approach is much more realistic. We are not going build something unaffordable, something beyond what’s applicable on a daily basis. It has to be practical enough for everyone to use.

So F1 isn’t solely a marketing platform, there’s more that can be extracted from it. Yes, we all started off being a Formula One team but in the real world we have to make it sustainable and it’s a matter of adapting to what is needed.

Let’s talk about the change from Team Lotus to Caterham. How do you personally feel about it?

It part of the progression. We’ve done out best over the past two years and we’ve been very professional in our approach. We brought credit to ourselves and to the brand we were trying to develop at the time. But there comes a point where pragmatism has to come into play and I’m happy that we’ve reached an amicable solution over naming and that now there will be no more confusion. The arguments that existed in the past are now in the past and we move on from here as a group, as a team and as individuals; with a proper focus on one objective. I think we’ve done ourselves proud over the past two years but I think we can do better from this point onwards.

Did you think, when you joined, that it would ever grow this big?

No! I really didn’t. I guess the brief I got was just Formula One. But it has been a great journey, not just for me but for everyone in this team, and I think we have adapted really well to the ways and means of how we progress with the shareholders. It’s just been positive all the way. There were moments where we had our heads down but we never dwelled on them too much; we just moved on. It’s been a good journey so far and I hope we journey on even longer.

So what’s the plan for the next few years?

We have good people running each of the entities within the group and it’s just about reaching the objectives that have been set by the shareholders. It’s simply a matter of pushing on through.

I think that three years down the road we’ll be looking at something else entirely, something that’s mature; that is much better in all the areas we are currently involved in. There’s no negative in it. We’ll just get on with it and push on. We have full license to be innovative, to find breakthrough technologies and to push through the boundaries. That’s all been given to us and it’s just a matter of fulfilling the wishes of the shareholders, as we have done for the past two years.

What about your role? You’re Group CEO now as well as being F1 CEO. What does that mean for you time-wise?

Ah! I have the overall responsibility for the group now, which I totally appreciate, especially the trust that the shareholders have given to me. But Formula One is still very close to my responsibility. This is something that needs more of me now and I hope in the coming year we can produce the results expected of us. Once we cross that bridge maybe I can focus more on the group but for the moment there’s a need here.

Having said that, working for the shareholders, you can find yourself anywhere, doing anything and I accept that, and I love doing that. There is a lot of responsibility but I think I can still work closely with everyone and to me it still feels like a family thing. We discuss things, we argue, we agree to disagree, but we get things done and that’s the most important thing.

You and the shareholders have been through a lot in setting this up, starting with the team, so is Formula One still the showcase for all those aspirations?

I would say so. More really because it’s a project that’s still ongoing. It’s a project that commands a lot of attention both externally and internally and it needs to be successful. It needs to have a stronger path set for it and I think we are there. We’ve just finished our second season and going forward we’ll be able to establish ourselves even more. And from that success you get the trickle-down effect to the other ancillary businesses we’re building around it.

The car business will come up, as has been planned, and we’ll have a car to show in around two years. Within those two years we’ll build the brand, we’ll build our base to be stronger and a few years down the road you’ll see a very strong group. That’s what I’m striving for and that’s what I think everyone here is striving for as well.

And the plan is to go global?

You have to. Markets around the world are open and we have products we think suit a global market, so you have to focus on that service that need as much as we can. We are growing, though, so we have to be careful to pace ourselves. We certainly don’t want to short-change people in terms of quality, product and efficiency.

So there’s a balance you have to achieve. But yes, we will be global and I think we are going to be big. In three years I do think we will be a force to be reckoned with; be it in Formula One, the car business or in technology. We have every right to be where we want to be. Nothing can stop it.

If you could sum up what the past two years has meant to you, how would you do it?

The best moment for me is always when you achieve something. We’ve always set ourselves goals every year and the best moments are when you hit those goals. It’s not individual; as a team we did it and I’m very appreciative of everyone that contributes to reaching our objectives.

I think we’ve done what we set out to do. Over the past two years we’ve absolutely done the best we could with the resources at our disposal. It’s good to be recognised as a professional team and even better now that we’ve finished 10th two years in a row. I think we have so much to look forward to and with the guidance of the shareholders we’ll get there. We can’t go wrong!