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Formula 1 racing is extremely expensive, and in the wake of the Marussia team shutting down before the season has concluded, cash-strapped Caterham has turned to a crowdfunding site to try and raise enough money to race in the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Both Caterham and Marussia did not field cars in the United States Grand Prix last weekend, and Caterham will not race in Brazil tomorrow, leaving just 18 cars on the grid once again.

Using CrowdCube, Caterham has raised more than $500,000 as of Saturday afternoon of a targeted £2,350,000. Backers will be rewarded with a number of gifts for their support, from wheel nuts to brake discs to the front and rear wing from the car. Supporters who donate £1,000 will have their name on the car if it races in the finale.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t seem to have the highest opinion of Caterham’s “refueling” project, though. Ecclestone said Saturday that if you don’t have the money to compete, you shouldn’t be in the sport.

Via the AP:

“We don’t want begging bowls. If people can’t afford to be in Formula One, they have to find something else to do…. If I sit in a poker game and I can’t afford to be there with the other people, I’ll get killed and will have to leave. When I had a race team (Brabham) a few years ago, I used to run the team according to how much money we could spend. And we won the world championship. That’s what they don’t do. They don’t seem to understand that somebody is going to be last.”