The Marussia Formula 1 team has been officially ruled out of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after its trading company, Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited, was placed into administration.
Specialist restructuring and recovery firm FRP Advisory LLP was appointed to administrate the company on Monday and, due to a lack of finances, has chosen to skip the Austin round.
“Whilst the team has made significant progress during its relatively short period of operation, the highlight of which included securing two Constructors’ Championship points in the current F1 season, the position remains that operating a F1 team requires significant ongoing investment,” said Joint Administrator Geoff Rowley.
“With the existing shareholder unable to provide the required level of funding, the senior management team has worked tirelessly to bring new investment to the team to secure its long term future, but regrettably has been unable to do so within the time available.
“Therefore, they have been left with no alternative but to place the company into administration.”
FRP added that Marussia will continue to operate as it assesses the longer term options for the company, which has not made any redundancies and is up to date with staff payments.
“Following Austin, there are two further rounds of the 2014 championship remaining, in São Paulo and Abu Dhabi, and the team’s participation in those races will depend on the outcome of the administration process and any related negotiations with interested parties in what is a very limited window of opportunity,” the statement continued.
“No redundancies have been made following the company’s entering into administration and all staff have been paid in full to the end of October. The ongoing staff position will however be dependent on whether the company can secure new investment in the limited time available.
“We remain highly focused on engaging with interested parties.”
With Caterham also entering administration last week, the field is set to consist of just 18 cars in Austin. This would mark the smallest grid since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, when BAR was banned for a rule breach.
