The struggling Marussia F1 team has "followed rivals Caterham into administration and will miss this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix, administrators FRP Advisory LLP said in a statement on Monday," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS.
The move "will leave just nine teams and 18 cars on the starting grid for the race in Austin, Texas, which is followed immediately by the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo." The season's finale is in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 23. FRP joint administrator Geoff Rowley said, "With the existing shareholder unable to provide the required level of funding, the (Marussia) 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" (REUTERS, 10/27). In London, Kevin Eason reported speculation "is growing that there may be buyers on the horizon." Unlike Caterham, which went into administration last week, Marussia was on the up and was "within reach of securing ninth place in the constructors’ standings this year," its highest placing in five seasons. The reward would be £40M ($65M) in prize money -- if the team "can survive into next season."
Time is short and the administrators "will quickly want to find new investors." It is thought Marussia may be about £30M ($48M) in debt, "including owing Ferrari for their engine supply this season" (LONDON TIMES, 10/27). BLOOMBERG's Alex Duff reported FPR said that the Marussia team has a "very limited window of opportunity" to find financing to compete in the season’s final two races in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi (BLOOMBERG, 10/27). In London, Daniel Johnson wrote the 200 Marussia staff at the factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire, "were given the news they had been fearing all season in a half-hour meeting on Monday morning." They said that "there have been no redundancies and that staff will be paid until the end of October" (TELEGRAPH, 10/27).
OH BROTHER: In a separate piece, Johnson reported "two British-Indian brothers who made their fortune in the steel industry have claimed they are in 11th-hour talks with Marussia" over a £55M ($89M) deal "to save the beleaguered team from collapsing into administration."
Baljinder Sohi and Sonny Kaushal, a Conservative Party candidate for council election this year in Slough, said that they "have been in close contact in recent days with the Banbury-based team." Marussia CEO
Andy Webb "approached the pair over the last three weeks to try to broker a deal," with the two sides around £10M ($16M) apart in their valuations, according to Sohi (TELEGRAPH, 10/27).
HIGH COSTS: The BBC reported former FIA President Max Mosley said that Marussia and Caterham "may not be the last" teams to suffer from the high costs of racing in F1. Mosley: "It's not a fair competition any more. The big problem is that the big teams have so much more money than teams like Caterham and Marussia." Mosley, who was head of the sport's governing body between '93-09, added, "In the end, they [teams such as Caterham and Marussia] were bound to drop off - and they may not be the last." Mosley's plans for a cost cap in '09 "fell through and revived plans for one to be introduced next season collapsed earlier this year." He said,
"From a sporting point of view, the sport should split the money equally and then let the teams get as much sponsorship as they can" (BBC, 10/27).
