Manor (formerly Marussia)

Virgin

FIA Entry: Marussia Virgin Racing
Car 24: Timo Glock
Car 25: Jerome d’Ambrosio
Engine: Cosworth V8
Team Principal: John Booth
Technical Director: Nick Wirth
Race Engineer Car 24: Mark Hutchison
Race Engineer Car 25: Dave Greenwood

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2010
Races Entered 19
Race Wins 0
Pole Positions 0
Fastest Laps 0
Driver World Championships 0
Constructor World Championships 0

Manor Motorsport

When F3 team Manor Motorsport were given a place on the F1 grid in 2010 they commissioned Wirth Research to build them a car. Brawn sponsor Virgin became title sponsor and Virgin Racing was born

Virgin Racing

With Cosworth engines, Xtrac gearboxes and drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi Virgin Racing embarked on their first F1 season. The VR01 chassis was the first ever F1 designed entirely using CFD, with designer Nick Wirth believing computer simulations were sufficient to not need expensive wind tunnel testing.

Inevitably the team had reliability issues early on and they also discovered the fuel tank on the car wasn't sufficiently large enough to allow the team to complete full race distance. Wirth Research got a dispensation from the FIA to homologate a new chassis and by Spain both cars finished the race.

The team regularly finished races but barely troubled the mid-field. By seasons end the team were placed 12th and last in the Constructors Championship based on a count back of minor placing’s having managed a highest finish of 14th.

2011

Russian carmaker Marussia have taken a controlling interest in the team for 2011 and Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio replaces Lucas di Grassi. With the VR02 chassis Virgin will be hoping to move further up the grid in 2011.

 

[sushifiesta]

I hope someone saves Marussia, they're in less of a mess than Caterham I think and due a decent pay cheque at the end of the season (unless Sauber pick up some points). Maybe Haas should step in and buy them rather than starting from scratch...

 

[ATL11]

My concern is if a 3rd team in Lotus or Sauber pull the plug this week too.

I assume the residial value in both Caterham & Marussia is their kit & F1 licence to race, believe it's call a 'F1 Bond' or something like that. With there now being basically 2 of these for sale, would a 3rd team now basically panic thinking even if we went bust the 'bond' would be useless, so even more debt, so we best bail now and see what we can get, even if it's peanuts?

But then again who wants to enter a Sport knowing, it's throwing loads of money down the drain for a long time for a glimmer of success in years to come.

Everybody PANIC......

 

[Titch]

Well I'm running round like a headless chicken ATL11. It's not helping though.

 

[cider_and_toast]

As I understand it from Joe Saward's blog. If Marrusia and Caterham are declared insolvent then thanks to the Concorde agreement, their license to thrill in F1 goes up in a puff of smoke never to be seen again. The F1 franchise holder may only transfer their license to a new company providing they are bought out as a going concern i.e, not declared insolvent first. This has caught a number of teams out in the past.

I would guess that if that is the case then Marussia have to save themselves at least from administration in order to be sold on or they are gone. (the same applies to Caterham as well).

Of course Bernie could wave the rules.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I hope someone saves Marussia,

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/1...-brothers-in-buying-beleaguered-marussia-team

 

[gethinceri]

That'll be a load of bollocks.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Max Mosley has just been on Radio 5 talking about his failed attempt to push a cost cap forward in 09. He reckons Bernie should divide the FOM money up equally between all teams and let them fend for themselves when it comes to sponsorship. I wonder if he considered that as a clause when he gave Bernie a 100 year license to screw the sport for every penny he could?

 

[siffert_fan]

I think that the change of power-unit regulations for this year was the ultimate undoing of the smallfry. The hybrid power units HAVE to be vastly more expensive than a single engine.

 

[The Pits]

If i understand correctly, the issue for Marussia is that the entry to f1 is invalid if the company that owns it goes in to administration. In the case of Marussia, I believe that is Manor, and they are in administration, and potentially fucked.

With Caterham, they are still trying to unlock the mess, and determine who the fuck owns Anything, and they may a have a viable entry for sale.

Ironically, the ex-virgin gets screwed again!!!

 

[Mephistopheles]

What the fuck is that The Pits? some kind of obscure rule for Mornington Crescent you've just made up for the sole purpose of getting me into Nidd?

 

[cider_and_toast]

If either Caterham or Marussia are declared insolvent then their F1 entries are void. F1 teams may be sold to another owner providing they are a going concern. If the new owner wishes to change the team they must apply for permission in the usual way through FOM etc.

When a team becomes insolvent, it's material property will still have a value however it's F1 franchise is revoked and they must apply for a new spot on the grid. I reckon this is designed to prevent teams from being allowed to go into insolvency and someone picking up the pieces on the cheep to enter into F1.

It would seem that in the case of Caterham and Marussia, Bernie has cut them some slack and allowed them time to try and resolve their financial woes without cutting them off. What would be the point at this stage of the season anyway? The trouble is, they will only have a limited time in administration before the administrators will have to decide if they can continue as a going concern or if their will be fire sale of what remains of the company to return as much money to the creditors as possible.

With Caterham's ownership issues blocking any immediate rescue they would seem the more fragile of the two. Marussia have the benefit of knowing if they can just get to the end of the season 35 million (so the Beeb say) is waiting for them in the prize fund. Apparently their current debt stands at 30 million. Though the situation there must be quite desperate if the creditors don't think they can afford to wait a month for the prize money to come in.

 

[Bill Boddy]

So if the brothers mentioned above buy Marussia they will have to pay out £30 Million and in return will get the prize fund money which should be £35 Million. It's a no-brainer, buy, get the money, close down the company. Net profit £5 Million.

Could we outbid them so that we only finish up with $4 Million Brogan ? That should pay the bills for a couple of weeks.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I'll 'ave a look in me 'andbag see if I got a spare 30 mill knocking about...

 

[The Pits]

Sorry, there was some bizarre autocorrect issues going On, now corrected.

 

[Mezzer]

Based on what's happened in the last several months I think there would be some delicious irony if the team was taken over and renamed Maukraine ...

 

[FB]

Is it Manor GP which has gone pop or Manor Motorsport as they enter cars in all sorts of other series as well.

 

[Bill Boddy]

It looks like it is all one organisation which simply has gone belly up. A shame, maybe it could have survived had BCE not invented this silly rule that if you were in the money places it did not mean that you were in the money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marussia_Manor_Racing

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mo...ision-not-because-of-Jules-Bianchi-crash.html

http://www.marussiaf1team.com/news/1036/

I presume that the team got the info from the Torygraph.

 

[Il_leone]

Marussia's attraction is that whoever buys them and keeps the name Marussia then they will get $20m for the constructor's championship so expect no shortage of takers

Are not the team based on Banbury - that is not too far from Prodrive so Dave Richards could be interested

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Lots of posts in the twittersphere saying that they will be returning as Manor for Abu Dhabi and hopefully 2015 too.

Great news for the boys from Yorkshire if these rumours are true.

 

[Brogan]

How can they return as a new team mid-way through at the end of the season?

The rules don't allow for that.