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.
 
Firstly, there is nothing left to come back. No cars, no base, no workers, no money, nothing. Why are the motoring press still printing stories saying they may be on the grid next year?

Secondly, surely alarm bells should have been ringing when the company that sold their majority stake didn't get paid for it? What were LDC thinking? Was it a buy now pay in 2016 deal? With the amount of money invested in the team it's no wonder Max Chilton was driving the car.

It looks like, with those debts listed, the team was going to go to the wall whatever they did this year.
 
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F1 reminds me of a joke which used to do the rounds in football. How do you get a small fortune, start with a large one and then invest in an F1 team.

I hope whoever this is isn't just in it to collect the cash from Marussia's Monaco finish last year and then bugger off.
 
No new car, no likelyhood of a new car any time soon, a great number of factory items already sold.

Dead horse being flogged springs to mind.
 
Is the company in administration or has it been liquidated? Presumably the administrator will have negotiated some deal with the debtors where they get so many pence in the pound. Somehow I think any new owner may well have some cars to run (if allowed) but there might not be an engine to put in the back with them stumping up everything Ferrari is owed.
 
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