MANOR GP
SEASON
66
PREVIEW
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As AUTOSPORT closed for press, the Formula 1 team formerly known as Marussia was
attempting to get a car ready for Melbourne. JONATHAN NOBLE explains its survival plans
S
hould Marussia’s ex-Formula 1
chiefs Graeme Lowdon or John
Booth have wanted an easy life,
they would have walked away
from F1 years ago. But, as they
showed during five tremendously
challenging years running their
grand prix team, they possess
a steely determination that
has kept them in the game
despite everything that has
been thrown at them.
That is why, as many in F1 lost
hope last winter of ever seeing
Marussia or Caterham again,
Lowdon and Booth kept their heads down and
worked harder than ever before to try to get the
renamed Manor Marussia team back on the grid.
Their determination was helped slightly by the
incentive of the £30 million prize money that
66 AUTOSPORT.COM MARCH 5 2015
would be theirs if they could return. But just
as powerful a motivator was their refusal to
allow F1 to defeat them.
Pretty stable car regulations from 2014 to ’15
boosted hopes of making it back to the grid. But
even so, ramped up cockpit protection, tougher
crash tests and changes to the nose regulations
meant that it couldn’t simply roll out last year’s
challenger and go racing.
There was an initial idea to be allowed to
temporarily use its 2014 car for the first few
races – a concept not instantly ruled out – but
before even that could be considered for a team
vote, money matters had to be sorted.
Progress to find sponsors and investors was
slow at times, but by the middle of January
the situation had advanced enough for the
team’s administrators to see hope that it could
be saved. On the one side, creditors – including
Ferrari and McLaren – were appeased by the
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renegotiation of outstanding debts. Furthermore,
Lowdon was starting to put together the
investment package that could help fund the
team. Key figures behind it are believed to be
energy-company boss Stephen Fitzpatrick and
former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King, whose
son Jordan is racing in GP2 this year.
A mid-January online auction of Marussia’s
remaining assets – which would have sounded
the death knell for the team if it had gone ahead
– was called off at the last minute as talks
ramped up with those backers. But while things
slowly began slotting in to place on the balance
sheet, the inevitable politics of F1’s ‘Piranha
Club’ created further obstacles as rivals fought
for a share of Manor’s potential prize-money pot.
Jules Bianchi’s two points that he scored for
Marussia in Monaco last year were enough for
the team to finish ninth in the constructors’
championship – yielding around £30 million