Yes, when I read that Justin King was part of this, my first thought was, hmm, history repeating? King says there's "no vacancy" for the FOM role but Bernie looked weakened last year. It would be easy to read too much into this but, according to Sky News, King, Graeme Loudon and John Booth want "to revive a high-quality British racing ethic". How much more refreshing does that sound than Bernie and his 3-car mega-teams, septuagenarian rolex-wearers and social media blackout?
I hope Manor can cobble together a 2015 car by the 3rd or 4th race. Would be amusing to see their entire existence being purely to ignore the blue flags for the Force India's I'm surprised Honda hasn't stepped in, or even Renault. They need all the data they can get right now.
Force India sensing a bit of backlash heading their way? Marussia should apply to join 2015 F1 grid properly - Force India http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117617
I admire their tenacity and everyone (except Smithers) loves an underdog so I hope they make it too; it would really piss old Bernie off! Force India have lost a lot of goodwill here and I can only think they must be really desperate. As for another engine supplier stepping in, wouldn't Ferrari have a problem with that?
Too ****ing late I say. Let this also be a warning to all the other ****heads that try and **** over the sport for their own private agendas.
Lol - Its not that I dont appreciate their tenacity (or an underdog), its just that they have had enough years to be in the mix and unfortunatley they have never come close - Pace wise. The debate of whether they should be in F1 or F1 needs to be more financially viable so that we get more competitive cars on the grid are two different debates.
Manor outlines plans to reach 2015 grid Marussia/Manor has announced its plans to return to the Formula 1 grid this season, after the F1 Strategy Group blocked the team from using its 2014 car. Marussia entered administration in October last year and missed the final three races of the season, but the team’s administrators confirmed earlier this week that it is set to exit administration on February 19. However, it was confirmed on Thursday that the F1 Strategy Group had denied Marussia’s request to race its 2014 car this year, dealing a serious blow to the team’s hopes of returning to the Formula 1 grid. The team – now under the Manor name – responded on Friday evening, confirming that it is preparing its 2014 car to meet the stipulations set out by the F1 Strategy Group last December, while pushing forward with the development of its 2015 car so it can supersede the old design. Manor reveals it already has a significant number of staff working on both projects and has the benefit of a rich pool of unemployed to recruit from due to the collapse of Marussia and Manor, and the recent cuts made by other teams. Former Marussia president Graeme Lowdon has praised the team’s early progress and rejected claims that it had submitted an application to Thursday’s Strategy Grouop meeting. “I was surprised to hear some of the comments made today, particularly regarding an application we were said to have made to yesterday’s meeting, which I can confirm was not the case,” he said. “We did make a request on 17 December last year and we have been working since to satisfy the requirements subsequently communicated to us, specifically complying with all the Regulations, aside from the exempted articles. “The comments also mentioned that issues of compliance were raised, that it was felt that our application lacked substance and contained no supporting documentation to reinforce the case for offering special dispensation. “Again, we did not make any application to yesterday’s Strategy Group meeting and nor were we asked to. “Instead, we are proceeding with our clear process regarding compliance and building our operation. “We are doing everything possible to adhere to the process set out for us to return to the 2015 grid. “This is a fantastic good news story for the whole sport and we just want to go racing.”
This is possibly the most optimistic headline ever. Was it my imagination or did Graeme basically give the sum total of bugger and all detail? EDIT: More optimism: please log in to view this image
Actually, I think you make fair points about this but on balance I fall more into the camp that sees them as being doomed by the vast inequality within the sport that denies smaller teams a fair chance to compete and get anywhere near the big teams. For this reason also, I feel reluctant to heap too much opprobrium onto Force India, who are themselves struggling to survive. It was only in May last year that Marussia scored their first points in F1 but it has been a hellish downward trip for them from there. It's the way the sport is run that is wrong for me and if small teams don't have a fair chance to grow it will become moribund.
Mclaren and Ferrari both working together to keep Manor alive. McLaren has joined fellow creditor Ferrari in helping the former Marussia team to survive. Ferrari, owed millions by the struggling backmarker, has agreed to keep supplying its 2014-spec turbo V6 engine to the team reborn as 'Manor' for 2015. McLaren, a separate technology partner, is also owed millions by Manor. But the struggling team has come out of administration in the past days according to a Company Voluntary Agreement, under which creditors agree to be repaid over a longer period of time. One of those creditors is McLaren, who like Ferrari will continue to support Manor. "We have agreed to restructure our contract with the Manor team so that it may continue to benefit from affordable support, in keeping with contractual obligations," a McLaren spokesman told GMM. The spokesman, however, played down speculation McLaren's grander plan may be to forge close ties in the Manor outfit, along the lines of Ferrari's new 'B-team'-like alliance with Haas. "We are assisting the team (Manor)'s efforts to try to continue competing in formula one," the McLaren official said, "but we have no plans to acquire any equity in the team or to increase our involvement with it in any way."
