Mosley predicts greater F1 financial turmoil
FORMER FIA president Max Mosley insists an increasing number of Formula One teams could face the spectre of financial demise after Marussia became the latest team to enter administration yesterday.
A statement released by administrators, FRP Advisory LLP, confirmed the Anglo-Russian outfit were unable to locate fiscal backing elsewhere after current owner Andrey Cheglakov declared himself unable to provide continued investment.
Marussia’s financial predicament and placement into administration comes just days after fellow F1 team Caterham suffered the same fate, with Mosley adamant such collapse was inevitable.
“It’s not a fair competition any more,’ said Mosley. “The big problem is that the big teams have so much more money than teams like Caterham and Marussia. In the end, they [teams such Caterham and Marussia] were bound to drop off and they may not be the last.”
The latest setback ends a miserable period for Banbury-based Marussia after driver Jules Bianchi’s horror smash at the Japanese Grand Prix at the start of the month left the Frenchman in a critical but stable condition and fighting for his life.
Just nine teams will now contest the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend, with Marussia’s participation in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix in serious doubt.
Mosley, the head of the sport’s governing body between 1993 and 2009, saw his proposals for a cost cap fall through during the latter stages of his term in office while plans for a similar policy to be introduced next season collapsed earlier this year.
Teams such as Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes have the capacity to spend in excess of £200m a year on their F1 programmes, while the likes of Marussia and Caterham exist on considerably less.
THE MARUSSIA STORY
Rise and fall of the Banbury team
■ The team started racing in 2010 as Virgin Racing until adopting their title sponsor a year later and becoming Marussia Virgin Racing, ahead of further rebranding in 2012 when the team became known as Marussia
■ Marussia scored its first championship points at the Monaco Grand Prix in May 2014 when Jules Bianchi finished in ninth place
■ France’s Bianchi suffered serious head injuries during a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix on 5 October
■ A miserbale period is compounded when Marussia entered administration on 27 October 2014