Paul Jeffrey
Premium
It has been reported that the Manor Racing F1 team have entered Administration on the eve of the 2017 Grand Prix season, as a deal to secure the future of the British outfit looks to have fallen through.
Just Racing Serives Ltd, the company that operates Manor Racing, have appointed FRP Advisory LLP as joint administrators of the team as efforts continue to find an investor before the season begins at the Australian Grand Prix in March. Manor have been looking to find a new financial backer for the squad having been bankrolled for the last two years by OVO Energy's Stephen Fitzpatrick, who himself took over control of the team from successful British racing team Manor Motorsports.
According to a statement from Geoff Rowley, Joint Administrator, the team are still searching for additional investment and no redundancies from the teams 200+ employees have been carried out so far.
"The team has made significant progress under its new ownership since the start of 2015, the highlight of which included securing a constructors championship point in the preceding F1 season, but the position remains that operating a F1 team requires significant ongoing investment," he said in a statement.
"During recent months, the senior management team has worked tirelessly to bring new investment to the team to secure its long term future, but regrettably has been unable to do so within the time available. Therefore, they have been left with no alternative but to place JRSL into administration.
"The joint administrators are currently assessing options for the Group."
"No redundancies have been made following JRSL's entering into administration and all staff have been paid in full to the end of December.
"The ongoing staff position will however be dependent on whether new investment can be secured in the limited time available and the joint administrators will continue to review the ongoing financial position."
"During recent months, the senior management team has worked tirelessly to bring new investment to the team to secure its long term future, but regrettably has been unable to do so within the time available. Therefore, they have been left with no alternative but to place JRSL into administration.
"The joint administrators are currently assessing options for the Group."
"No redundancies have been made following JRSL's entering into administration and all staff have been paid in full to the end of December.
"The ongoing staff position will however be dependent on whether new investment can be secured in the limited time available and the joint administrators will continue to review the ongoing financial position."
The latest announcement is troubling news for the little British outfit. Coming off the back of a very successful season that yielded a World Championship point and with the team showing considerable improvements in their overall competitiveness from previous seasons, to still be struggling to find a suitable investor is indeed a worrying sign. With pre season testing fast approaching the squad may struggle to pull together a deal to save the team in the limited time remaining before the cars are due to hit the track for the first time in Barcelona.
If Manor were to fold before the season begins, Sauber refugee Filipe Nasr may find himself out of options for a drive next season which would be a sad end to the likeable Brazilians short Grand Prix career.
What do you think the chances of Manor appearing on the F1 grid in 2017? Does the administration announcement surprise you? Let us know in the comments section below!
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