Marussia’s potential return to Formula One looks to have been blocked by Force India.
The Marussia Formula One team had aimed to return to the sport in 2015 after missing out on the final three races of the 2014 Formula One season after Russian backer Andrey Cheglakov pulled financial backing for the team.
Marussia soon entered administration and had been set to sell off all assets of the team at an auction.
That auction was recently cancelled as the administrators were happy that new investment opportunities to save the team had enough credibility.
Something that had aided Marussia to find investment was their ninth place finish in the constructors championship table.
That finish was worth in excess of £30million, which has in turn been used to help clear the debts and agree a Company Voluntary Arrangement agreed with team’s creditors.
The team were all set to exit administration on February 19th, but it would appear that Force India have thrown a spanner in the works.
At the Formula 1 commission meeting yesterday, the proposal to allow Marussia to take part next season with a 2014 car was blocked.
Whilst a number of teams were against the idea, only Force India actually voted against the plan.
Force India later refused to provide reasons for rejecting the request.
There are two clear potential reasons behind Force India’s decision.
The first would be on the grounds of safety. Regulation changes for 2015 in regards to the front wing would not have been adhered to on Marussia’s 2014 car and it is probably impossible to alter this due to the design of the car.
The second would be self interest, with Force India struggling to get their car out on track for winter testing, they could feel that Marussia have the potential to beat them with last years car and the team are obviously not going to vote to hand an advantage to a rival.
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