Marussia could miss Austin?

[Pontlieue]

According to several media, including Auto Motor und Sport, Marussia needs attitional funding to make it to Austin and Sao Paulo.

So F1 could be down to an 18-car grid at Austin...

At the same time, Autosport reports that third cars won't be mandatory for 2014.

[GTRMagic]

Story Here

18 cars? boo..

[ger80]

The contract with CVC would not valid anymore?

[bella]

that'd be crap news. i figured they'd make it with one car, but not two. but then what's the point in going all that way and running only 1 car?

[Nikki Katz]

I guess it's not a surprise, but it's still rubbish watching F1 crumble.

[Nicholosophy]

F1 is certainly not what she used to be

[Mike Harte]

Marussia's absence in Austin now confirmed by the BBC, quoting Ecclestone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29770496

[wolfhound]

Its a sad but realistic reflection on F1 if we loose 2 teams because of a totally unsustainable financial model that we now have if F1.
I suspect that there are one or two other teams that are facing severe financial difficulties as well.

[bella]

there's definitely one not far off the position caterham and marussia are in. thought a second one had sorted themselves out a bit?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Marussia's absence in Austin now confirmed by the BBC, quoting Ecclestone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29770496

Its at Autosport too Here

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by bella

there's definitely one not far off the position caterham and marussia are in. thought a second one had sorted themselves out a bit?

Sauber or Lotus? Or Force India?

[JacobP]

I think one significant problem here is that the entry of new teams into F1 has almost stalled. I think it's not surprise that new teams fail one after another. You can't expect them to take on Ferrari or even score points in their first few seasons. You also can't expect them to make it in the long run. Perhaps one out of five, or one out of ten new teams could make it into F1 midfield. However, in the last five years we have seen only three new teams in the sport. Why?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by JacobP

I think one significant problem here is that the entry of new teams into F1 has almost stalled. I think it's not surprise that new teams fail one after another. You can't expect them to take on Ferrari or even score points in their first few seasons. You also can't expect them to make it in the long run. Perhaps one out of five, or one out of ten new teams could make it into F1 midfield. However, in the last five years we have seen only three new teams in the sport. Why?

Engine prices more than doubled from the V8 to the turbo era..

Few teams came in with bucketloads of commercial sponsors, which then put them at the mercy of unrated pilots introducing brands to the team in return for a seat

There would have been some ego in there too.. From owners especially..

[DS"]

While I don't feel much pity for Caterham's financial troubles (Other than sympathy for those, who are out of a job, of course), I really pity Marussia. First the tragedy at Suzuka, now the very real threat of bankruptcy. I hope that they will be able to turn things around. Maybe they can hook up with Collin Kolles...nah, bad idea. But maybe they find a proper investor, who's willing to work with them .

[Nicholosophy]

HRT. Marussia/Virgin/Manor and Caterham/Team Lotus all joined to be part of the new budget conscious era of F1 featuring budget caps and so on. They instead had to deal with spiralling costs from day one. They were all sold a dud and have tried their best to keep the doors open considering the circumstances.

The only reason that Caterham and Marussia have lasted longer than HRT is because they have each scored some "Bernie money" from being 10th. Sad but not surprising.

[GTRMagic]

Joe Saward's View

Wonder if Mr Ecclestone might bring forward the 2015 payments to Marussia (as he reportedly did for Tyrrell many moons ago..) to make sure there are 20 cars on the grid in Brazil & Abu Dhabi

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Joe Saward's View

Wonder if Mr Ecclestone might bring forward the 2015 payments to Marussia (as he reportedly did for Tyrrell many moons ago..) to make sure there are 20 cars on the grid in Brazil & Abu Dhabi

Doubt it, he is just needs one more team to go and he will have his 3 car teams that he seems to want.

His only problem is Haas joining in 2016 or the existing teams not liking the idea of 3 car teams judging by the sounds coming from some of them.

[Nikki Katz]

Haas won't show up unless the costs are controlled. They seemed to be strongly linked to Ferrari, but the proposal to un-ban chassis sharing failed.

Marussia have done a good job given the circumstances. Caterham too up until a year or so ago. They're failing because the promises made to them by Max were broken by Bernie and the manufacturers.

16 cars next year?

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Nicholosophy

HRT. Marussia/Virgin/Manor and Caterham/Team Lotus all joined to be part of the new budget conscious era of F1 featuring budget caps and so on. They instead had to deal with spiralling costs from day one. They were all sold a dud and have tried their best to keep the doors open considering the circumstances.

The only reason that Caterham and Marussia have lasted longer than HRT is because they have each scored some "Bernie money" from being 10th. Sad but not surprising.

Yes it sucks....

[TzeiTzei]

Originally Posted by Nicholosophy

The only reason that Caterham and Marussia have lasted longer than HRT is because they have each scored some "Bernie money" from being 10th. Sad but not surprising.

The only reason is that their owners have pumped money into the teams to keep them going. Atleast in case Marussia we are talking about a sum of 100-200 million euros (I remeber reading about a sum of 140m£ at some point), and I guess they've just about had enough of F1.

And that really is the problem. Tail end teams can not generate enough income to survive. Sooner or later their owners will stop funding them. In many sports the prize money system helps the minnows, because it's good for the sport. In F1 it is exactly the opposite, and I have feeling that sooner or later the greedy men in charge of all this will have to admit that current system hurts the sport. But as long as they are making money, they are not going to care. And that is sad.

[Moneyseeker]

All goes to show that to even start in F1 you don't need to be a multi millionaire you need to be a billionaire.

Hass thinks he has it all covered from the article I read, he reckons he can do a 'Red Bull' and increase the sales of his CNC machines by being in F1 sufficient to cover the costs of running the team.....

In which case why didn't he follow the complete strategy of Red Bull and sponsor an F1 team first to see what the likely returns are..

[djinvicta]

Yes. Weve heard all this rhetoric before.

[Paradise City]

In my eyes, Caterham and Marussia have evaporated, Haas won't materialise and neither will that other Kolles effort. We've got 18 cars for next year and even at that, a certain number of the remaining teams could very well combust.

The point is well taken that the accident has cast a spotlight away from the championship and over to the minnows, two of whom have promptly imploded, putting the championship and its future under a terrible gloom.

[bella]

marussia =/= caterham.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

In my eyes, Caterham and Marussia have evaporated, Haas won't materialise and neither will that other Kolles effort. We've got 18 cars for next year and even at that, a certain number of the remaining teams could very well combust.

The point is well taken that the accident has cast a spotlight away from the championship and over to the minnows, two of whom have promptly imploded, putting the championship and its future under a terrible gloom.

Mr Haas will be on the grid...