Manor Racing goes into administration

It was announced yesterday that the company that operates the Manor Formula One team has gone into administration, throwing the team’s future into doubt ahead of the 2017 season.

Following mounting speculation on Friday morning about the outfit’s place on the F1 grid, members of staff were called to Manor’s Banbury headquarters to be told the team had been unable to conclude a deal to secure Manor’s long-term future.

FRP Advisory LLP has been appointed as joint administrators of the Just Racing Services Limited company that operates the British squad, who finished 11th and last in the constructors’ championship standings in 2016.

Joint administrator Geoff Rowley admitted Manor is running out of time to find a solution before the opening race of the season in Australia on March 26.

“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”, said Rowley.

“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.

“The 2017 season commences on 26 March in Melbourne, Australia, and the team’s participation will depend on the outcome of the administration process and any related negotiations with interested parties in what is a very limited window of opportunity.”

Recent discussions with American investors led by race promoter Tavo Hellmund proved unsuccessful, while other possible buyers have not been found as yet. Rowley further said that no redundancies of the 212 staff at the team had been made as yet and confirmed staff had been paid up to the end of December.

“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,” he added.

“Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd, the sister company of JRSL, which has the rights for the team’s participation in F1 is not in administration. We remain highly focused on engaging with interested parties.”

The team’s predecessor, Marussia, went into administration at the end of 2014 when it collapsed with £35 million worth of debts and was forced to skip the final three races of the season. It successfully exited administration in early 2015 and returned to the grid under the rebranded Manor name.

Manor suffered a huge blow at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, when Sauber scored two points to jump Manor in the constructors’ championship standings — costing it millions of pounds in prize money.

From the announcement yesterday morning, it is really sad to hear that Manor have entered administration despite the highlight of Manor's year has been scoring two championship points in Austria and also their best efforts it would seem to find an investment in order to avoid the situation they are currently in.

As the statement from the administrations points out, it is clear that the existing owners and management have tried to do everything possible to make sure the team survives by gaining further investment and sadly have not been able to achieve their objective.

Despite the extenuating circumstances surrounding the team at the moment, I think the team and the administrators have made the correct decision to announce this news while also concentrating on trying to save the future of the team and also its employees who I feel so sorry for during this difficult time.

It is clear that unless the Manor team get the right investors on board who have the funding and investment behind them to ensure they can stay in the sport for the foreseeable future; they may not attend the Australian Grand Prix in March and may have no choice but to leave the sport for good and their employees will lose their livelihoods.

And I really hope that it doesn't happen and that the team working alongside with the administrations find an interested party who has all the investment they need to ensure that they remain in Formula One and get back to racing as soon as possible. But no matter what team or driver you support, it is without question that Manor would be missed in Australia in two months time and I hope that the team gain the investment they need to fight another day and remain in Formula One because they do deserve to be in the sport, they really do.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa