Manor have been here before the 2015 season and managed to get to Melbourne still, there is faint hope.
If anything, the situation back then was worse as the debt’s were far higher than they are today.
The situation is; FRP, the insolvency administrators, have confirmed that no new investor could be found. This is the beginning of the phase in which the employees are paid in January and then dismissed step by step affecting 212 employees.
The next phase, Manor’s assets will be sold to protect the interests of the creditors – including those two cars that were built for the 2017 season.
It is at this point a canny investor would be required to swop in and pick up the pieces for less money than before when the team was a going concern. The conditions of sale mandated by owner Stephen Fitzpatrick would no longer apply.
Manor Grand Prix Racing holds permission to participate in the Formula 1 2017 which in itself would be considered an asset but the buyer would need to act fast in order not to loose too many team members.
Further, the FIA have provisionally agreed to allow Manor to use modified 2016 cars for the first race in Melbourne, they’d likely be open to increase race allowance during negotiations. It’s in the interest for FIA to keep Manor on the grid for 2017.
It could be argued that Liberty Media, should step in to prevent the loss of a team but the debt shortfall would be an unknown to them, as would be the payback. Plus, it simply should not be their job at this stage. Having a less unbalanced payment system is one thing, but the scale of Manor’s financials goes way beyond that unfortunately.
There are still investment opportunities for a canny buyer. KFC giant of Indonesia, Geleal might still hold the answer to Manor’s woe. Indeed Sean tweeted last night that there might still be something coming for 2017.
2017. It's on. Looking forward to the season 👀 #OneGoal pic.twitter.com/74UtKYKoMT
— Sean Gelael (@gelaelized) January 30, 2017
Sean Galeal’s one goal, will be to score high enough at the end of the season, to start getting, at least some, super licence points !!
Ricardo Galeal may have a net worth of $350 million, but he has stated within the last month, that he is interested in getting into F1, but NOT in the near future, so maybe once Sean has amassed enough super licence points,(dont hold your breath), and once the prize money inequality is addressed, (as $350M woud rapidly deplete in F1s current climate),maybe you will find PT Fast Food sniffing round to see what their options are….
Astute observations. In addition however, buying an f1 team on the cheap for a future drive would be entirely possible. Saying one thing and doing another is all part of the game.
Buying cheap now, will cost more money in the long run, and would be a fools errand, granted yes, in the future he would probably have to start from scratch, but start up costs may be cheaper than paying out upwards of $50m a year, when your son is not guaranteed to ever get a super licence….
Well lets hope somebody sees a good deal in Manor, it would be a shame to see the team leave F1
Only sticking points seems to be indemnities, this is probably the nail in the coffin….
“It could be argued that Liberty Media, should step in to prevent the loss of a team but the debt shortfall would be an unknown to them, as would be the payback.”
Ecclestone has long wanted only 10 teams in F1 – it will be interesting to see if he has convinced Liberty of that view.
I’d rather have 15. But who am I? Oh that’s right, a hard-core fan. What do I know…
Unless the payout schedule changes where only the top ten get any money – add the number of teams to 15 and you’ll have 5 teams complaining they get nothing for competing instead of one now.
What Ecclestone was really trying to do was create an American style franchise system where once you were in you were always in and nobody else could join. It increased the value of, particularly for the small teams, as if you wanted to get into F1 you would have to buy an existing team. You couldn’t create a new one.
I’d still want 15. Divide the money amongst 15. Not 10. Simple comme bonjour
Is it within the agreement that Liberty have, to make ex-gratia payments to teams? I have a suspicion that it is not allowed. Teams have to be paid according to the agreement and only the ‘historic’ teams get payments over and above what they get for championship position.
If memory serves correctly, something like happened a few years ago – possibly with Lotus/Caterham or HRT – and a ‘special’ payment was outside the rules laid down.