Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Marussia Administration, 3-Car Teams, More
As we come toward the end of October, it's difficult to recall a more tumultuous month in recent Formula One history.
Marussia became the latest casualty of the ever-increasing cost of competing, following Caterham into administration on Monday.
A "serious" rescue deal is reported to be on the table and they retain ninth in the constructors' championship for the time being, but they will not race at the United States Grand Prix this coming weekend.
The field will drop to 18 cars for the first time since Monaco 2005. The qualifying format may need to be modified in response.
Former FIA president Max Mosley has called for changes to be made to the way the sport's revenues are distributed. If nothing is done, he believes more teams could fall by the wayside.
But Bernie Ecclestone's willingness to have teams field a third car shows no sign of flagging. The latest on this subject is that big teams may actually have to supply the small ones with a car—but not everyone is buying it.
Meanwhile, over at Caterham—or rather, not at Caterham—Marcus Ericsson is busy trying to find a new team for 2015. His manager claims to be speaking to three teams.
Read on for a full roundup of the top stories of the last few days.
Marussia Slide into Administration
1 of 5
Marussia have confirmed they will miss the United States Grand Prix after entering administration.
They join Caterham, who entered administration last week, in missing out. The race in Austin will now feature just 18 cars. Marussia have not yet stated whether they will attend Brazil or Abu Dhabi.
Administrator Geoff Rowley, of FRP Advisory, said in a statement reported by F1Fanatic:
"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 the company into administration.
With the Marussia F1 Team now in administration, the joint administrators have assessed that, given the current financial circumstances of the group, it is not viable for the Marussia F1 Team to participate in the next race, the 2014 Formula One United States Grand Prix, due to take place this weekend in Austin, Texas.
The company has ceased trading while the joint administrators assess the longer term viability of the company in its present form.
Following Austin, there are two further rounds of the 2014 championship remaining, in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi, and the team’s participation in those races 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.
"
Marussia have long survived on a shoestring budget, but owner Andrey Cheglakov appears to have had enough of keeping the team afloat.
But all is not lost, according to reports from Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater. British-Indian brothers Baljinder Sohi and Sonny Kaushal are "serious" about buying the team, which has £30 million of debts.
Max Mosley Calls for Prize-Money Sharing Change
2 of 5
Former FIA president Max Mosley believes more teams could fail if changes are not made to the revenue dispersal structure of F1.
With Caterham and Marussia both in administration, there are few guarantees the rest of the grid is safe. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Mosley said:
"It's not a fair competition any more. The big problem is that the big teams have so much more money than teams like Caterham and Marussia.
In the end, they [teams such as Caterham and Marussia] were bound to drop off—and they may not be the last.
"
The current system of sharing out the vast revenues generated by F1 sees almost half the total profits siphoned off by the promoters. The teams get the rest, but the manner in which it is divided is far from equal.
The constructors' champion will, per Joe Saward, receive $120 million based on revenues of $1.8 billion. The least successful (or rather, the 10th most successful) will get $50 million.
There are other little side deals built in too, adding to the inequality. Ferrari receive a massive slice just for being Ferrari—a staggering $90 million from the figure of $1.8bn. And that's before they get their share of the rest.
Mosley believes the split should be equal, with success bringing the teams other benefits.
"From a sporting point of view, the sport should split the money equally and then let the teams get as much sponsorship as they can.
A team like Ferrari will always get more sponsorship than Marussia, but if they all get the same basic money, then they all start on a level-playing field, particularly if you have a cost cap where you limit the amount of money each team is allowed to spend.
"
A foolproof way of enforcing a cost cap is yet to be found, but the prize money split could definitely be looked at and easily altered if everyone agreed. Preferably, there would also be a far smaller slice for the promoters.
Sadly, that would require those who benefit from the current system—from Ecclestone and his fellow rights-holders who strip hundreds of millions out of the sport every year, to Ferrari and the other large teams who receive a far greater slice of the pie—to put their own interests aside for a moment.
And that's about as likely as Elvis returning to Earth aboard an alien spacecraft being pulled by a whole herd of flying pigs.
Maybe if Mosley, then-president of the FIA, hadn't handed his buddy Ecclestone the rights to run the sport for the next 100 years for the ridiculously low price of $313.6 million back in 2001, we wouldn't be in this situation...
Qualifying Format Changes Expected in Austin
3 of 5
Changes may be made to the qualifying format at the United States Grand Prix to reflect the smaller number of entries.
During 2014, six cars have been eliminated in Q1 and a further six in Q2, leaving 10 cars to compete in Q3.
However, the absence of both Marussia and Caterham brings the number of eligible cars down to 18. Furthermore, Sebastian Vettel looks set to sit out qualifying as he will be using a new power unit—which would force him to start from the pit lane.
He is quoted by F1 reporter James Allen, speaking of a pit lane start:
"It looks like it will happen in Austin. The rule is of course completely stupid. So the people turn on the television and see a driver who just stands around and has nothing to do. What does that mean?
There is no point in going out for qualifying when you have to start from the pit lane anyway. Have you perhaps a few suggestions on how I could spend Saturday afternoon in Austin?
"
That would leave just 17 cars taking part, with only one being eliminated in Q1. The 2014 Sporting Regulations (page 26, pdf) only make specific mention of the number of cars eliminated from a 22, 24 and 26-car field.
Fortunately, F1 writer Adam Cooper reported the stewards will have some leeway.
It seems likely they will opt for four cars being eliminated in each of Q1 and Q2, with the usual 10 remaining runners competing for pole in Q3.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Marcus Ericsson Speaking to 3 Teams for 2015
4 of 5
Marcus Ericsson's immediate F1 future is in doubt after his team collapsed, but the Swede is in discussions with three teams for a drive in 2015.
Speaking to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet (English translation by motorsport.com), his manager Eje Elgh said:
"I can't say when something will be done for next year. Whether you're 99.9 per cent sure or 80 per cent sure, you're still not sure. It will take some more time.
The only thing different now [that Caterham are seemingly gone] is that there is now greater competition for the places there are.
We had a list of four teams, but Caterham was already at the bottom of the list.
"
Ericsson hasn't exactly set the F1 world on fire in his debut season. He has been out-qualified 10 times by team-mates, including debutant Andre Lotterer, and over the course of the year has looked significantly slower than usual team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.
His junior formulae record, though decent, doesn't stand out either—Ericsson only won three of his 94 races over five seasons in GP2.
His form has improved in the last few races, but that could be more to do with his car having certain parts which are not present on team-mate Kamui Kobayashi's CT04.
Caterham's new front wing, which provides a significant performance boost, for example—compare these Renault Sport pictures of Ericsson's car from Sochi with Kobayashi's.
So one can only conclude the discussions place little emphasis on Ericsson's talent.
His reported $18 million annual sponsor package, on the other hand...
Ferrari and Red Bull Ready to Go to Three Cars
5 of 5
German publication Auto Motor Und Sport (English translation from motorsport.com) reports Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren are first in line to provide third cars if needed—and two of them have already agreed.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is quoted saying, "We have the capacity at Milton Keynes, and it would also solve our luxury problem of having too many good drivers for too few cars."
Long-term third-car advocates Ferrari have also agreed, while McLaren are stalling amid uncertainty over costs. Mercedes are the back-up option if McLaren say no.
It's unclear exactly how third cars would work.
The widely held belief was they would be operated by the manufacturing team. However, the Daily Mail's Christian Sylt claimed the teams have signed contracts stating they would supply third cars to struggling rivals instead.
He quoted Bernie Ecclestone saying:
"They would supply a third car to someone else so if, for example, Sauber disappeared, a team could do a deal with Sauber. Ferrari could say, 'we will give you a car, all that goes with it, and we want you to put this sponsor on it. You have your own sponsors but we want you to include this one as well and we want you to take this driver.'
The team wouldn't have to go under then would they? If Red Bull decided they would give a car to Caterham for example that could solve their problem.
"
Exactly what the point of Sauber and Caterham existing under such customer car-style thralldom would be, Ecclestone failed to say.
But maybe that isn't how it would work after all. Experienced F1 journalist Joe Saward stated the contracts dealing with such things are strictly confidential—none of the parties, Ecclestone included, are permitted to talk publicly about them.
Therefore, Saward asserts, Ecclestone's comments may not be true, and he's simply making up a story to serve one purpose or another. No confidentiality agreements exist banning him from doing that.
One must admit that the idea that Ferrari or Red Bull would voluntary give another team all the data required to run one of their cars—and the car itself, of course—does seem a little implausible.
We're left to make up our own minds on the subject—but let's hope third cars never appear, so we never get to find out for sure.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
