Yesterday, it was announced that the assets from the defunct Marussia F1 team will go on auction next month, auction firm CA Global Partners has announced.
Despite scoring two World Championship points earlier in the season, Marussia run into financial troubles from which the backmarker outfit was unable to recover.
Missing the final three races of the season after going into administration, the team had hoped to find a buyer but with none forthcoming has had to close its doors.
Assets from the Marussia F1 team will now go on auction next month “by Order of G. Rowley & G. Carlton-Kelly of FRP Advisory, Joint Administrators of Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited T/A Marussia F1 Team.”
Items up for auction include race cars without the engines, trailer fleet, spare parts including race parts and tools as well as server equipment. The auction will take place on 16 and 17 December.
But all you can say is that it is sad to see a small independent team like Marussia end their 2014 season in this way. After achieving tenth in the Constructors Championship from their rivals Caterham in 2013, the pressure was on Marussia to retain this position this season.
But in a brilliant performance from Jules Bianchi at the Monaco Grand Prix, Marussia scored their first and also Bianchi’s first points in the sport with a ninth place finish which was a fantastic achievement for them and saw them place ninth in the Constructors Championship. As we all know, Marussia have struggled with their finances over the past few years which saw them head into administration just before the United States Grand Prix and thereby miss the final three races of the season in order to find a new buyer or new investors that could secure the future of the team.
However, they couldn’t find any investors to save the team in time they were allocated by the administrators and now we are seeing Marussia being auctioned off in order to repay their creditors the money that they are owed. And it really is a shame that Marussia are going up for auction, with the loyal staff being made redundant as a result of this process and for me most importantly; they couldn’t be saved for the racing team that it will always be remembered by Formula One fans for. And for me Marussia will be remembered for trying to provide a challenge to the rest of the grid, bringing the name of Jules Bianchi to the attention of the fans and also doing the best with what they had at their disposal and beating their rivals Caterham in 2013 and even this season.
Even though Marussia may not be with us in Formula One in the way we wanted them to be, the Marussia team will never be forgotten from the sport and will always remain in the hearts of their loyal fan base who have supported them from day one and will continue to do so even though they cannot take their slot on the Formula One grid.
