“Three or four teams” voted against Marussia’s request

After the Formula 1 Strategy Group decided to deny potential buyers of Marussia the right to run an improved version of its 2014 car, Bernie Ecclestone, the president of the Formula One Group, spoke to our British colleagues at The Independent.

« They wanted to come with last year’s car and it was not accepted, » he summarized. « All the teams had to agree, and there were three or four that did not give their approval. » Among the six teams represented in the Group, Force India – despite leading the “rebellion” of the smaller teams at the end of the 2014 season – reportedly voted against, according to the BBC, presumably along with Red Bull, as Helmut Marko expressed his opinion to that effect during the Jerez tests.

It is a bonus of 34 million pounds (approximately 45 million euros), corresponding to the ninth place in the 2014 constructors’ standings, that Marussia’s rivals should share if the structure’s absence is confirmed. The money they should have received will be distributed among the teams that will compete. It’s a very good justification, I suppose, added Ecclestone.

Placed under judicial administration last October – a few weeks after the serious accident of Jules Bianchi during the Japanese Grand Prix – the structure engaged under the Manor GP license seemed in a position to survive thanks to the arrival of a group of investors led by Justin King, former CEO of the British supermarket chain Sainsbury. However, the realization of this takeover depended on the decision made during the meeting of the Strategic Group, composed equally of representatives from the FIA, the commercial rights holders, and the teams (Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, and Force India).

The interest for the buyers in running a modified 2014 car was to more calmly, especially financially, approach the 2015 season while laying the groundwork for building a chassis for 2016. However, according to Bernie Ecclestone, this situation might not have pleased everyone: « Maybe the other teams would have liked to use last year’s car. The problem was that you couldn’t do that for one team; you had to do it for everyone. »

As a reminder, at the end of 2014, Caterham, then in search of an investor, had obtained from the F1 Commission (a proposal body composed of representatives from all stakeholders in the discipline and all teams) the possibility to race in 2015 with the 2014 car in the event of a takeover.