As talks with would-be investors continue, "prospects have improved considerably" for Manor.

At a time fans, teams and drivers are wishing their lives away, counting the days to the launches, longing for the opening session in Melbourne, in Banbury staff are living moment by moment as discussions are held in the hope of saving the British F1 team.

At a time Ferrari is reported to be in danger of losing as much as £80m in prize money, Manor can only dream of such problems, aware that such an amount would ensure its survival for several more years, allow decent growth and help recruit a couple of drivers of its own.

With Administrators FRP Advisory having already discovered the cash to retain staff until the end of the month, talks with a couple of potential investors (saviours) continue. Indeed, the BBC claims that the team's "prospects have improved considerably over the last few days".

While the identity of possible investor remains a mystery, the other is understood to be Indonesian businessman Ricardo Galael, who among his other interests holds the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise for Indonesia. Indeed, the KFC logo has been prominent on his son's car in GP2, Sean Galael contesting the series with Campos - ironically one of the other teams originally enticed to enter F1 in 2010 along Tony Fernandes' Lotus and Virgin which was to eventually morph into Manor.

The FIA has already agreed to allow the struggling team to use a modified 2016 car for the opening races of the season, which would help save money what with it not having to undergo the costly mandatory crash test having passed it already. However, the car would still need to comply with the 2017 aero regs.