06/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Force India's deputy team principal Bob Fernley has defended his team's decision to block Marussia using a 2014 car this year.
The British outfit, which at the end of 2014 seemed dead and buried, appeared to rise phoenix-like from the flames this week when it was announced that it would exit administration of 19 February, ironically the day at which the second pre-season test gets underway at Barcelona.
At the same time it was claimed that former Sainsbury's boss Justin King is heading the consortium aiming to buy the team, in association with Graeme Lowdon and John Booth.
However, at yesterday's meeting of the F1 Strategy Group in Paris, Marussia's proposed return to the grid, albeit with a 2014 car, was blocked.
It was subsequently revealed that the initial bar to the British outfit's return was Force India, which only joined the five permanent teams that comprise the Strategy Group this year on account of finishing sixth in the 2014 standings. Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA make up the remainder of the group.
Fernley has defended the move to block Marussia's return (with a 2014 car) a move that would have needed unanimous agreement.
"The Strategy Group was faced with an application for Marussia's 2014 cars to compete in the 2015 championship," said Fernley, according to the Press Association. "During the meeting it emerged there were compliance issues and that the application lacked substance. Equally, the speculative application submitted contained no supporting documentation to reinforce the case for offering special dispensation. For example, no details were supplied of who the new owners would be or the operational structures that would be put in place.
"Given the lack of information, uncertain guarantees, and the speculative nature of the application, the decision was taken that it is better to focus on ensuring the continued participation of the remaining independent teams," he added.
Ironically, when it was not a member of the Strategy Group, the Silverstone-based outfit questioned the legality of its decisions, which have to be rubber-stamped by the F1 Commission, which includes all the team, anyway.
Furthermore, on the day that Marussia exits administration and testing gets underway at Barcelona, Force India is likely to be fielding its own 2014 car having claimed its 2015 contender will not be ready until the next test a week later. This week's admission by the Silverstone team comes at a time when there is increasing speculation regarding its finances and whether its new car will be ready in time for Melbourne.
Perhaps Bernie Ecclestone is correct when he claims that the real reason for the objection is the £35m prize pot at stake, which, should Marussia not appear, would be divided between the teams.
"It wasn't the only reason for Marussia being given a red light," Ecclestone subsequently told the Independent. "The money that they should have got gets distributed amongst the teams that are racing. That's a pretty good reason I suppose,"
However, there is now talk of Marussia missing the opening three races and popping up in Bahrain with a new car.
Which would be great, if only to teach the self-interest mob a lesson.