The move will leave just nine teams and 18 cars on the starting
grid for the race in Austin, Texas, which is followed immediately by
the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo. The season's finale is in Abu
Dhabi on Nov. 23.
Caterham went into administration last week, with their factory
closed and the staff told to stay away until further notice.
"With the existing shareholder unable to provide the required level
of funding, the (Marussia) 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," said FRP's joint administrator Geoff Rowley.
"Therefore, they have been left with no alternative but to place the
Company into administration."
The news was expected, with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone
telling Reuters on Saturday that neither team would be going to
Austin.
There has been no comment from Marussia, who are ninth in the
championship, since last week. Their entry is held officially by
Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited with Russian Andrei Cheglakov the
majority shareholder.
Reports have for some time indicated that Cheglakov, whose Marussia
sportscar company closed in April, was not prepared to put any more
money into the team and was seeking an exit if no buyer was
forthcoming.
NO REDUNDANCIES
The Ferrari-powered team were already reeling from the
life-threatening injury suffered by their French driver Jules
Bianchi in Japan three weeks ago and entered only one car at what
was nominally a home race in Russia.
Bianchi, 25, remains in a critical condition in hospital in Japan
with serious brain trauma after crashing into a recovery tractor at
Suzuka.
Malaysian-registered Caterham are 11th in the championship and have
yet to score a point.
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The absence of the two struggling British-based teams from Texas
means none of the three newcomers that entered the sport in 2010
remains on track. The third, Spanish-based HRT, folded at the end of
2012.
Rowley said that the administrators had assessed that it was not
viable for Marussia, given their current financial circumstances, to
take part in the next race.
"The Company will continue to operate while the joint administrators
assess the longer term viability of the Company in its present
form," he added.
Marussia's participation in Brazil and Abu Dhabi remained in doubt
and will depend on the outcome of the administration process and any
related negotiations with interested parties.
However, Rowley recognized there was "a very limited window of
opportunity".
The administrator said no redundancies had been made and all of the
nearly 200-strong staff at the Banbury-based team had been paid in
full to the end of October.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ossian Shine)
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