Teams come and teams go in Formula One. That's just how things go. But one team's loss can mean another team's step forward, and that appears to be the case here with these two fledgling outfits.
On the one hand, we have Marussia, the expansion team that started out as Virgin Racing in 2010 and which recently went bankrupt, forced to miss the last few races of this past season. On the other, we have Haas, the new American entry put forth by a NASCAR team owner and slated to join the grid in 2016 (the season after next). Haas plans to run its operation out of its facility in North Carolina, but will need a European base from which to orchestrate its assault, especially on the European rounds that still constitute the backbone of the Formula One World Championship.
You can see where we're going with this, and that's exactly how it appears to have fleshed out: with Haas looking for a European base and Marussia no longer needing theirs, the latest word from the British motorsport press is that Haas has bought the Marussia headquarters in Banbury – a town just west of Brackley (where the Mercedes team is based) and Milton Keynes (home to Red Bull Racing and the new Honda F1 engine shop) in the same part of England that just about every F1 team and engine supplier (save for Ferrari and Sauber) calls home.
The report from Racecar Engineering magazine also states that Haas may have acquired other assets from Marussia, including data and the designs for the 2015 chassis that the failed team will never get a chance to build, let alone run. Although the entry list for next season includes a slot for both Marussia and Caterham, the liquidation of the former's assets – now slated to take place next month – would ostensibly spell the end for the team that failed to score a single championship point until earlier this season.
As for Caterham, work is reportedly still underway to find a new buyer and get it back on the grid again for next season, but we'll just have to wait and see how that pans out.
On the one hand, we have Marussia, the expansion team that started out as Virgin Racing in 2010 and which recently went bankrupt, forced to miss the last few races of this past season. On the other, we have Haas, the new American entry put forth by a NASCAR team owner and slated to join the grid in 2016 (the season after next). Haas plans to run its operation out of its facility in North Carolina, but will need a European base from which to orchestrate its assault, especially on the European rounds that still constitute the backbone of the Formula One World Championship.
You can see where we're going with this, and that's exactly how it appears to have fleshed out: with Haas looking for a European base and Marussia no longer needing theirs, the latest word from the British motorsport press is that Haas has bought the Marussia headquarters in Banbury – a town just west of Brackley (where the Mercedes team is based) and Milton Keynes (home to Red Bull Racing and the new Honda F1 engine shop) in the same part of England that just about every F1 team and engine supplier (save for Ferrari and Sauber) calls home.
The report from Racecar Engineering magazine also states that Haas may have acquired other assets from Marussia, including data and the designs for the 2015 chassis that the failed team will never get a chance to build, let alone run. Although the entry list for next season includes a slot for both Marussia and Caterham, the liquidation of the former's assets – now slated to take place next month – would ostensibly spell the end for the team that failed to score a single championship point until earlier this season.
As for Caterham, work is reportedly still underway to find a new buyer and get it back on the grid again for next season, but we'll just have to wait and see how that pans out.
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