Force India: Marussia lacks material

The Strategic Group of F1 which met yesterday in Paris did not validate Marussia's request to compete in the 2015 F1 season with its car from last year, the MR03, adapted to the new regulations. The Russian structure needed the unanimous agreement of the teams present in the Group (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Force India), the FOM and the FIA, but the result quickly went against him.

Force India, the first team to vote, quickly dashed Marussia's hopes by opposing this proposal. " There was compliance issues and the application lacked material. It had no documentation”, explained Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal of Force India. “We did not have details regarding the identity of the new owners or the operational structures. With this lack of information, the absence of guarantees and the speculative nature of the application, we felt it was best to focus on the participation of independent teams still in operation. »

Force India's decision could also have been motivated by economic reasons since the return of Marussia would have an impact on the distribution of commercial rights. The Indian team would not have been the only one to be unfavorable to a return of the Russian team.