Marussia fail in late bid to race in Abu Dhabi
By Alan Baldwin
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The Marussia Formula One team, who have ceased trading and made all their staff redundant, have failed in a late bid to get back on the road for Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"Devastated for everyone involved at Marussia in the past 24 hours that the hard work trying to get to Abu Dhabi didn't work out as we hoped," their British driver Max Chilton told followers on Twitter on Wednesday.
Sources involved told Reuters there had been increasingly serious talks, culminating in negotiations through the night, to try to rescue the team but ultimately no agreement could be reached.
Hopes of a revival had picked up speed after reports of Ferrari personnel, assigned to work on the engines they supply, wearing Marussia shirts in the Yas Marina paddock on Wednesday.
A source close to the team said staff had been on standby to fly to Abu Dhabi but all the efforts ultimately came to nothing.
News of the failure came on the day that the family of Marussia's critically-injured French driver Jules Bianchi said he had been transferred, still unconscious, to a hospital in France after almost seven weeks in intensive care in Japan.
There will be 10 teams on track in Abu Dhabi after rivals Caterham, who are also in administration and have made 200 staff redundant, raised enough to get them there through a crowdfunding initiative.
Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the BBC that he had helped Caterham.
"They wanted to go, so we've transported them at no cost to them," he said. "We've at least helped them to some degree, something we need not have done. We've even chartered another plane to take them.
"We've gone a little bit over the top, but anyway, we've done it."
Caterham, who have confirmed only that Japan's Kamui Kobayashi will be driving for them, are hoping they can secure a buyer and continue in the sport.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
