Marussia retains hope as auction gets postponed

Some hope of survival remains for the troubled Marussia F1 Team as an auction of the team's remaining assets has been postponed to a later date, allowing the team to continue searching for investors.

The team's future is still unsure, but the deadline appears to have moved ahead as the auction that was set to take place next Wednesday has been postponed by auctioneer GA European Valuations. No reason for given for the move, nor did the company set a new date.

Part of the auction are the team’s 2014 race cars, three GP3 race cars, all 2014 car components and spare parts, plus their race-day pit equipment. It was widely accepted that if the auction would proceed, it would seal the fate of the team.

Former team principal Graeme Lowden however does not give up hope, following the change of plans.

"Technically it’s possible," Lowdon said to Sky Sports. "Manor have been in motor racing for a long time. It’s a very precious team and means a lot to a lot of people and a lot of fans as well. We’re working very, very hard – it’ not easy – it’s still certainly possible for the team to get there and I think it would be good news for Formula One and it would be good for our fans.

"It’s a very precious and special thing when you are involved in the team so it’s not something you want to let go very easily."

The team failed to show up for the final three races of the season and subsequently entered into administration with a total of around 60GBP million. At the time of their collapse, it owed 31GBP million, more than half of which to engine supplier Ferrari, along with 7 million to McLaren, with whom the team had a technical partnership.

It is believed that the team has embarked on serious talks with a new investor and the auction has been postponed or possibly cancelled until there is an outcome from those talks.