Manor Racing Team: The last victim of the 2010 hopeful batch

In 2021 the time has finally come: the Formula introduces a budget limit. A 'finally' is the right word, because this idea is by no means new. More than ten years ago, plans for this were worked out to such an extent that it attracted three new teams to Formula 1. However, an actual limit never came and so those teams have all disappeared.

One of the teams that wanted to take advantage of Max Mosley's radical plan to only allow a budget of 40 million was Virgin Racing. Richard Branson, the big boss and founder of Virgin, was involved in keeping Brawn GP alive a year earlier after the sudden departure of Honda, but abandoned a full acquisition due to the enormous costs.

The team without a wind tunnel

With plans for smaller budgets in mind, he set up his own team and immediately caused a sensation that first season by developing a car without a wind tunnel. Designer Nick Wirth, who had been responsible for Simtek in the past, had designed the car entirely using computer models.

As a result, Virgin Racing was the only team that managed to keep to that imaginary limit of £40 million for that first season. In spite of that, the team didn't hit a bad figure that year. In the second half of the season the team was consistently faster than direct competitor HRT and they were also able to fight with Lotus.

The big problem, however, was the gap with the other teams. The three newcomers never came close to the traditional teams. A situation that did not improve in 2011. With Jean Todt at the helm of the FIA, the budget limit was no longer a priority.

A Russian takeover

Branson had been out of the picture for some time. He had taken part in the adventure to fight with airplane buddy Tony Fernandez (Air Asia) and had lost. At the end of 2010 he therefore sold his team to the Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia Motors and from 2012 the team went through life as Marussia F1 Team.

This would prove to be their most successful period. The team was run by Manor Motorsport, a team that had already made good progress in the lower classes and was part of Marussia Motors. While HRT disappeared from the scene, competitor Caterham (previously Lotus) was structurally defeated from 2013 onwards.

Successes with Jules Bianchi

This successful period was largely due to Jules Bianchi. The talented Frenchman managed to score the first points of the team at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2014, which even defeated Sauber that year in the constructors' championship. At first sight a great season that unfortunately had a very sad end.

Jules Bianchi was in a coma after an accident in Japan (and would die in 2015), while the team was unable to start the last four Grands Prix for financial reasons. A decision that was taken together with Caterham. Caterham would never return, but Marussia made a restart via Manor Motorsport.

The last survivor of the newcomers

Businessman Stephen Fitzpatrick bought the team and despite a difficult start, with Bernie Ecclestone's anger at not appearing at the start of the Australian Grand Prix in 2015, his money enabled the team to continue for another two years.

The first year as Manor Marussia F1 Team with Ferrari engines and in 2016 as Manor Racing Team with the Mercedes engine. The German horsepower helped them that last year to a point with Pascal Wehrlein at the Austrian Grand Prix, making it look like they would beat Sauber again in the constructors' championship for a long time to come.

However, with the big rule changes for 2017 coming up, Fitzpatrick was already looking for new investors. In the end, they did not come and so the doors of the factory in Banbury were closed after more than seven years.

This marked the end of the 2010 class. The teams that had entered with the hope that they could compete with a 'small' budget. Perhaps a new batch will get a fair chance in the coming years.