LONDON, England - Formula 1 team Marussia has confirmed that it will join fellow F1 straggler Caterham in not racing in the US leg of the F1 series in Austin, Texas.
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made the announcement on Saturday (Oct 25), news that follows his giving Caterham a special dispensation to miss the Americas' US-Brazil double-header as Caterham is now under administration.
Wheels24 reported on Friday that the grid might shrink from its usual 22 to 18 cars in Austin because Marussia - grief-stricken after the Jules Bianchi crash - is struggling to find a cash injection to ship its cars and equipment from the UK to America.
'NEITHER TEAM IS GOING'
Germany's Auto Motor and Sport's Michael Schmidt had claimed: "This is happening while the owner Andrey Cheglakov wants to sell."
Ecclestone, referring on Saturday not only to Caterham but also Marussia, was quoted by the BBC as saying: "Neither team is going to go to America."
With the grid dipping below 20 cars, the very real prospect of top teams having to field three-car teams has now emerged. However reports indicate that, with teams needing 60 days' notice to trigge a third-car provision, the the International Automobile Federation has ruled-out the measure being introduced soon.