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US GP: Marussia off the grid too?

LONDON, England - Formula 1's grid may have shrunk to 18 cars by the time the lights go out for the start of the 2014 US Grand Prix on November 2.

Caterham's troubles - with administrators locking the green cars inside the Leafield, England, factory amid an unseemly spat with former owner Tony Fernandes - are now well documented but authoritative publications are now claiming that the similarly struggling back-marker Marussia, rocked recently by Jules Bianchi's life-threatening Suzuka crash, is also in danger of having its engines silenced.

MORE MONEY PROBLEMS

Michael Schmidt, the highly respected correspondent for Germany's Auto Motor and Sport, claims the team has been living "hand-to-mouth" since August's Belgian GP, where Max Chilton almost sat out the race due to "contractual issues".

Schmidt said: "We've now learned that another cash injection is required so that the team can make the trip to Austin and Sao Paulo. This is happening while the owner Andrey Cheglakov wants to sell."

Russia's Championat and Germany's Auto Bild are reporting similarly, adding that a deadline is looming for Marussia to make overdue payments to engine supplier Ferrari and Italian reports suggest that Ferrari has already ceased to supply technical and installation information about the customer engine for 2015.

Writing in Switzerland's Blick, veteran journalist Roger Benoit agreed that the situation at Caterham and Marussia could mean only 18 cars line up on the Austin grid.

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.
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