Stricken F1 team Marussia to pay creditors just 1.3p on the pound

Marussia, the Formula 1 team, which emerged from administration last month with backing from Ovo Energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick, has revealed that it will pay creditors only 1.3p on the pound.

The team hit the wall in October with total debts of £63.6m including £31.4m owed to more than 200 unsecured creditors. Computer company Dell is owed £390,000, while tire manufacturer Pirelli is due £1m. The outstanding bill to British engineering firm McLaren comes to £7.1m.

But Marussia’s biggest single creditor is Ferrari, which supplied the team’s V6 engines and is owed £15.2m.

According to documents released on Friday by administrators FRP Advisory, the team was rescued with a Company Voluntary Arrangement which required “a contribution to be made by a third party to enable £500,000 to be available to unsecured creditors with an estimated distribution of 1.262p in the pound".

The team has changed its name to Manor Grand Prix and appointed Justin King, the former boss of Sainsbury’s, as its chairman. He has had a rocky start, as the team failed to race in yesterday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton.

This could put the brakes on the team permanently. It skipped three races in 2014 after going into administration and last week F1’s chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, said it “would be history" if it misses any more.

In the year to December 31, 2013, Marussia made a net loss of £11m on revenue of £61.2m. It didn’t let up last year, when its net loss came to £29.2m over the eight months to August 31.

Its main source of funding was investment from Marussia’s ultimate owner, Russian businessman Andrei Cheglakov. It went into administration in October when Mr. Cheglakov stopped paying the bills and most of its 170 staff were made redundant the following month.