Manor set for additional funding from new investor

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Manor owner Stephen Fitzpatrick says a new investor is set to bring additional funding to the team in the near future.

Fitzpatrick took over the team at the start of the 2015 season and brought it out of administration, failing to take to the track at the first race of the year but competing from the second race onwards with a year-old car. Manor closed the gap to the midfield this season - aided by Mercedes engines - and only lost out on tenth in the constructors' championship to Sauber at the penultimate race having scored one point in Austria.

Having been in discussions about potentially selling the team, Fitzpatrick says terms have been agreed with a new investor.

"I can’t talk too much about the specifics but we have been in discussions with several investors, well, for the last six months let’s say," Fitzpatrick said.

"One of the things I was quite clear on, right from the start, was that I accepted that in the current F1, money equals performance, so anything that was going to bring more funding to the team and help the team develop and progress I was very open and if that meant bringing another investor, even a majority investor, that was something I was happy to do.

"We have agreed terms with an investor at the moment and we are still working through that and I can’t really talk more about the specifics."

American businessman Tavo Hellmund has been linked with a takeover of Manor since 2015, when he declared his interest in purchasing the team.

Hellmund was instrumental in bringing F1 back to the United States with the race in Austin, while he also worked on the Mexican Grand Prix which returned to the calendar last year.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.