'Only one week left' to save Manor

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Manor F1 Team may have as little as one week remaining to find a new investor if it is to salvage its spot on the Formula One grid in 2017, according to reports.

Just Racing Services Ltd, the company that operates the race team, went into administration last week. Now the team faces a race against time to be ready for the start of the 2017 season.

While the new car is ready to go into production at the team's facility in Banbury, the administrators have blocked any extra spending required to produce new car components for 2017 until a viable buyer for the business can be found.

F1 grid could lose team as Manor's future grows dim

Sources close to Manor said that unless the car can go into production by the end of next week, it will be too late for them to make it onto the grid for the first race of the season Melbourne, Australia on March 26.

The final cut-off deadline for Manor is reported to be January 20, after which the Grand Prix grid will almost certainly be reduced to just ten teams in 2017.

Manor was hit hard financially when it lost out to Sauber in its battle for tenth place on the last year's constructors championship as a consequence of Felipe Nasr's top ten finish for Sauber in Brazil.

Losing that crucial position reportedly cost the team more than £10 million in prize money. Since then, Manor has failed to find new investors over the winter, with a mooted takeover bid from American entrepreneur Tavo Hellmund failing to materialise.

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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.