Marussia comeback dashed by rivals

Marussia's bid to return to the Formula 1 grid in 2015 was dealt a blow when rival teams voted not to allowing them to race a 2014 car.

Marussia went into administration last season and missed the final three grands prix of the championship.

The situation appeared to have taken a turn for the better when, earlier this week, news broke that a group led by former Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King was planning a buy-out.

That, though, reportedly depended on whether or not the team would be permitted to race a 2014 car.

With rivals voting no in a meeting on Thursday, Marussia's chances of being on the grid in Australia were dealt a serious blow.

"They wanted to come in with last year's car and it didn't get accepted,"  Bernie Ecclestone explained to the Independent newspaper. "It needed all the teams to agree and there were three or four of them that didn't agree.

"Maybe the other teams would have liked to use last year's car. The trouble was that you can't do these things for one team, you have got to do it for everybody."

The F1 supremo reckons money may have played a role in the decision as the rival outfits will now each take a share of the £34m Marussia would have been awarded in prize money for finishing ninth last season.

"The money that they should have got gets distributed amongst the teams that are racing. That’s a pretty good reason I suppose," he added.