Marussia is one of the smallest teams and has 168 staff compared to 612 at
Mercedes, the biggest employer. Marussia finished last year in tenth place
and currently lies in the same spot. The private equity division of Lloyds
Banking Group bailed out in April last year when it sold its 25.3pc stake to
Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia, which the outfit is named after.
It gave Marussia a majority stake and it has been trying to attract new
investors.
A Marussia spokesman said its decision last month to suspend its car
manufacturing operations would not affect the team financially since it “has
been an independent operation for some time”. According to the team’s
accounts, it is ultimately owned by the family trust of Russian entrepreneur
Andrey Cheglakov.