“Until November last year I was on wrong side of F1 fence,” Fitzpatrick said.
“My most recent F1 experience was I went to the grand prix in Singapore with a friend, we were walking down the track at the end of the race and looking at all the fans lined up on the pit wall – and looking at garages. I said we need to figure out a way to get over there.
“One of the things that really motivated me was how great a story it could be to figure out a way to help this team cling to survival.”
Fitzpatrick, clearly giddy at the experience but equally forceful in his assessment of the task ahead for Manor, has yet to visit their makeshift factory in Dinnington, Yorkshire, but he has committed his money anyway.
The team have one driver in England’s Will Stevens, and are not far from naming a second. It is understood that King’s son, Jordan, who races in GP2, will not fill the breach. King had been offered the chance to go 50-50 with Fitzpatrick, but decided not to put in his own money.
Manor is one of few success stories to come out of Formula One over the winter, with Caterham collapsing and Force India desperately struggling for money. Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s ringmaster, has even had to bail out the sport’s three smallest with a £20 million advance to make sure they make it to Melbourne.
Old team: Marussia will be known as Manor this season (PA)
But Fitzpatrick, King, and Graeme Lowdon, sporting director, said they were expecting no handouts from Ecclestone. “We knew the rules when we got involved, and we plan to stick to them,” Fitzpatrick said.
The 37-year-old joked: “We are not expecting to win any races – at least not until half way through the season.”
Manor have had to desperately modify their existing car so that it meets the 2015 rules, and plan to introduce a brand new model midway through the season. They will now begin the search for sponsors and the long road to clawing themselves into competitive order.