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The defunct Marussia Formula One team is selling its assets in an online auction
Buyers have a unique chance to buy a 2013 F1 car
Max Chilton's racesuit, a steering wheel and a variety of car parts are also for sale
Administrators for Marussia are still hoping to find a buyer so the team can race in 2015
Administrators for the Marussia Formula One team are putting its assets up for sale at auction.
A lack of funding saw the team miss the final three races of the 2014 season. After falling into administration, Marussia ceased trading on November 7 with around 200 staff losing their jobs.
The team is still named on the official entry list for the 2015 season, which begins in Australia on March 15, but a new buyer has yet to be found.
The online auction, organized by administrators FRP Advisory, is another death knell for the team’s ambitions to re-join the grid.
A source close to the process said that efforts to find a new buyer are continuing but that there was nothing to prevent next week’s auction going ahead.
It is understood that an investor was close to finalizing a deal to buy Marussia on the eve of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
But the source added it would now take a “last-minute miracle” to find another new buyer and call off the auction.
The Caterham F1 team, which entered the sport at the same time as Marussia in 2010 season, is also in administration and searching for a new injection of funds.
Caterham used crowd funding to raise enough cash to race in Abu Dhabi but that is not a realistic funding option for a full season, which costs at least $70m.
Meanwhile, the administrators for Marussia are focused on generating funds through next week’s auction to pay the team’s creditors.
The live online sale of Marussia’s assets takes place on December 16 and 17 through the auctionhq.com website.
The plight of the Marussia team gives motorsport collectors and F1 fans a unique chance to get their hands on some amazing pieces of F1 kit.
The star lot is the 2013 race car – although with a dummy engine, gearbox and steering wheels its new owner won’t be able to drive home in it.
A functioning steering wheel from the 2010 car, a collection of exhaust parts, alloy wheels and a gearbox assembly, including suspension arms and brake calipers, are also some of the mechanical goodies up for grabs.
There is also a chance to buy driver Max Chilton’s race suit and a collection of team shirts and baseball caps.
The “Everything Must Go” sale also includes more mundane items such as the reception desk from the factory’s headquarters in England, cordless drills and storage shelves.
A signed photograph of injured racer Jules Bianchi competing at the Monaco Grand Prix lends a note of poignancy to the auction.
The Frenchman collected the first ever points for Marussia this season by finishing ninth at the race around the streets of Monte Carlo but the 25-year-old is now battling severe head injuries.
Bianchi crashed in difficult conditions during October’s Japanese Grand Prix and is now being treated at a French hospital.
While the online auction of Marussia assets presents a chance to buy some very special Christmas presents for the F1 fan in your life, the team will be hoping for some festive good cheer – and a last-minute buyer.
Read: Marussia Formula One team folds
