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FIA returns Manor Racing 2017 Formula 1 season entry fee

The FIA has returned Manor Racing's entry fee for the 2017 Formula 1 season as a "gesture of goodwill" towards the creditors of the now defunct outfit.

Manor paid the fee of $522,322 (£394,741), which included the additional $6,194 (£4,681) for the single point it scored in 2016, in November last year.

But hopes of a last-minute rescue deal to keep Manor in F1 ended in March when its chief Stephen Fitzpatrick notified the FIA that his team was formally withdrawing from the series.

In normal circumstances, the entry fee would have been kept by the FIA, but the governing body has chosen to return the money.

"Just Racing Services Limited, the company within the Manor Group responsible for servicing the team went into administration in January of this year and ceased trading later that month," said the FIA in a statement.

"Consequently, the team did not take any part in the 2017 championship.

"The FIA has therefore decided to return the entry fee, less the administrative costs incurred by the Federation as part of the entry process, to the entity within the Manor Group in administration as a gesture of goodwill to assist in payment of outstanding debts."

The administrator claimed around 50 parties had expressed an interesting reviving the team.

But it later said no parties "were able to provide sufficient comfort that they had the cash resources to enable the company to return to solvency".

Manor's parent company Just Racing Services ceased trading earlier this year, with the administrators choosing to auction the team's assets to raise funds to pay creditors.

Two windtunnel models, show cars, five steering wheels, the trailers used to form Manor's F1 paddock base and a hospitality trailer and pit equipment were among the thousands of items that were on offer.

Zdroj: autosport.com