Team profile: Marussia

Finally there are chinks of light for Marussia. For two years they struggled even to out-pace hand-to-mouth HRT but in 2012 there were clear steps forward.

Marussia facts and stats

  • Nationality: British
  • Headquarters: Banbury, Oxfordshire
  • Debut season: 2010
  • Drivers: Luiz Razia and Max Chilton
  • Test/reserve drivers: TBC
  • Team principal: John Booth
  • Technical director: Nikolai Fomenko
  • Engine: Cosworth V8
  • 2012 position: 11th

After splitting with their former designer Nick Wirth, Marussia took design in-house, and employed veteran ex-Renault/Benetton/Toleman engineer Pat Symonds to run the engineering side.

The car was again designed by computational fluid dynamics but a deal with McLaren got them access to a wind tunnel at last and progress was palpable.

Marussia moved forward as the year went on and began to give Caterham something serious to think about. From 4.5% adrift of the ultimate pace at the start of the year, they were 2.5% off by the end.

Moving forward from there, with limited resources, won't be easy. But at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.