A Brand Used Car!

Photo: XPB Images

Manor's administration saga continues.

Assuming the team can find an eleventh-hour savior (and apparently they're "making progress"), the team has stated that they will have to use their 2016 car in the first three races of 2017.

Autoweek notes that: "For what it's worth, the 2016 car would have no chance of making the 107 percent rule in qualifying against the much faster 2017 machines." Yes, the new cars are expected to anywhere from two to five seconds faster per lap depending on the circuit, reckons new Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas.

The so-called "107% rule" states that any car that fails to run a lap time within 107% of the fastest time in the first qualifying session may not be allowed to start the race. Since the rule was reintroduced in 2011, many teams have failed to meet this threshold for various circumstances, though only perennial backmarker HRT was forbidden from racing. Given Manor's reputation as also being a perennial backmarker, chances are they would be slow enough to be forbidden to start the first three races if they did indeed use their old car.

Hopefully Manor will find an investor and survive. The first three races, however, already look rather bleak.

"Estou de Volta!"

Photo: @MassaFelipe19 (Instagram)

Valtteri Bottas' move to Mercedes is now imminent.

Felipe Massa and Williams have announced that the 35-year-old Brazilian will indeed put his retirement on hold to race for one more season, in a move that now all but confirms Bottas will join Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Massa posted a picture on Instagram breaking the news to his fans, saying, "I want to thank all of you who supported and cried with me. Thank you for all the messages of support and affection for me to return. Thanks Williams Martini Racing for the opportunity and confidence in my work! I'm back!"

Originally, it appeared there would be no room for Massa at Williams in 2017, which forced the Brazilian into retirement after originally stating he wanted to stay in Formula One for a couple more years. My more detailed thoughts on Massa's u-turn can be found here.

I'll have another post up when Bottas is announced at Mercedes.

Photo: Motorsport.com

UPDATE: Couldn't even finish Massa's post before it was confirmed: Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are now teammates at Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Bottas made his debut for Williams in 2013 and has scored nine podium finishes for the Grove-based team, including a third-place drive in Canada last season. The 27-year-old Finn is still looking for his first career F1 win and pole position, though both of those are probably imminent given the power in the car Bottas will be driving next season.

Bottas becomes the third driver to have his ride confirmed today, with Massa and Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber) having confirmed their deals earlier this morning (or afternoon for my European readers) as well. Only Manor still need to confirm their drivers, though that's of course secondary right now given their priority is coming out of administration.

An Offer to Buy a Team

Photo: Motorsport.com

As I noted earlier, Manor are back in administration. Their hopes of staying on the grid, however, just got a bit of a boost.

Motorsport.com is reporting that an offer has been made to purchase the team; however, the deal needs to be completed by Friday.

Not much else is known yet. We don't know who this potential buyer is but chances are we will in the coming days. Time is of the essence for Manor right now, which means the team will be working hard to get something done before the deadline passes.

The new season starts in a little more than two months, on March 26 in Australia.

Two Veterans to Attempt Daytona 500

Photo: Las Vegas Review-Journal

It looks like Tommy Baldwin Racing still exists as a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series organization after all, as the team just announced plans to field XFINITY Series regular Elliott Sadler in the Daytona 500. The team will use their familiar No. 7 Chevy with sponsorship from Golden Corral, and yes, if Sadler finishes in the top ten, kids eat free at Golden Corral the Monday after the race.

The second announcement came as a bit of a surprise, however. Brendan Gaughan (pictured) will also attempt to make the race, driving for Mark Beard.

If you don't know who Beard is, you're not alone. His team, Beard Motorsports, competed part-time in 2014 but failed to qualify in every event they entered. There's no word on Gaughan's car number; Beard used No. 75 in 2014 though Gaughan almost always uses No. 62 with his South Point sponsorship.

Good luck to both veteran drivers. Both Sadler and Gaughan never really got a chance to show what they were capable of in Cup. Hopefully they'll both make the race and enjoy a strong outing.

Bye-bye Carl?

Photo: Fox Sports

As if one shocking retirement weren't enough this offseason...

Carl Edwards, a 13-year NASCAR veteran who drove for Joe Gibbs Racing this past season, nearly winning the championship, is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow. Reigning XFINITY series champion Daniel Suárez is expected to replace him.

I agree with Fox Sports analyst and former NASCAR crew chief Jeff Hammond: there must be a monumental reason behind this. Edwards is only 37, not quite as young as Nico Rosberg (31) but certainly younger than several active drivers, including reigning champion Jimmie Johnson (41). He still has at least two or three years left in his prime and he drives for one of NASCAR's strongest teams, making this decision even more puzzling.

Rosberg admitted he would have stayed in Formula One had he not won the World Championship. But he did, and gets to go out on top. Edwards came within ten laps of winning the championship but ultimately fell short. My hope is that, like Rosberg, Edwards simply believes it's time to hang up the helmet.

I certainly hope there's not a more serious issue going on that would force him to step away. We'll find out after a JGR press conference tomorrow.

Another One Bites the Dust

Photo: Motorsport.com

Even if Manor do survive this offseason, Esteban Gutiérrez won't be one of their drivers.

In fact, he won't be anyone's driver, at least not in Formula One. Numerous reports surfaced today that Gutiérrez is instead finalizing a Formula E deal for the remainder of 2016-17 and beyond.

While there's no word on when the deal will be announced, Gutiérrez already seems committed to running the Mexico ePrix in April. As a native Mexican, Gutiérrez should be able to bring nothing but added interest to that race.

As an American, I'm obviously a big Haas F1 fan. I must say, Gutiérrez didn't impress me much this year. He always seemed a step behind teammate Romain Grosjean and didn't always have a very good attitude either. Hopefully the former Ferrari development driver can find more success in Formula E.

Manor into Administration...again

Photo: Associated Press

It's official: Manor have entered administration (bankruptcy) for the second time in three offseasons, casting the team's future into further uncertainty.

The team's predecessor, Marussia F1 Team, also entered administration after the 2014 season before being rebranded at the eleventh hour, starting 2015 as Manor Marussia F1 Team. In 2016, the constructor became known as Manor Racing MRT.

Manor were poised to finish tenth in the Constructors' Championship this season after Pascal Wehrlein's top-ten finish in Austria. However, Felipe Nasr's ninth-place run in Brazil for Sauber bumped Manor into eleventh and cost the team millions of pounds in prize money.

At this point, I'm confident Manor can still find an investor to save their place on the grid next season. They've done it before, after all, and considering they've been working on their 2017 car since last January, it would really be a shame if they weren't a part of F1 next year.