Manor's hard-earned fairytale story

Exactly a year ago the team formerly known as Marussia was in sporting and financial turmoil, and seemingly already departing through Formula 1's well-travelled exit door.

Twelve months on and the team we now know as Manor is arguably in a healthier state than at any stage since it first entered F1 in 2010.

If not quite the kind of raw material that would move a Hollywood screenwriter to set finger to keyboard, the story of Manor's redemption is among the most astonishing returns from the brink in F1's long and sometimes tempestuous history.

This time last October, Marussia's situation seemed utterly hopeless: the majority shareholder, Russian entrepreneur Andrey Cheglakov, was disenchanted with motorsport and already in effect semi-detached from the team, having shuttered the Marussia road car company several months earlier.

To a majority shareholder who was no longer willing to inject funds into the team, having tried and failed to find a buyer for his stake, add the consequences of Jules Bianchi's catastrophic accident at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Morale was therefore low as the team headed to the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, even for the many who did not yet know that the team had served notice at the High Court in London of its intent to enter into administration.

Marussia co-owner Cheglakov had decided to call time on funding the team before Bianchi's accident © XPB

In effect on home soil given Cheglakov's heritage, a despondent Marussia took to the Sochi track with just one car - driven by Max Chilton - as a mark of respect for Bianchi, who at that stage was fighting for his life in a hospital in Japan.

When the chequered flag fell on that race, it also signalled the end for Marussia as a racing entity. 13 days later, on October 27, the team announced that its parlous financial state would preclude it from competing in the forthcoming United States Grand Prix.

A further 48 hours on and confirmation emerged of the appointment of administrators FRP Advisory with a mandate to assuage creditors - the team's debt stood at £60million - even if that meant selling off physical assets rather than transferring ownership.

Marussia ultimately failed to compete in the final three races of last season, and with Caterham also in the hands of administrators and struggling to find a buyer, F1 faced the prospect of losing four cars and two teams from the grid for 2015.

The fact that the team avoided joining Caterham on F1's lengthy list of failed competitors is thanks, in part, to Bianchi's points-scoring finish in the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.

Bianchi's points ultimately saved Manor © XPB

It helped guarantee Marussia a top-10 place in the constructors' standings for a second consecutive season, and with it a $48million windfall from the prize pot if the team could continue.

The promise of that money was enough of a lure to tempt Irish businessman Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder of energy company Ovo, to stage a salvage operation that resulted in a renamed Manor emerging from administration on February 19, 2015.

With the exception of announcing his arrival on the scene, Fitzpatrick has opted to keep his counsel this season, refusing all requests for interviews.

Fitzpatrick is, to all intents and purposes, quite the silent partner, although he has attended a number of grands prix throughout the course of his tenure.

In essence, what he has helped fund this year has been a lonely back-of-the grid scrap between the team's two drivers, Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, although the latter's seat is being filled for five of the final seven races by Alexander Rossi.

While Manor has toiled in running a car with an outdated chassis and year-old Ferrari engines, behind the scenes the team has been active both technically and commercially.

Over the past few weeks there has been a transformation inside Manor that suggests for next season it will no longer be in a race of its own at the tail end. This, of course, is very necessary, since the arrival of Haas in 2016 brings the number of teams to 11, and with it a greater need to be competitive in order to secure a top-10 place.

This year Mercedes has been mostly lapping Manor. Next year it will be powering it © LAT

The key element has been the signing of a multi-year contract with Mercedes that will give the team contemporary power units.

While even a Mercedes power unit does not necessarily confer frontrunning status, the cars will also be carrying a transmission and other vital components supplied by Williams, as well as running what will be a new-for-2016 chassis.

There is now a very real prospect that Manor will be in the midfield pack, pushing for points on occasion rather than simply hoping others fall by the wayside, allowing them to sneak into the top 10.

Fitzpatrick aside, credit, too, must go to sporting director Graeme Lowdon and team principal John Booth, for it was their tenacity over the grim winter months, when at times all seemed lost, that ensured Manor stayed alive.

Indifferent financial climate aside, Manor's leadership team also had to contend with the inevitable - and occasionally tawdry - F1 politics as some other teams sought to ensure they stayed out.

"It was difficult to see what the future was going to hold on so many fronts," says Lowdon.

"Twelve months ago we were obviously still reeling from the aftermath of Jules' accident, and in the background we were struggling financially.

It looked like Chilton's retirement from Sochi 2014 would be the end of the story © XPB

"We were having board meetings every day and taking advice from specialist practitioners to ensure we made the right decisions.

"We received a lot of help and support emotionally from people in the paddock, but a lot of them weren't aware of the financial and commercial stuff we were having to deal with as well. It was a really stressful time.

"Quite often when companies go into administration they don't come back out of it, so we knew it could spell the end of the team.

"But we had interest from investors, and we knew we were the best proposition for anybody wanting to invest in Formula 1, with a rosy future in terms of income streams.

"And I've said it before, but there is a passion in this team that's second to none, because if you don't have passion then this game is way too hard.

"The emotion does count because there was no way we were going to let the team die.

"There were times when it was difficult to stay motivated, but if you've passion you can do anything.

Against the odds, Manor made it to Melbourne - though getting on track would take longer © XPB

"Mercifully we tied up a deal a couple of days before the final auction [of parts and components] because if that had happened there would have been no way we could have come back. We were that close to going under.

"So when I look back to 12 months ago and compare it to where we are now the difference is just unbelievable - it's night and day."

And with poignant reference to Bianchi's death in July, Lowdon adds: "But that said, there is one guy missing. It doesn't matter what we do, nothing is ever going to replace him."

Naturally, the loss of Bianchi continues to weigh on the team.

But Manor, as Lowdon often remarks, is a team of "real racers" and an example of what can be achieved when people refuse to accept what is supposedly inevitable.

Yes, its fall and rise may have resulted in a number of angry creditors cursing in the team's direction, but its leaders have ploughed on.

We may have witnessed Manor's resurrection at the start of this year, but its true rebirth is surely coming in 2016.