Manor is understood to have just days in which to find a buyer.

The Banbury outfit, which appeared dead and buried at the end of 2014, came back from the brink following the intervention of Ovo Energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick.

However, two years down the line the team finds itself facing extinction yet again, with administrators claiming the company has until January 20 to find a buyer.

As was the case with Caterham, which similarly entered the sport in 2010 enticed by the promise of a budget cap which would level the playing field, the administrators are doing their best to find a buyer but the feeling is the team is already doomed.

Though it is believed the team is ready to proceed with the 2017 car the administrators are understood to have blocked all but the most basic spending therefore everything is on hold.

It was the prize money secured by Jules Bianchi's Monaco ninth-place finish that essentially kept the team going in 2015, and last season it seemed that Pascal Wehrlein's tenth-place finish in Austria might once again save the day.

However, a ninth place for Felipe Nasr in Brazil meant that Sauber leapfrogged the British team to finish tenth in the standings, thereby appearing to seal Manor's fate.

Ironically, Manor appeared to be Nasr's sole means of securing a place on the 2017 grid.