At a time Vijay Mallya is denying that he has any intention of selling his team - merely re-naming it - and the bones of the Manor team are picked clean, it is claimed that a China-based consortium is looking to enter the sport as early as next season.

Auto Motor und Sport quote Red Bull boss Christian Horner who claims approaches have been made to a number of his employees.

"Some of our people were asked if they would be interested in working for a new team," he says.

While the funding would come from China, the prospective team would be based in 'Motorsport Valley', the technological triangle that plays host to numerous F1 teams, with Auto Motor und Sport claiming that some former Manor employees have already been taken on.

At FOM, Ross Brawn revealed that in recent months a number of prospective new teams have approached him.

"About ten people have asked," he said. "But they all wanted to know whether we would change the rules so that new teams would be allowed a slice of the prize money distribution.

"However, we told them that we are bound by existing contracts until 2020," he added.

Would be entrants need an initial financial guarantee of around $20m, and also submit to due diligence to prove they have the financial and technical resources for at least the next five years.

With next to nothing known about the team, Horner has serious doubts.

"To start next year with a new team, it is actually already too late," says the Briton.