The team that finishes last will no longer receive any formula one income, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed.
Marussia officials have been puzzling as to why they were not offered a new Concorde Agreement for this season and beyond.
The truth now emerges: F1 chief executive Ecclestone has revealed he has scrapped the $10 million prize-money for any teams that finish the constructors’ world championship outside the top ten.
"They (Marussia) don’t have a commercial agreement because they are not in the top ten. We pay the top ten, that’s what we do," he told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt in the Telegraph newspaper.
"For three years we did something different because we had an agreement with (former FIA president) Max (Mosley) but from now on we will pay the top ten and that is it."
Ecclestone also revealed that the sport is pushing ahead with plans to float on the stock exchange.
"We have agreed to do it," he said. "It will happen this year and it will be up and running."