RIP Manor Racing (2010-2017)

Post by **Ataxia** » 10 Mar 2015, 08:45

Absolutely delighted for Merhi. He really deserves this opportunity, and I hope he proves his worth.

Post by **Londoner** » 10 Mar 2015, 09:08

Waris wrote:Marciello is about 3 years older than Verstappen. He also has 4 years more experience in single seaters. I therefore don't know what you're talking about.

Well, in GP2 last year, there were moments of Marciello showing his talent on the track, but his season was filled with brain fades and silly mistakes. Whilst I have my reservations about Verstappen being in F1 at such a young age, he comes across as a more complete driver already (if we ignore the last third of the F3 season last year that is.) than Marciello.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 10 Mar 2015, 15:13

Congrats to DTM driver Roberto "Mary" Merhi for landing the 2nd Manor seat. Joining this team at this point makes it look like he really wants to be profiled on the upcoming successor of the old website out of which this board originated from, when he could have a nice, long career in DTM. Here's hoping he can pick up an IIOTR Award on debut, like his teammate did last year.

But really, all the effort the "back row boys" put in, should be rewarded with a better car.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 10 Mar 2015, 16:35

Yannick wrote:Congrats to DTM driver Roberto "Mary" Merhi for landing the 2nd Manor seat. Joining this team at this point makes it look like he really wants to be profiled on the upcoming successor of the old website out of which this board originated from, when he could have a nice, long career in DTM. Here's hoping he can pick up an IIOTR Award on debut, like his teammate did last year.

But really, all the effort the "back row boys" put in, should be rewarded with a better car.

While Merhi is a really good single-seater driver, his DTM results weren't quite as impressive, so I doubt his DTM career would have lasted long anyway. That's probably why he went to Formula Renault 3.5 last year. At Manor, the only thing he really can do is trying to beat Stevens. He doesn't have much funding, that's also why he doesn't have a full-season contract yet, so it will be difficult for him to stay in F1 long-term, but former F1 drivers always find something in professional Motorsport, so I think even for his long-term career prospects, his return to single-seaters is better than if he had tried staying in DTM.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 10 Mar 2015, 16:36

pi314159 wrote:
Yannick wrote:Congrats to DTM driver Roberto "Mary" Merhi for landing the 2nd Manor seat. Joining this team at this point makes it look like he really wants to be profiled on the upcoming successor of the old website out of which this board originated from, when he could have a nice, long career in DTM. Here's hoping he can pick up an IIOTR Award on debut, like his teammate did last year.

But really, all the effort the "back row boys" put in, should be rewarded with a better car.

While Merhi is a really good single-seater driver, his DTM results weren't quite as impressive, so I doubt his DTM career would have lasted long anyway. That's probably why he went to Formula Renault 3.5 last year. At Manor, the only thing he really can do is trying to beat Stevens. He doesn't have much funding, that's also why he doesn't have a full-season contract yet, so it will be difficult for him to stay in F1 long-term. He has talent, but without funding, there are only about 10 seats available in F1. But former F1 drivers always find something in professional Motorsport, so I think even for his long-term career prospects, his return to single-seaters is better than if he had tried staying in DTM.

Post by **mario** » 10 Mar 2015, 21:18

So, a few photos of the MNR-01 being prepared in the pits are coming through:

Now, is it just me, or does the livery of the car have an element of Super Aguri about it? It kind of reminds me a bit of this:

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 11 Mar 2015, 07:05

And is that not how the McLaren-HONDA is supposed to look?!

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 12 Mar 2015, 18:24

Stupid question......is the motor not connected? Or are they running just a roll hoop? That would be awesome. Completely ineffective, but awesome nonetheless.

Post by **mario** » 12 Mar 2015, 20:05

Wallio wrote:Stupid question......is the motor not connected? Or are they running just a roll hoop? That would be awesome. Completely ineffective, but awesome nonetheless.

Going back to the modifications Manor have made to the car, it looks like they've quickly adapted the front of the chassis by constructing a small section that is bracketed to the front of the car, which is a clever stop gap measure.

That way, they can meet the restrictions on the bulkhead height by lengthening the chassis, yet continue to use the old chassis as an interim measure until the full 2015 spec car is complete.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 12 Mar 2015, 20:22

Great info as always Mario. Thank you. And that is pretty clever on the front there, neat outside the box thinking there.

novitopoli · Post by **novitopoli** » 12 Mar 2015, 23:11

People at Manor can't but be praised for the effort they're putting into getting the car running for this weekend. I just hope everything goes well.

Meanwhile some pics of the livery have already appeared online, as the crew brought the cars to scrutineering. Pretty neat red-white-black colors, similar to last year's livery, but there's a kinda astonishing (for a Formula 1 team), though foreseeable lack of sponsors. Nothing apart from the usual Pirelli logo on the nose and an Erreà (an Italian sportswear company, which should be the clothing supplier as far as I understood) logo on the rear wing.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 12 Mar 2015, 23:21

novitopoli wrote:People at Manor can't but be praised for the effort they're putting into getting the car running for this weekend. I just hope everything goes well.

Meanwhile some pics of the livery have already appeared online, as the crew brought the cars to scrutineering. Pretty neat red-white-black colors, similar to last year's livery, but there's a kinda astonishing (for a Formula 1 team), though foreseeable lack of sponsors. Nothing apart from the usual Pirelli logo on the nose and an Erreà (an Italian sportswear company, which should be the clothing supplier as far as I understood) logo on the rear wing.

The aforementioned pictures:

Boy, does this make me excited!

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 13 Mar 2015, 01:14

They'll have a tribute to Jules on the car:

Post by **Londoner** » 16 Mar 2015, 18:21

Manor have severely pissed off Bernie. As if they didn't need more hassle. :/

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 16 Mar 2015, 18:26

East Londoner wrote:Manor have severely pissed off Bernie. As if they didn't need more hassle. :/

Bernie, could you kindly bathplug off, please? Thanks.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 16 Mar 2015, 18:33

East Londoner wrote:Manor have severely pissed off Bernie. As if they didn't need more hassle. :/

To be honest, they should've expected some sort of come back. Clearly if it had been McLaren or someone who sat out the weekend (and perhaps McLaren should've :lol:

) it would've been OK but everyone knows Bernie really wants the small teams out of F1 to make way for the glorious age of three car teams. In situations like this Bernie's pointing the gun but Manor Marussia really loaded the bullets for him.

GwilymJJames · Post by **GwilymJJames** » 16 Mar 2015, 19:28

[devilsadvocate]TBF, Manor did bathplug all in Australia. Why should Shut-Up-Eccles pay to fly two cars and some workmen to Australia if they are nowhere near being ready to participate?

Christ, Hispania launched 8 days before the Bahrain Grand Prix, but had Senna practicing on the Friday, Chandhok qualifying on the Saturday, and were finishing races two weeks later. I know it's all sweet and heartwarming that Manor got to Australia, but if they're not gonna compete what's the point?

Post by **mario** » 16 Mar 2015, 21:06

CoopsII wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Manor have severely pissed off Bernie. As if they didn't need more hassle. :/

To be honest, they should've expected some sort of come back. Clearly if it had been McLaren or someone who sat out the weekend (and perhaps McLaren should've ) it would've been OK but everyone knows Bernie really wants the small teams out of F1 to make way for the glorious age of three car teams. In situations like this Bernie's pointing the gun but Manor Marussia really loaded the bullets for him.

Adam Cooper has claimed that one reason why Bernie is so angry with Manor is because Bernie provided them with an advance payment of $10 million ahead of the Australian GP.

However, it appears that the reason why Bernie made that payment was because the team had promised that they would be racing in Australia, and therefore the funds would be used to get the car up and running in Australia. It seems that Bernie feels that Manor lied to him about how prepared they actually were, hence his complaints about them having no intention to race.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Mar 2015, 22:09

I think what annoys me most about this is that for Bernie it shouldn't really matter. He should be thanking his lucky stars that there are still people out there happy to sink significant amounts of money into an F1 team.

And if we're honest, this is exactly the sort of stunt he'd have pulled as owner of Brabham back in the day, had he needed the cash. He's probably just bitter that the new kids on the block are prepared to try it on instead of sitting down, doing as they're told and taking a good thrashing from the boss like good little boys.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 Mar 2015, 00:23

GwilymJJames wrote:I know it's all sweet and heartwarming that Manor got to Australia, but if they're not gonna compete what's the point?

Becuase they're contractually obligated to attempt every race?

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Mar 2015, 10:51

AndreaModa wrote:... doing as they're told and taking a good thrashing from the boss like good little boys.

And we're back to the Max Mosley era of F1...

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 17 Mar 2015, 11:47

dr-baker wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:... doing as they're told and taking a good thrashing from the boss like good little boys.

And we're back to the Max Mosley era of F1...

Thrashing not spanking......

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 17 Mar 2015, 12:47

Wallio wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:... doing as they're told and taking a good thrashing from the boss like good little boys.

And we're back to the Max Mosley era of F1...

Thrashing not spanking......

Oo la la!

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Mar 2015, 15:42

Wallio wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:... doing as they're told and taking a good thrashing from the boss like good little boys.

And we're back to the Max Mosley era of F1...

Thrashing not spanking......

Semantics, schmantics....

Post by **Londoner** » 02 Apr 2015, 08:02

Good lord, Force India are still full of the vinegar regarding Marussia. :roll:

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 02 Apr 2015, 11:24

East Londoner wrote:Good lord, Force India are still full of the vinegar regarding Marussia.

I used to support both Sauber and Force India. This season has changed things on both counts.

I feel weird not supporting any midfield teams, but at least McLaren might get back up there some day

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 12 Apr 2015, 11:56

What's Merhi's contract looking like? Wasn't he on a deal that would only last him a few races?

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 12 Apr 2015, 16:37

I think Graeme Lowdon came out and publicly praised Merhi a couple weeks back, so more than likely they're looking to keep him on beyond the initial agreement.

MartinJS81 · Post by **MartinJS81** » 12 Apr 2015, 21:21

Delighted that they both finished today, even if Merhi got the world's most pointless punishment (five seconds added to his race time when he was last anyway) for the world's least significant infringement (failing to keep up with the safety car pace when he was last anyway).

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 13 Apr 2015, 00:10

There's a conspiracy going around Reddit at the moment that FOM are intentionally not showing any Manorussia cars to ensure they don't get new sponsors. I certainly don't remember seeing them get much coverage during the race yesterday, although I doubt there was much action when they were so far off the pace.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 13 Apr 2015, 03:03

AustralianStig wrote:There's a conspiracy going around Reddit some stuff you didn't read after reading that

Post by **Nuppiz** » 13 Apr 2015, 12:44

AustralianStig wrote:There's a conspiracy going around Reddit at the moment that FOM are intentionally not showing any Manorussia cars to ensure they don't get new sponsors. I certainly don't remember seeing them get much coverage during the race yesterday, although I doubt there was much action when they were so far off the pace.

Backmarkers usually don't get any coverage anyway, unless they ignore blue flags, crash, spin of blow up. I'm still sitting down.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 13 Apr 2015, 17:17

In more positive news, a couple of sites are saying that Manor might change their livery for Spain.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 13 Apr 2015, 18:19

Backmarker wrote:In more positive news, a couple of sites are saying that Manor might change their livery for Spain.

Are they allowed to do that these days? I'm sure I remember somewhere there was talk of a team not being able to change their livery because Bernie didn't want them to or some horsesh*t like that.

And as for the conspiracy, prior to this season they hardly got any TV time anyway. If any of these fans have actually watched any of the practice or Q1 sessions this year they'll understand that they've had plenty of coverage, especially during practice at Malaysia when the car first went out.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 13 Apr 2015, 18:43

Backmarker wrote:In more positive news, a couple of sites are saying that Manor might change their livery for Spain.

Perhaps they're switching from red and black to black and red.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 17 Apr 2015, 22:58

Manor's new car won't be ready until August: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118555

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 10 May 2015, 16:52

While It's possible I should not be reading anything into this, Roberto Merhi's four-laps-down finish in Barcelona made me wonder how much Manor have fallen by standing still, using their mildly-rehashed 2014 car and 2014-spec engine. I looked at the qualifying times first, and that tells a different story to what I'd been expecting...

Chilton (2014) 1'29.586
Bianchi (2014) 1'30.177
Stevens (2015) 1'31.200
Merhi (2015) 1'32.038

I don't remember any differing conditions (e.g. it was raining last year, which it clearly wasn't; times are overall about a second faster than 2014 for the rest of the teams). Neither is it likely to have been anything other than baking sun in Bahrain, so I'll see how the qualifying times there compare:

Bianchi (2014) 1'37.310 - faster than one Caterham
Chilton (2014) 1'37.913
Stevens (2015) 1'38.713
Merhi (2015) 1'39.722

It's a duff comparison for China and Malaysia, because the times were far higher last year and the weather must have been involved.

At a reasonable guess, I'd say that if Will Stevens had been driving last year instead of Max Chilton, he'd have put in similar times. Surely the hasty nose revisions and the abbreviated budget can't explain all that second or so's difference, unless Ferrari have said they won't supply any more engines and they're still having to make do and mend with those that have already done more races than they're designed for and the power's been turned down to keep them going...

Over to you, Mario!

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 11 May 2015, 13:52

Wow, they're definitely a little more off the pace than I took them for. After looking at the year's results, it seems that Merhi has been consistently outperformed by Stevens in terms of positions in both the race and qualifying. But after seeing that, I don't see how any personnel change would bring them very much benefit unless it was based on money...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 11 May 2015, 18:55

I think it's clear from the results that Stevens has had the upper hand over Mehri which is to be expected. I saw mentions over the Spain weekend that Mehri's seat is up for grabs at Monaco which doesn't surprise me. I'm not sure what sort of budget he's brought to the team but it can't be much with no logos on the car (or even his overalls) but then again Stevens' wealth must be personal as he has no representation either.

I think the time difference can be attributed to the fact that neither driver has had a massive amount of time in an F1 car, let alone this one, whereas both Chilton and Bianchi had a year behind them, in a car that was probably fairly similar to the 2014 one. Neither are as talented as Marussia's former drivers either so that will have an effect.

I'll be curious to see if Stevens has the money to see out the year or not. He clearly must have plenty of cash because he funded his Caterham test mid-way through last year and then obviously his Abu Dhabi drive as well. A full season would need a serious amount of cash, especially if they're developing a new car for later in the year, and I'm not sure personal wealth alone will cover that. I guess we'll find out before too long.

Fair play to both of them though, they've put in a good effort so far, not really done anything stupid and got both cars to the finish in the last three races.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 01 Jun 2015, 14:18

Manor hiring some new staff. Things definitely seem to be improving for them at the moment.