Manor Marussia F1 Team 2015

[Manoah2u]

very interesting

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11502208919 ... anors-door

Ferrari looks to have beaten McLaren-Honda to the reborn Manor team's door.

with the former Marussia team exiting administration, McLaren could play a role in the resurrection of the backmarker.

Ron Dennis was keen to emulate Ferrari's new alliance with the 2016 entrant Haas in terms of having a de-facto 'B-team'.

Bach said Manor might nominate Woking as the venue for its wind tunnel programme, while the McLaren supremo is reportedly "trying to convince Honda" to supply the team with engines.

But Ferrari, despite being owed millions by Marussia, appears to have beaten McLaren-Honda to Manor's door.

The fabled Maranello team's new boss Maurizio Arrivabene told reporters on Friday that, just like last year, Marussia will in 2015 be supplied customer models of the 2014 'power unit'.

"There is nothing in writing at the moment," said the Ferrari chief in Barcelona, "but our answer at the moment is yes - (the) 2014 (engine)," said Arrivabene.

So, that's probably a kick in the shin for Ron Dennis, perhaps he can sway them back by having 2015 Honda engines.
the only problem: 2014 Ferrari engines arent really good engines, however - the 'Marussia/Manor' team has experience with the engine and it would be an easy fit into an adapted chassis. The debt open to Ferrari can thus be resolved internally without general 'pressure' coming down on the 'salvaged' Manor F1 Team.
Add to that Honda having issues on getting their engine package up to work, and there is little left to offer to Manor.

Manor - Honda would be interesting, though. I'm quite suprised Honda did not really grab the opportunity; the team is not a threat to anybody, and all they [Manor] are seemingly interested in is getting the 90 M money they can grab; being the 'lab rat' for Honda during the season would be a sacrifice made without too much problems. Honda would benefit from it so they can correlate data better and use it to power-boost Mclaren even better.

Offcourse Manor is facing an at this point unreliable engine, with the problem of still having an open debt to Ferrari that can't be resolved in-house. And Honda might have a 'newer' engine; their engine is 'unraced' and they may develop, but so can the Ferrari engine.

Which makes me wonder; could there be a last-minute rescue to Caterham?

[ESPImperium]

Ferrari and Manor have a single year deal, its a deal where the debt is halved from 2014, but the total for the 2014 engine supply is a rumoured £12m, so they will have to pay Ferrari £20m in total. A manageable figure as Ferrari has taken a hit, but a hit where they can place engineers for experience.

McLaren could still have a role via placing young design talent with the team, the wind tunnel and various other things.

I think the team will make it, however its down to grey areas in the contractual area.

[Richard]

Ferrari are a major creditor so of course they could dictate the terms for Manor's survival. I can't see how a non-Ferrari PU option would be credible in those circumstances. If it had played out any other way then Ferrari could extinguish Manor buy calling in their debt.

On a pragmatic level Manor need to stick with what they know, the last ting they need is to try new tricks. Especially when the Honda PU hasn't even completed a race distance.

[Jonnycraig]

Tobias Grüner AMuS @tgruener
#F1 Manor press release. Team want to start season in Melbourne. Will Stevens will be an official 2015 Manor race driver

The car with which Manor will begin the season is in an advanced stage of build at the team’s race preparation facility in
Dinnington.

#F1 "Manor personnel are working 24-7 towards the air freight despatch date of 6 March."

[Cuky]

Here is the full press release from teams facebook page

MANOR GEARING UP FOR MELBOURNE

- Will Stevens announced as first race driver
- Car at advanced stage of build

25 February 2015, 12.30hrs GMT

The Manor Marussia F1 Team is making huge strides towards the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship season opener in Melbourne, Australia, in just over two weeks’ time.

The next exciting step for the team is to make the first of its driver line-up announcements, with the news that Will Stevens will be an official 2015 Manor race driver.

Will, 23, is known to the team from his brief time in the role of Marussia Reserve Driver towards the end of the 2014 season. He went on to race for Caterham in the season finale in Abu Dhabi and produced the impressive performance anticipated of a driver who has won races in every category in which he has competed, against some of the very best junior drivers.

A fundamental element of the Manor philosophy has always been to provide opportunity for the next generation of motor racing talent, a part of the team’s long and proud history that will be retained into the future. Manor has started many young drivers out on the path to success, including Formula One world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

The approval by the Company’s creditors on 19 February 2015 to a Company Voluntary Arrangement paves the way for the team to exit from administration and since that time everyone involved with Manor has been working flat out on the key components of its 2015 challenge.

The car with which Manor will begin the season is now in an advanced stage of build at the team’s current race preparation facility in Dinnington, UK, where personnel are working 24-7 towards the air freight despatch date of 6 March.

As the sport counts down to the curtain-raising 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix in 18 days’ time, Manor is now in a position to be able to provide regular updates on its preparations for Melbourne and wider plans for the season, including the completion of its driver line-up.

Commenting on the announcement of his race seat today, Will Stevens said: “It’s very exciting to see everything coming together at Manor after the tremendous effort that has gone into saving the team. It would not have been possible without the incredible support we have received from all the suppliers and from within the sport, but most of all the fantastic team of people at Manor who are working around the clock to ensure we are ready for Melbourne. My thanks to the team for their confidence in me and I can’t wait to see all the hard work rewarded when we line up on the grid in two weeks’ time."

[WaikeCU]

Hoping For Giedo VDG in the second seat, but I think it could be K-Mag instead.

[kooleracer]

Hoping For Giedo VDG in the second seat, but I think it could be K-Mag instead.

Isn't Max Chilton a shoe-in for that second seat. K-Mag could be a second choice also because Manor owes McLaren some money.

[Richard]

Magnessen will be testing for Mclaren in Barcelona, so he'll not get much chance to get to prepare with Manor. Also Manor would need to accept that he might be pulled if Alonso isn't fit for Melbourne.

[WaikeCU]

Hoping For Giedo VDG in the second seat, but I think it could be K-Mag instead.

Isn't Max Chilton a shoe-in for that second seat. K-Mag could be a second choice also because Manor owes McLaren some money.

Yeah I know Max Chilton is a shoe-in, but I believe Giedo is a better driver and also a driver that is better in developing a car since he has done a fair bit of testing for Sauber. Dunno which of the two has deeper pockets.

Come to think about it, Giedo might decline the seat. He has declined Caterham to move up to Sauber as a third driver, thinking of eventually be driving for them one day. It should have been this season, but instead Sauber were looking for drivers with deep pockets.

[noel]

Hoping For Giedo VDG in the second seat, but I think it could be K-Mag instead.

Isn't Max Chilton a shoe-in for that second seat. K-Mag could be a second choice also because Manor owes McLaren some money.

Yeah I know Max Chilton is a shoe-in, but I believe Giedo is a better driver and also a driver that is better in developing a car since he has done a fair bit of testing for Sauber. Dunno which of the two has deeper pockets.

Come to think about it, Giedo might decline the seat. He has declined Caterham to move up to Sauber as a third driver, thinking of eventually be driving for them one day. It should have been this season, but instead Sauber were looking for drivers with deep pockets.

How about JEV or Marciello from Ferrari?

[kooleracer]

JEV is developing the simulator and Marciello is doing GP2. Also Marciello isn't ready at this time. He needs to be more consistent in his performances. JEV wants to win races again he is not interested in doing F1 just because its F1. Thats why he started to race in Formula E to show he is capable also he might do Indycar (road course) with Andretti.

It think there is a 90% change that Chilton will be in that seat and 10% that Magnussen will be in that seat. Ofcourse if Bianchi would have been able to race he would definitely have that seat.

#ForzaJules!

[slimfitcasual]

Has Alexander Rossi ended his association with Marussia/Manor?

[PlatinumZealot]

This is going to be interesting.... Manor should get enough time to finish the 2015 car methinks..

[mkable1370]

Has Alexander Rossi ended his association with Marussia/Manor?

Haven't personally seen anything suggesting that he has. A quick look at his Facebook page revealed this (see screenshot below), which still says he is Reserve Driver for Marussia F1 Team... No idea if its accurate or just not been updated to reflect current circumstances. As he claims to be the only American with a Formula 1 Superlicense, I guess I'm curious to know his current status too. I saw somewhere that he is supposedly negotiating for a seat with the Haas formula 1 group.

[noel]

Also Marciello isn't ready at this time. He needs to be more consistent in his performances.

he needs to do a lot of things, mate. he's been a nightmare to watch past season, driving like a maniac - taking out cars left, right, and centre. but if they want to go young... guess it was just a bit of wishful thinking on my part, jev i mean. when he's good, he's really good. sadly, if i had to bet, i'd say max is taking that seat.