Manor Marussia F1 Team 2015

[Jonnycraig]

Merhi says that (perhaps unsurprisingly) whatever new components the team has go on Stevens' car.

http://www.formulaf1.es/55418/entrevist ... n-iguales/

[ChrisF1]

Honestly don't remember seeing Manor on the TV this weekend (admittedly I did drift in and out though)

I put a sarcastic tweet about this on twitter a while back, it was favourited by Norman Nato from GP2.

[FW17]

So who is going to be driving at Monaco?

Are there any interested drivers?

[ChrisF1]

With Technology currently sitting a year behind, and the car a mile off the pace then surely now would be a great time for Manor to become "the fans' team" and really open themselves up to the mortals.

Bernie won't allow pit passes for us normals, so Manor should go outside of the paddock and let people get up close and personal with the car, sit in it, see the inner workings, just anything to make them more accessible.

I know that I would certainly be more supportive of a team that provided me with a better experience, and I can't be the only one.

[Starscreamer]

So who is going to be driving at Monaco?

Are there any interested drivers?

Hope for Giedo [-o<

[Manoah2u]

So who is going to be driving at Monaco?

Are there any interested drivers?

Hope for Giedo [-o<

thankfully, the management of GvdG has stated they have no interest in riding for them and are working on DTM and LMP1.

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3248 ... anor-talk/

van der Garde's manager made clear that securing a competitive seat in either DTM or endurance racing for the 2016 season remains the priority.

"We are aware that Manor are looking for an experienced driver. They have contacted us, but this is not something we are working on,"

[FW17]

Sad that Bernie has issued a media blackout on that team

[Alexgtt]

Sad that Bernie has issued a media blackout on that team

Is that rumour or is there a source?

[ChrisF1]

Sad that Bernie has issued a media blackout on that team

Is that rumour or is there a source?

It's speculation - this sort of thing would never be confirmed!

We have mentioned a few times on here how even when Manor are first out of the pits or the only car on track there are rarely moments that we see them in shot. It's always pit shots, celebrities, pit wall, drivers putting a helmet on... anything other than a Manor driving around the track.

As I stated previously, it clearly tickled Norman Nato for him to favourite my tweet. I wonder if those in the paddock would ever give an anonymous nod that FOM are hiding Manor away?

[hollus]

I was in Barcelona this weekend and there were plenty of times when Manors were the only thing on track, interesting to hear that they were not on TV!
On a different note, they are consistently almost 2 seconds slower than the Marussias were last year. I only checked Bahrain, China and Barcelona, but they qualify 2 seconds slower and are 2 seconds slower at almost all times during the race. What's going on?
The drivers are less experienced, but come on! Are they down tuning the engine? Are they running cheaper/heavier parts? Lost a fuel supplier? Have they lost so many people and expertise? It's not like they have lost their engine maps and aero data!
This smells of running as cheap and slow as possible, which is predictable but akin to digging a deeper hole!

[Jonnycraig]

So who is going to be driving at Monaco?

Are there any interested drivers?

It's highly unlikely an experienced driver is going to want to step in at short notice even at Monaco, so with an eye on the fact that GP2 & WsR are there as well, you have Cecotto & Rossi with a superlicence, Marciello & Vandoorne who could probably get one. Realistically it will probably be Merhi for the foreseeable future. Personally I find it hard to believe anyone with F1 experience will be looking to step in until they manage to get a 2015 car out, if they even can do this year.

That is unless RB, Merc, Ferrari, McLaren want to put a youngster in, but it seems unlikely.

[Cuky]

I was in Barcelona this weekend and there were plenty of times when Manors were the only thing on track, interesting to hear that they were not on TV!

They were on TV this weekend, which quite surprised me, especially on Friday. Quite a few times they were shown on track, even onboard laps from both Merhi and Stevens were shown in live feed

[Raleigh]

Yeah, they got a decent amount of coverage, perhaps more than the likes of Force India or Sauber even (can barely remember having seen those 2 teams in the race).

[turbof1]

I was in Barcelona this weekend and there were plenty of times when Manors were the only thing on track, interesting to hear that they were not on TV!
On a different note, they are consistently almost 2 seconds slower than the Marussias were last year. I only checked Bahrain, China and Barcelona, but they qualify 2 seconds slower and are 2 seconds slower at almost all times during the race. What's going on?
The drivers are less experienced, but come on! Are they down tuning the engine? Are they running cheaper/heavier parts? Lost a fuel supplier? Have they lost so many people and expertise? It's not like they have lost their engine maps and aero data!
This smells of running as cheap and slow as possible, which is predictable but akin to digging a deeper hole!

Well there are a few reasons why:
-Their new lower nose is far from an optimized one. We heard from Williams this costs a big chunk of time on its own.
-They lost the software for running the cars. They did redeveloped that too, but I can imagine it being far from perfect.
-They no have simulator, and very limited means otherwise to change the setup.

And of course, the effort put into making the car faster otherwise only stretches to getting within 107%. It's certainly not what you want to see as a F1 fan, completely not as a Marussia fan, but it's understandable and also temporarily: they do have a new car in the pipeline. Whether that car becomes a realisation this year, or next year.

[Jonnycraig]

-They no have simulator, and very limited means otherwise to change the setup.

Stevens is managing to fund external simulator time for himself so I'm sure they could have access to one if needed.