Following the 2014 Russian Grand Prix where the Marussia F1 Team were left in a complete state of turmoil – with their star driver Jules Bianchi in a critical state in hospital and the team slipping into administration despite earning enough money from their Constructors’ Championship position to get a solid amount of cash, I never expected at the time to be writing an article on the team’s chances in the 2015 season. However, remarkably, the boys and girls who have now moved back to their former base at Dinnington, England have managed to get themselves onto the grid for the first race of the season at Melbourne, Australia but under the new name of Manor.
Manor 2015 Season Preview
Manor was the name which the team originally intended to run under back in 2010. However Richard Branson decided to take over and the team were renamed Virgin. They finished a woeful 12th out of 12 for their first two seasons, before becoming Marussia for 2012 after a transitional season as Marussia Virgin in 2011. The team finally managed to achieve a top 11 in the championship in 2012, before improving on that further in 2013, where they finished tenth. We are all aware by now of what they achieved at Monaco last year, gifting the team a ninth place in the standings. The team will officially run as Marussia to secure this money, so the team has been dubbed Manor Marussia F1 Team, or ‘Manorussia’ by some.
This will likely be a year of struggling to get onto the grid at all at every event as the 107% rule could well prove a nuisance for the team. With year-old Ferrari engines and only a revised version of the 2014 car fit to satisfy the 2015 regulations, it is clear that the team are significantly behind the other nine teams in terms of development. Last year, Marussia closed up a little bit to the back of the midfield, troubling Sauber frequently and even Lotus occasionally, but as the season progressed they even managed to slip behind rivals Caterham and an ever-improving Marcus Ericsson. However, the team in green will not be on the grid this year, despite their efforts to find a buyer via the method of crowdfunding.
One thing is clear: this project has been clearly rushed. With such a small timeframe, there has been very little time for the team to prepare for this, and they have not been at any of the pre-season tests, nor have we seen any indication of what the car will look like, nor who one of their drivers will be, and that’s before we mention reserve drivers. In all honesty, unless the McLaren MP4-30 is so unreliable that it never finishes a race, I can see Manor only managing tenth in the championship. They may achieve points in a crazy race, but I believe that this is unlikely. The intra-team battle will probably be the most interesting aspect here.
No. TBC William Stevens
Stevens has a single Grand Prix start to his name, with Caterham at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, where he famously angered Fernando Alonso by battling with him. He did do a solid job considering and finished the race with no major dramas. He was also Marussia’s test driver in the past, so he will know some of the mechanics and so forth already. Stevens previously raced for Manor in the Formula Renault UK championship in 2010, where he finished fourth. He took two race victories in the Formula Renault 3.5 series last year and finished fourth in the championship in 2013 behind the dominant trio of Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Antonio Felix da Costa.
No. TBC Driver Two
Manor’s second driver is currently unknown. There have been a lot of names thrown into the ring regarding the identity of the second driver, including Kevin Magnussen, Jean-Eric Vergne (who will be racing in Formula e during the weekend of the Australian Grand Prix), Esteban Ocon and Jordan King. Personally I feel that this will end up going to somebody with a colossal budget behind them. The seat could also be split between several drivers across the season, but I do not wish to assume on who will get it.
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