After just ‘turning up’ at Australia, Manor finally got their cars up and running at Malaysia, and Roberto Merhi managed to finish on his Grand Prix debut. Whilst the future of Merhi, who is set to compete in Formula Renault 3.5 too this year, hangs in the balance should a capable driver with a bigger budget arrives, it seems as if Will Stevens is remaining with the team for the time being at least.
2015 Chinese Grand Prix Manor Preview
China will provide a different challenge from Malaysia this weekend, despite the two circuits being quite similar in layout. Keeping tyres up to temperature is the main concern for all teams here, but it is especially tricky for those at the back. Another finish or two would be an excellent result for Manor I feel, who are yet to introduce their 2015 chassis, and are not expected to until Spain at the very least.
No. 28 Will Stevens (GBR)
2015 Form: -/-
Stevens has only done a handful of laps in the revised MR03 so far. It is really tough to judge his performance so far as he has done so little running, so it would be nice to see him actually take part from the Saturday onwards. The car can finish a race in Merhi’s hands, so there is no reason why it should not in Stevens’ hands too. Merhi will have the advantage however of doing more laps in this car however.
No. 98 Roberto Merhi (SPA)
2015 Form: -/15
Merhi did what was expected of him by bringing the car home at Malaysia, and should his car run smoothly again, he will look to do the same again here. This track, like Sepang, is entirely new to the Spaniard so he will be looking to learn it pretty quickly.
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