The Manor F1 Team had their best race result of the season so far at Silverstone, with Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens finishing twelfth and thirteenth.
Stevens was on course to be the leading Manor driver in front of his home fans before losing grip on worn intermediate Pirelli tyres and hitting the wall at Luffield, breaking his front wing and sending him into the pits for repairs.
The Briton felt the weekend was a positive one for both himself and team, with the updates brought to the circuit working well on the car.
“A good result for the team but incredibly frustrating for me,” said Stevens. “The weekend up until the race had been really positive and even in the early part of the race we were going strong on the option tyres, which were working really well for me.
“When it started to rain we stopped for Inters but we had 15 laps on them and the worst of the rain only lasted for a couple of laps. I was effectively on slicks by the end of the race and that’s what caused me to spin off and damage my nose.
“Overall, we have to look at the positives though. We’ve made a good step forward here, so well done to the team, and the support of my home crowd has been incredible. All in all it has been a special weekend and one to remember.”
Team-mate Merhi was able to capitalise on Stevens’ crash and subsequent pit stop to finish twelfth, with the Spaniard feeling he had a far better race day at Silverstone than at any other time of the weekend.
“I’m so happy to end the team’s home race in 12th position,” revealed Merhi. “To be honest, this had not been the best weekend for me prior to the race, but it all came good when it mattered and I found the performance I needed to get ahead.
“When the weather started to change and we switched to the Inters, it was very difficult to know what would happen next because the conditions were hard to read.
“We were a long time on the Inters before the rain intensified, which meant that we had to pit again for a new set quite close to the end of the race.
“The team has made some good progress here this weekend, so it was good to give everyone a nice reward for all their hard work over the past few months in preparing for the new upgrade.”
