Manor Racing’s racing director Dave Ryan apologised to both Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto after both of their races were compromised by circumstances out of their hands during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ryan believed it would have been possible for Wehrlein to finish ahead of both of the Sauber F1 Team drivers on Sunday but for the floor of his MRT05 being damaged on the way to the grid, which cost the German some time and ultimately meant he was unable to keep Marcus Ericsson behind him until the chequered flag.
Ryan also feels that had it not been for a slow pit stop, Haryanto would have been able to finish ahead of the second Sauber of Felipe Nasr, but the delay cost him valuable time and ultimately meant a finish behind the Brazilian.
“We expected to be able to race the Saubers today and that was indeed the case, albeit we made life difficult for Pascal by picking up a small bit of damage to the floor when he arrived at the grid,” said Ryan.
“That cost him quite a bit of lap time so holding off Ericsson for as long as he did – until his second and final pit stop – was all the more pleasing. He got the advantage over Nasr, which was good, but not keeping both behind was a bit of a missed opportunity today because it certainly looked within our grasp.
“With Rio we also let him down a little with a slow first stop, which set him back and without that he could have finished ahead of Nasr.”
Despite the issues, Ryan feels there has been progress made in the competitiveness of the Manor car in Montreal, especially against the Sauber team who are their main opposition at this time of the season.
“Although all of that is disappointing, on the positive side we’re pleased to see an improvement relative to Sauber,” admitted Ryan.
