Manor Racing MRT endured a very difficult Mexican Grand Prix, despite a promising pace in qualifying on Saturday.
The Grand Prix for Pascal Wehrlein was over before it had even began, after Esteban Gutierrez hit him from behind. From here it was like dominoes as the impact launched him into the air then into Marcus Ericsson. A Virtual Safety Car was called to recover his damaged MRT05.
It was looking promising for the German, after he reached Q2 of qualifying on Saturday, which allowed him to start in sixteenth, but with suspension damage the only thing to do was retire.
Esteban Ocon endured a tough Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, after he struggled with the way the car was handling. He finished the Grand Prix as the last car on the grid, after he was unable to fight for higher positions.
Sauber F1 Team were hovering outside the points towards the last quarter of the race, if Ericsson finished the Grand Prix in the points, the team would finish the Constructors’ Championship ahead of Manor. Racing Director Dave Ryan, believed there was every possibility of an incident that would promote Ericsson into the points.
“We had 100 minutes of it on the pit wall this afternoon,” said Ryan. “Starting with Pascal being punted out on the opening lap.
“Then we had to endure Ericsson’s Sauber hovering just outside the points towards the last quarter of the race, while ahead of him several cars were getting very intimate with each other. There was every possibility of an incident of some sort elevating him into the points, but that’s racing and that’s what we’re here for!”
Despite the problems on both sides of the Manor garage, Ryan is absolutely sure the team will be back on top of things for the penultimate race in Brazil.
“For Pascal, a very disappointing end to what had been a brilliant weekend,” added Ryan. “I’m sure that without the incident he would have had a very strong race.
“Esteban on the other hand has endured a difficult weekend and leading into the race we still hadn’t managed to solve the handling issues he was suffering from. From that starting point he drove a creditable race and I’m absolutely sure we will be back on top of things for the penultimate race in Sao Paulo in two weeks’ time.”
