Dave Ryan insists it was hard to see the Sauber F1 Team score points during the Brazilian Grand Prix to jump his Manor Racing MRT outfit in the Constructors’ Championship, but felt the team did all they could to maintain their position.
The Racing Director of the Banbury-based team saw his drivers Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein both running inside the top ten on merit early during the race in Brazil, only for both to fall away towards the end as their lack of pace came back to bite them, but Ryan felt both drivers and the rest of the team could hold their heads up high, and that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could go a long way in reversing their disappointment.
“Well clearly we were all very disappointed with the outcome on Sunday evening in Brazil,” said Ryan. “But, you know what? When you look at it in the cold light of day, I’m really proud of the guys.
“I thought the team did a fantastic job in the race; we were genuinely running with both cars in the top 10 early on, we had everything covered on the pit wall during all the chaos and the guys did a textbook job of dealing with the red flags.
“It’s just that, come the final restart, we weren’t quite quick enough and probably needed another two or three laps to pull it off. That’s racing and we’ll have a good go at reversing things in Abu Dhabi.”
Ryan is also happy to see Jordan King make his second Free Practice appearance of the season in Abu Dhabi, having previously participated in the opening free practice session in the United States, and the Briton will run in place of Ocon.
“We’re also pleased to welcome Jordan back to the cockpit for his second planned FP1 session,” said Ryan. “He’ll be taking over Esteban’s car on Friday morning and we have a busy programme of testing items lined up for him again.”
