Stephen Fitzpatrick has admitted the challenge to run a Formula 1 team has been a wake-up call for him as his Manor Racing MRT squad look to finalise an investment that will help safeguard their future.
The current owner of the team admits seeing how much work it takes to get two cars to the finish line has seen him grow respect for the other team owners on the grid, and that he has learned a great deal about the inside world of Formula 1 in his two years in the sport, and has experienced both the highs and the lows in that time.
Fitzpatrick watched on as Pascal Wehrlein secured a points finish in the Austrian Grand Prix in July, and the team were on course to take tenth place in the Constructors’ Championship as a result only to be denied by the Sauber F1 Team in the penultimate race of the season when Felipe Nasr finished ninth in Brazil.
“It’s been a fascinating two years,” said Fitzpatrick on crash.net. “I can recommend it to anyone. It has been exhilarating, races like Bahrain this year, obviously Austria and then Brazil. So lots of ups and downs. But also humbling I would say.
“Coming into this sport as a beginner let’s say, but as a lifelong fan, but new to the inside of the sport, you don’t quite appreciate just how many things you need to get right to bring two cars home at the end of a race and I’ve learned a lot about just how difficult it is to build a car, to race the car, to put the team together.
“So I would say I’m full of respect for the people around me in the sport, the other teams, the other team principals. It’s been a huge challenge.”