History Manor Racing

in 2009, manor grand prix awarded entry formula 1 2010 season, tie-up between successful junior racing team manor motorsport , wirth research. before end of year, these entities became known virgin racing, after richard branson s virgin group of companies had bought title sponsorship rights. marussia 1 of team s partners debut season, finished in twelfth , last place in constructors championship. in november 2010, marussia motors purchased controlling stake in team, , team became known marussia virgin racing 2011 season.

following disappointing start 2011 season, team parted company wirth research , entered partnership mclaren applied technologies ahead of 2012 season. came relocation original base in dinnington, old wirth premises in banbury in great britain. meanwhile, team again finished year bottom of constructors championship. in november 2011, applied formula 1 commission formally change constructor name 2012 season virgin marussia, reflect new ownership becoming marussia f1 team in process. permission granted before being formally ratified @ meeting of fia world motorsport council. team competed marussia until 2014 when collapsed mid-season. deal save team put ahead of 2015 season, manor operating team independently of marussia, though team kept marussia name secure prize money 2014 season. after running outdated chassis , power unit throughout 2015, team rebranded manor racing mrt 2016 , signed deal use mercedes engines.

in january 2016, team appointed former ferrari chief designer nicholas tombazis chief aerodynamicist, , recruited fellow former ferrari employee pat fry engineering consultant.

in february 2016, manor confirmed pascal wehrlein, 2015 dtm champion , mercedes junior driver, , rio haryanto race team in 2016.

2016 season

on 22 february 2016, manor launched new car @ first test. team has undergone complete re-branding under ownership of fitzpatrick, , has seen team colours change orange, white , blue.

during first race of season in australia, rio haryanto retired due driveline problem, while pascal wehrlein finished in sixteenth place. @ next race, in bahrain, wehrlein 1 place away reaching q2 first time in career, qualifying sixteenth. haryanto finished race first time, in 17th.

at austrian grand prix, wehrlein achieved 12th place qualifying position, highest achieved team. wehrlein scored team s first ever point , best result date finishing 10th in race.

the team s reserve driver, alexander rossi, won indianapolis 500.

before 2016 belgian grand prix, rio haryanto demoted reserve driver due failure meet contractual obligations , due sponsors being unable fulfill financial commitments. remaining 9 races of season, replaced esteban ocon, had made frequent appearances testing both renault , mercedes , considered promising young talent.

at end of terribly bad weather 2016 brazilian grand prix, sauber gained 2 points, putting them ahead of manor in championship, causing team £30 million loss in prize money.

before abu dhabi grand prix reports circulated , stephen fitzpatrick confirmed team in advanced talks new investor. however, in january 2017 team s parent company put under administration after investment talks failed, putting participation in 2017 season doubt. although paid 2017 entry fee, since participation did not materialise, entry fee returned fia @ end of 2017.