Manor can’t avoid the red lantern

Deeply reorganized on the foundations of Marussia, the Manor team did not underperform throughout the year.

Proof of this with the latest Grand Prix finishing in 13th and 14th positions: Ocon just ahead of Wehrlein. For the fifth time this season, the small English team finished ahead of both Saubers. This was, however, insufficient in light of the two points brought in by Nasr at Interlagos during the previous round. But in Abu Dhabi, the two Manor drivers made it a point to finish ahead of the Swiss representatives.

Ocon finishes strong!

After his qualifications, which he himself experienced as catastrophic, Esteban Ocon took advantage of a two-stop strategy. Initially lagging behind his teammate at the start of the race, the young Frenchman nonetheless made contact twice with his direct opponents. The first time, with Felipe Nasr at the eighth turn, after the first long straight. The Tricolor left a piece of his wing in the maneuver, forced to anticipate his second pit stop: In the race, I had a good start, gaining three places in the first lap. I was able to move up to 11th position. We really had a very good pace against the Sauber drivers. I had the pace to pass Nasr but we touched, I damaged my front wing.

Then, his second stint on super-soft tires saw him overtake Ericsson, just as the Swede exited the pit stop. In high spirits, the Norman then caught up with his teammate. With 6 laps to go, the two Manor drivers were wheel-to-wheel, fighting for the thirteenth place. The duel between the two men was completely overshadowed, of course, by the battle at the top of the standings. However, this face-off was marked by a clash.

Ocon threw himself to the outside of the eleventh turn, at the end of the second straight. In front of him, his future ex-teammate slammed the door with vehemence. Both drivers even cut the corner. But the native of Evreux emerged in front and had gained the position: « Yes, I am really delighted. There is no secret: I was very frustrated after the Qualifying! We brought both cars to the finish, in good position. It was not enough to catch up with Brazil. I still think we did our best work possible these past two weeks. »

Thus, the brief experience of the young Frenchman is coming to an end. Unfortunately, he was unable to bring any points to his team in nine races, achieving a twelfth place as his best result, in Brazil two weeks ago. In replacing Rio Haryanto, the 2015 GP3 champion still had a great adventure:

« I can never thank Manor enough for giving me the incredible opportunity to start my career in Formula 1. It was a real pleasure, and I learned a lot in every area of work. This experience will be important for the rest of my career, so I will never thank them enough for it.

Although I am leaving, I will always closely watch Manor; the team has so much potential. Maybe one day we will have a great battle on the track together!

Our final time in the TV pen with Esteban 😭 but he had a strong race to 13th and nice to finish ahead of @SauberF1Team pic.twitter.com/pYX2VIW0m9

— Manor Racing (@ManorRacing) 27 novembre 2016

An agonizing end of the race for Wehrlein

Once again, the German excelled in Qualifying, with a fifth passage into Q2. In the head-to-head with Ocon, the result was unequivocal: 7-2 in his favor! However, his race pace was more average. Starting 16th, the German lost four places at the start. He seemed to be handicapped at the beginning of the race with ultra-soft tires. Consequently, his second pit stop, already made at the 24th lap, forced him to complete a final stint of 31 laps! Naturally, it was quite difficult for him to fend off his teammate’s attacks at the end of the session. On worn tires, a collision was made possible. He was nevertheless able to hold onto the 14th place afterwards, ahead of the two Saubers.

« It’s really nice to finish the season with a solid performance. I had a difficult first pit stop, which was very frustrating, especially after my strong session in Qualifying. I fought hard to come back as we gained a few positions; I was on a different strategy. It wasn’t possible for me to defend against my teammate, I was on old soft tires. At least, we finished ahead of Sauber one last time. Thanks to the team, we fought together until the end. » noted the German.

So, what about the future of the 2015 DTM champion? Two options: stay with Manor or step into the second Sauber seat. Before that, it was time for thanks this Sunday in Abu Dhabi: « We had a season full of ups and downs, but the experience will make us stronger in the future. I had a very, very good first season in Formula 1, thanks to every member of Manor. I’m sad to have only scored one point and especially to have lost the 10th place in the constructors’ standings. We will still remember that day in Austria, where we celebrated that point all together. »

Nice to fight back to P14 after a bad start and a 15 seconds pit stop.Congrats Nico!A big thanks to @ManorRacing&@MercedesAMGF1 for 2016 ☺️ pic.twitter.com/ZBJ5jTcy7Q

— Pascal Wehrlein (@PWehrlein) 27 novembre 2016