28/03/2015
NEWS STORY
After a promising start to the weekend in yesterday's free practice, the Manor Marussia F1 Team experienced a more challenging day at Sepang today. Will Stevens, whose pace had been within the 107% time throughout Friday's running, suffered a fuel system problem in FP3, which the team were unable to get on top of in time for qualifying and therefore he was unable to take part. Roberto completed two runs in Q1 and improved by over half a second from run to run, but his second lap was ultimately 0.4s shy of the 107% time.
Roberto Merhi: "We were hoping to make the 107% time today, and that is what we have been pushing for through the weekend. Unfortunately we missed out by 0.4s in the end. In the three sessions Will has shown that the car is thereabouts on pace, while I had a spin in FP3 today so, along with yesterday, I have not been able to achieve the consistent running I wanted to for the team. Coming into this, our first weekend on track, we were aware that we have a lot of hard work to do and that this is just the start. So although we are disappointed for the qualifying result, we have to keep focus on what we have achieved to be here and to be able to begin our development."
Will Stevens: "Obviously I was very disappointed not to take part in qualifying. In FP3 we had a fuel system problem and we were trying to resolve that, but sadly we weren't able to get on top of it in time for me to take part. Looking at the positives, as we always try to do, the practice sessions showed promise and my times were within the 107% throughout Friday. Step by step we'll get there."
John Booth, Team Principal: "We knew our first weekend of running would not be without its challenges and although we had a positive day yesterday, it has been important to keep our expectations for qualifying in check. Our two drivers have done a solid job in their debut and Friday's practice showed promise in terms of having the pace for the 107% time, but today underlined that we have a lot of work to do."
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.