2015 F1 season: F1i's rookie review

ROBERTO MERHI

Motor Racing - Formula One World Championship - Monaco Grand Prix - Saturday - Monte Carlo, Monaco

Chris Medland: The late return of Manor to the grid saw Merhi brought in for the opening rounds and there he stayed for the majority of the season. Beaten by Stevens at first, Merhi worked hard to understand the Pirelli tyres and make it a much more even battle later in the year, finishing 12th at Silverstone. Understandably struggled in the latter races after losing his seat, but didn't shine enough over the year to convince teams or backers to get behind him.

Eric Silbermann: Like Jennifer Aniston it might take a while for him to be taken seriously and be known for anything other than his hair. Towards the end of the season it was a case of “Step forward everyone driving for Manor…where do you think you’re going Roberto?” On the surface he didn’t throw his toys out of the pram and deserves a few marks for dignity. For the 13 rounds in which he did compete, he was at a massive weight disadvantage too, when it comes to comparing his lap times with the jockey-like Stevens. On the plus side, he showed well at Monaco and Spa, which are driver circuits.

Julien Billiotte: Merhi experienced a fairly eventful year in 2015. The Spaniard was confirmed at Manor merely days before the season’s kick off and had to wait until Malaysia to start his maiden grand prix. The gap to Stevens was quite significant until Monaco where the Spaniard, who initially dovetailed his F1 commitment with FR3.5 duty, turned a corner. While Merhi continued to struggle in qualifying, he gradually became the faster Manor on race day and secured the team’s best result at the time with 12th at the British Grand Prix. His momentum was halted when he had to make room for Rossi in Singapore but he noticeably beat Stevens on return in Russia. While Merhi’s highs were generally higher than the Briton’s, his lows were also lower, as shown by his challenging season finale in Abu Dhabi where he was nearly 1.2s off the lead Manor in qualifying.

Phillip van Osten: On his own merit, it's difficult to view Mehri as anything but a journeyman. There was the odd flash of speed which perhaps lifted the veil of a midfield driver, but how he can consistently assert himself at that level is anybody's guess. Worth an honorable mention, and should be commended for the mere fact that he made it to the top of motor sport, a place where so many dream to be.

Justin Hynes: Merhi came to F1 on the back of solid results in Formula Renault 3.5 where he had looked the part (finishing third overall in 2014 for Zeta Corse, behind winner Carlos Sainz and hotshoe Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly) and he should have had the beating of team-mate Stevens, whose 2014 season in the series was an up and down affair (he finished sixth overall for Strakka Racing). But their statistics in that series didn’t take into account the competitiveness of their respective packages and once they were presented with the same machinery Stevens’ pace won out, in qualifying at least. Merhi proved to be a dogged and determined racer but over one lap he was outclassed. He wasn’t helped, however, by uncertainty over his drive.

F1i scores: 5/10