Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsManor

Manor trio in frame for 2016 drives - Booth

Manor team principal John Booth says the trio of Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi and Alexander Rossi are all in the frame for a race seat with the team in 2016.

A seat at Manor has become more attractive since the announcement of a Mercedes power unit deal for next year, with the team also set to have a Williams rear end on the car. With Rossi joining ahead of Singapore and racing in five of the final seven races, Manor currently has three race drivers on its books and Booth told F1i all three have a chance of retaining a seat next year.

“Yep, we are very pleased with them all. Every time they have been in the car they have done a outstanding job. Particularly Roberto [in Sochi], he took his chance. He’s been out of the car for Singapore and Japan and took his chance there very well.”

Following Merhi’s 13th place in Russia, Booth says further commercial backing for the Spaniard would be welcome but not is not essential.

“That’s a difficult one to answer to be honest. It’s not like he’s the only one, either, there’s three very good Spanish drivers out there [on the grid] and a lot more. It’s difficult for all drivers at the moment I think. All teams outside the top four or five have to take a commercial deal on almost every appointment they make so it’s pretty tough for them.”

And Booth hopes Rossi’s appearance in next weekend’s United States Grand Prix will help him secure more backing, adding: “I think he’s catching people’s eye isn’t he, and Austin is going to be massive. I hope he behaves himself!”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.