Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsManor

Manor not worried about Haryanto mishaps in Barcelona

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Manor racing director Dave Ryan has said that he's not worried about new driver Rio Haryanto making mistakes during the first week of testing at Barcelona.

Haryanto spun off onto the gravel on his first day in the MRT05 on Thursday, and then later the same day he hit the barrier at the exit of turn 4 and damaged the rear end of the car, curtailing his track time.

"I was getting used to the car and finding the limits of the car, so I went a little too hot in turn four," Haryanto said on the day. "Unfortunately there was damage on the car so we couldn’t finish the afternoon session."

Ryan said that he wasn't at all disappointed by Haryanto's first day in the car and that such things were to be expected at this early stage.

"To be honest I would have been surprised if he didn't have a couple of incidents. As long as he learns from it, it's fine. It hasn't cost us, let's just get on with it and see how it turns out."

Ryan noted that it was different for Haryanto stepping up from the GP2 feeder series than it was for his new team mate and fellow rookie Pascal Wehrlein.

"Pascal has come in from winning the [DTM] championship, he's done a lot of mileage in a Formula One car, the class Formula One car on the grid," Ryan pointed out. "He's got a lot of experience and he knows what to expect, it was probably the transition to Manor that was the big issue.

"Rio, on the other hand, is just the opposite, he's making the step up for the first time. So pretty different approaches but both great kids and it's great to have them around, we're enjoying it."

Haryanto himself expressed the hope that he would be feeling more comfortable in the car by the end of the second test, before the team flies out to Australia for the first Grand Prix next month.

"I am getting more confident with the team and the relationship with the engineers," he said. "I am learning from my side and from the team, we try to build as much of a relationship before the first GP, I think that is the key to get our target."

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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.