Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsManor

Haryanto aims for the midfield with Manor

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Rio Haryanto says that Manor Racing is aiming to get into the midfield positions in 2016, but admitted that just going the full distance and reaching the finish at Melbourne would be a good way to make his début for the team.

"I think this year’s car is a huge step compared to last year so all is really good over the winter," said the 23-year-old Indonesian star, who moved from GP2 to Formula One over the winter.

"We still have a lot of work to do. We’re just getting better and better every time we are going out," he continued. "We are still working really hard to improve the car every time we are going out of the garage.

"We are aiming to get to the midfield but obviously right now we still have a lot of work to do. We’re doing our best and we’ll see how we get on."

The new qualifying system might just provide the crucial unknown quantity that could help Manor achieve that midfield aim: "It’s new to everyone and we all have to adapt," noted Haryanto. "Anything can happen. We are looking forward to it."

When asked for his personal ambition for his first Grand Prix outing in two weeks time, Haryanto was more cautious: "I am aiming to finish the race," he said. "Mileage is very important and testing is very limited."

After running just one lap in the morning due to a mechanical issue, Haryanto wrapped up pre-season testing in Barcelona on Friday with 58 laps in the books, and also clocked the 12th fastest time on the new-for-2016 ultrasoft tyre.

FULL REPORT: Vettel ensures Ferrari ends testing on top

GALLERY: Pre-season testing

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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.