Dave Ryan was full of praise for the efforts Manor put in at the Brazilian Grand Prix, though it resulted in the British team relinquishing 10th place to Sauber in the Constructors’ championship.
Having entered the Interlagos weekend one point ahead of its Swiss rivals, Manor saw Felipe Nasr clinch ninth in a chaotic, rain-hit contest, which has lifted Sauber past the Banbury-based outfit.
Both Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein featured in the top 10 early on, right behind Nasr, and the Frenchman stayed there until the very final lap when both Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas denied him a maiden career point.
“As a team, we did pretty well,” Ryan told F1i’s Chris Medland. “I know it’s a pretty strange thing to say but we were up there the whole race, we were not lapping around at the back of the field. It just got away from us in the final part of the race. That’s life.
“There was a lot of potential for slip-ups, from the start right through all the stoppages. You often see a team get things wrong [in these conditions] but the guys did not.
“There was no real panic, everyone knew what the job was and that was really pleasing. The guys on the pit wall, the strategists did the best they possibly could and if we could re-run the race there is not much we would do differently.
“Esteban had a really good run. Even with about three laps to go, it looks like he could have a go at Nasr as he was dropping back. But credit to Felipe, he drove a really good race.”
With the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix unlikely to feature similarly-wild weather conditions, Manor is facing an uphill battle to get back ahead of Sauber in two weeks’ time but Ryan insists his team will fight to the end.
“[Marcus] Ericsson at the last race [in Mexico] was last at one point and he nearly got a point, so it’s an old saying but it’s not over until it’s over and you don’t give up until the last lap of the last race. And that’s definitely what we will be doing. All we can do is give it our best shot.”
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