Jordan King: Manor collapse 'a blow' to all young drivers

GP2 race Jordan King was one of the young hopefuls vying for an F1 seat at Manor before the minnow outfit caved in following a lack of funding.

While the team's demise was bad enough, as a reduced the F1 grid to ten teams, its disappearance will also impact the career of young drivers according to King, who tested with Manor and ran in two Friday practice sessions at Grand Prix last year.

"I think it's a blow for Formula 1 in general - the grid is shrinking by near enough 10%, which I don't think is beneficial," King told Autosport.

"For everybody in my position as a young driver, it becomes a lot harder when the grid shrinks."

With one less opportunity to look at, King's F1 hopes and expectations have undoubtedly been set back, but the 23)year-old junior remains optimistic.

"From a racing career level it's tough as well, because that was the best chance I had in the short term of getting into Formula 1.

"So I've got to make some new ties within Formula 1, but it's a small world and everybody knows everybody, so it shouldn't be tough if I perform correctly."

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