Team story
Origins
The 2016 MRT05 marked a fresh technical start for the organisation that had emerged from Virgin and Marussia. Under the Manor Racing name, the team fielded a new car and switched to Mercedes power; the Williams agreement covered the transmission and suspension components. DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto formed the initial pairing.
This was no longer the old MR03 adapted to the previous regulations.
The Formula 1 journey
In Austria Wehrlein took tenth place and scored one point, Manor’s only point of the season. Qualifying at the Red Bull Ring had already shown the car’s potential with the twelfth-fastest time. Esteban Ocon replaced Haryanto from Spa, making his Formula 1 debut.
The three drivers thus appear in the same season, but did not form a three-car team.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Manor Racing
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Australian Grand Prix
Pascal Wehrlein · Australian Grand Prix 2016. The recorded position is P16; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Austrian Grand Prix
Pascal Wehrlein · Austrian Grand Prix 2016. The recorded position is P10; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Pascal Wehrlein · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2016. The recorded position is P14; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Relying on Mercedes and Williams reduced some technical differences from the opposition without eliminating the resource problem. Manor built its own chassis, but used a network of suppliers to support the project. Wehrlein’s point belongs to this 2016 period; the two earned by Jules Bianchi at Monaco in 2014 remain Marussia results.
What remains
The team could not find the funding to continue in 2017 and closed before the championship began. The MRT05 was therefore the last Manor to contest Grands Prix. Wehrlein and Ocon continued elsewhere, while the name preserves a season in which technical progress was visible but insufficient to ensure survival.
Continuity of the organisation does not justify combining its different names without distinction.