Bad opening day for Manor team in Singapore

Rossi stuffed it in wall in practice 1

The opening Free Practice sessions for the 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix didn’t quite go according to plan today at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Both Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi had significant encounters with the wall at this notoriously tight, twisty and unforgiving race track, resulting in a loss of running time and extensive but repairable damage to the two race cars

John Booth, Team Principal

We have certainly had better starts to a race weekend, however all is not lost. We’ve missed out on some valuable running for two drivers with little experience of racing here in a Formula 1 car, and of course it will be a busy night for the car crews, but we’ll be back to full strength tomorrow with two fully repaired cars. In both cases, these were small mistakes that, had they happened at any other circuit, would have been very benign. Because they happened here, at a street circuit that is very unforgiving due to the lack of run-off areas, both drivers incurred the heavy penalty of ending up in the wall, with a reasonable amount of suspension and gearbox damage. It’s not ideal, but if we look at the running they had until that point, there is a lot to be positive about. Alexander mastered the controls very quickly and was completely at home in the car, banging in some great laps before he ran wide. It would be doing him a huge disservice for anyone to judge him on that small error alone. On the other side of the garage, Will did a lot of solid back to back work with the aero upgrade we have this weekend. The boys in the garage have had a rough day, but we’ll dig deep, get through tonight and come back stronger tomorrow.

Will Stevens #28

The day had been going quite smoothly until an unfortunate error on my part at the start of FP2. I was getting up to speed with the track and I’d completed some encouraging aerodynamic evaluations, and the second session would have provided the opportunity to put all of that together and see how we are looking for the rest of the weekend. It wasn’t to be, so we face a busy FP3 tomorrow to complete our programme ahead of qualifying. It’s a fun circuit and a really interesting experience, so I’m looking forward to getting back on track – literally – tomorrow.

Alexander Rossi #53

It’s a shame that a small mistake overshadowed what for me was a very positive first day with the team here in Singapore. Prior to that, I was really pleased with how things were going, so I’m not too downhearted, although I have to acknowledge the supreme efforts of my car crew – both car crews in fact – in getting my car repaired so quickly. These are not ideal conditions to work in at the best of times, as the humidity is incredible, so I’ll try to reward their hard work over the rest of the weekend. I didn’t get the chance to do my option run, so it will be a busy FP3 session tomorrow, but I’m focused on the positives from today and looking forward to picking up where I left off.