F1 Madness

Tag: graeme lowdon

  • Manor Appoint Dave Ryan As Racing Director

    Manor Appoint Dave Ryan As Racing Director

    The Manor Formula 1 Team have appointed former McLaren Sporting Director Dace Ryan as their Racing Director replacing the outgoing Graeme Lowdon.

    This announcement comes a day after Lowdon announced his departure from the team. Ryan will take over with immediate effect.

    Ryan left McLaren after he was found guilty by the FIA for bringing the sport into disrepute for lying to the race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix in 2009. After leaving McLaren he started the Von Ryan Racing team which competes in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

    “I’m very excited to be joining the Manor Marussia F1 Team at a pivotal time in their development,” said Ryan.

    “Having spent time with Stephen, and understood his vision for the future, it is clear he has ensured there is a strong platform from which the team can make big steps forward in the seasons ahead,” he added.

    “Manor has all the hallmarks of a fiercely competitive racing team, but having grown up in a much more contemporary Formula 1 era, it is a very lean operation with a collaborative culture, which leaves it well placed to contend with the sport’s future direction.

    “There is clearly a big challenge ahead and a lot of work to do, but I can’t wait to meet the wider team and get down to business.”

    Team owner of Manor, Stephen Fitzpatrick who welcomed Ryan to the team also confirmed the departure of John Booth and Graeme Lowdon.

    “I’m delighted to announce Dave’s appointment in the newly created position of Racing Director. He needs no introduction, of course, having spent 34 years within the sport contributing to an incredible tally of race and championship wins.

    “Along with our new Mercedes Benz power unit, technical partnership with Williams and recent additions to the design and technical team, Dave’s arrival is another important step towards our goal of creating a truly competitive racing team.

    “I am also able to confirm that John Booth and Graeme Lowdon will be leaving the team at the end of the current season.

    “I have the utmost respect for them as individuals and for all they have achieved, both with this team and in their long careers in Motorsport, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work and dedication during this season in particular.

    “Like every great story, there comes a time to start a new chapter.”

  • Lowdon Confirms Departure From Manor

    Lowdon Confirms Departure From Manor

    Manor Formula 1 Team’s Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon has confirmed on Friday afternoon that he will leave the team at the end of the season with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being his final outing with the team.

    It was reported last month at the Russian Grand Prix that Lowdon and Team Principal John Booth had both resigned from the team after differences in opinion with new team owner Stephen Fitzpatrick.

    Fitzpatrick rescued Manor from near collapse last year after the team went into administration. Both Lowdon and Booth were key in building the team back up and for keeping it going throughout 2015. Most recently Manor were able to secure an engine deal with Mercedes for 2016 which will put it in a good position for next year.

    Speaking at the team representatives press conference after Free Practice 2, Lowdon took the opportunity to announce his resignation and spoke about the task of building the team back up again. He made special mention to Bernie Ecclestone, FIA President Jean Todt and Ferrari’s James Allisson.

    “Abu Dhabi is going to be my last race with the team,” said Lowdon

    “Rather than focus on the reasons why, I prefer to focus on the fact the most important task this year was to make sure that the team continued racing.

    “That required a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment as well.

    “My belief in the team at that stage never wavered once, and we worked very hard to make sure the team was in a position to continue.

    “In that period – November, December, January – we received a lot of help from [F1 boss] Bernie Ecclestone in particular, also from Jean Todt”

    “I have to say everybody involved in the governance side and commercial rights side were constructive during the whole period and the team wouldn’t have survived without that input.

    “Also from Ferrari, who were really instrumental not just in the team being able to survive with the engine deal at short notice but also from very first race, the commitment from James Allison in particular.

    “He had a very public task at Ferrari, to ensure the team was in a good position.

    “From our point of view, as a customer team, we received some pivotal support from him.

    “And of course the staff at the team. We had to get the team back together very quickly.

    “That wouldn’t have happened had we not been able to attract a lot of the same faces back who were with the team in previous years.

    “That was extremely important as well. A lot of things had to come together.

    “This has been a pretty difficult season but that is secondary to the fact the team continues and that is the most important thing.”

     

  • Manor F1 team denies not being able to run two cars simultaneously

    Manor F1 team denies not being able to run two cars simultaneously

    The revived Marussia, now Manor F1 team, has denied rumours that it cannot run both cars simulataneously, insisting that this is “complete, utter nonsense”.

    Manor F1 were unable to take part in the season opening Australian Grand Prix but after solving software problems preventing them from being there, headed on to the track for the first time in Sepang.

    Speculation started however, when Manor F1 only sent Roberto Merhi out for qualifying and the race after Will Stevens’ car was suffering what Manor F1 described as a “complex fuel system problem” during the final third pratice on Saturday.

    Roberto Merhi for Manor F1 at the 2015 Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix The Manor F1 team said that it did not run both cars simultaneously during practice in order to minimise the risk of making operational misatakes but when Stevens – who seemed to be faster than his team mate – did not appear for qualifying or the race, rumours started doing the rounds that the Manor F1 team were not capable of running both their cars at the same time.

    Manor F1’s sporting director Graeme Lowdon told Autosport that this was “complete, utter nonsense” and added his guarantee that “if that car could have moved, it would have raced.”

    “There is absolutely no question about it. And it would have qualified,” he added.

    “The systems and the people were perfectly happy with the results of everything in [practice] one, two and three from that point of view, and if you look at the run plans we weren’t going round and round and round in one, two and three because we had very specific tasks in ticking things off.

    “Quali we had very clear run planning for both cars, and we would have definitely raced with two cars.”

    According to Lowden, Manor F1 is doing everything it can to get both cars into every race as there were big opportunities for even just finishing. He seemed rather annoyed by the fingers pointed at the Manor F1 team saying that, “You would drag
    the car kicking and screaming. It’s complete utter nonsense. Elvis is not alive on Mars and all the rest of it.”

    Photo Credits:

    Featured image: Manor F1 Team

    Roberto Merhi: Twitter @robertomerhi

     

  • Manor F1 Team To Race in Melbourne

    Manor F1 Team To Race in Melbourne

    The Manor F1 team have announced that they will be ready to race come the season opener in Australia thanks to investor Stephen Fitzpatrick, the founder of energy company OVO, who rescued the team out of administration.

    Since then the team have been working away furiously behind the scenes to get things ready for them to be able to race at the Australian Grand Prix. The team, having already signed Will Stevens as their first driver, is yet to announce their second driver. The team say that the lineup will be completed soon.

    Manor F1 will be lead by former Marussia team boss Graeme Lowdon who will take up his new role as President & Sporting Director. The founder of Manor Motorsport John Booth with will continue as Team Principal. Former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King will be taking over as interim chairman with Stephen Fitzpatrick as the new investor/owner.

    “I want to thank all of the teams, the FIA, Formula One Management, our suppliers and staff and of course all of the fans for the support we’ve received over the past six months,” said Lowdon.

    “It has been a challenging period for all of us but we’ve come through it and now we just want to go racing again,” he added.

    “With formidable new business leadership in Stephen Fitzpatrick and the board presence of Justin King we are now in a great place ahead of the new season. This is a fantastic and very rewarding moment for all those involved with the team.”

    Fitzpatrick is very confident in the team and feels that they’ve got a solid platform to work off.

    “We’ve all worked incredibly hard to get the car ready for Melbourne and the season ahead. Our fans have given the team amazing support for many years and we want to restore Manor to the very best of racing in the future. I have a lifelong passion for Formula One and can’t wait for the season ahead, with Manor and the team.”

    The team will start the season with their 2014 which will be modified to suit the 2015 regulations. They will then launch their 2015 car towards the middle of the season.