Graeme Lowdon: "Manor could return to F1"
- Published on 22 Jan 2018 10:39
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Manor is not ruling out a return to formula one. The F1 team went out of business after 2016, switching instead to world endurance sports car racing. For 2018, Manor will contest the top-tier LMP1 category at Le Mans and takes on the services of Kimi Raikkonen's 2017 race engineer Dave Greenwood.
Asked if Manor might be preparing for a F1 comeback, boss Graeme Lowdon said: "If nothing changes - if there is no cost cap and the costs stay the same - then we cannot go back because it's impossible to race against the big teams. But we have heard from the FIA and Liberty that work is being done to reduce the cost for private teams," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper.
"In that case, we are interested in returning. Both myself and John Booth have unfinished business in F1," Lowdon added. (GMM)
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Replies (5)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I think it might be for the best if they dont return. I cant see them muster up enough funds to ever be truly competitive in F1.
Kean
Posts: 692
Mercedes have been mulling over having a B-team, the likes of Red Bull and now Ferrari. Maybe Manor fits the bill, or perhaps Mercedes have their sights set on Force India to fulfill that role.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Yep, B-teams are the future for non-manufacturer backed teams.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I think they tried to do that very thing when Manor was around, but even the support Mercedes gave them back then (remember, very low cost Mercedes unit and cheap Williams gearbox) wasnt sufficient. Mercedes are likely not keen on going the Red Bull route, and fund a junior team themselves, I think its more likely that they'll go the Ferrari route, and give support to an already established team. In that regard, yeah, Force India is the most likely prospect, and they sorta already are, seeing as they accepted Ocon.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
And the crowd goes mild...