Manor believe Sauber were within their grasp

Published on 13 Jun 2016 10:25

By: Dominik Wilde

Manor left the Canadian Grand Prix disappointed after both cars failed to finish in front of the two Sauber drivers.

Pascal Wehrlein finished in 17th, ahead of Felipe Nasr but behind Marcus Ericsson, while Rio Haryanto came home in 19th place.

Speaking after the race, Manor racing director Dave Ryan said that the team's problems were out of control for the drivers.

"We expected to be able to race the Saubers today and that was indeed the case, albeit we made life difficult for Pascal by picking up a small bit of damage to the floor when he arrived at the grid," he said. "That cost him quite a bit of lap time so holding off Ericsson for as long as he did – until his second and final pit stop – was all the more pleasing. He got the advantage over Nasr, which was good, but not keeping both behind was a bit of a missed opportunity today because it certainly looked within our grasp."

"With Rio we also let him down a little with a slow first stop, which set him back and without that he could have finished ahead of Nasr."

Wehrlein echoed the sentiments of Ryan, saying that although he was pleased to finish ahead of Nasr, the damage to the floor cost him.

"I got a very good start and managed to leapfrog Palmer and keep both Saubers behind me before the first pit stop, although we had picked up some damage to the floor when we arrived at the grid and I was losing lap time," he said. "By the time we got to the final stop I was struggling with the tyres and that allowed Ericsson to get past. I was still able to finish ahead of Nasr, which is positive, although it’s disappointing not to be able to hold off both."