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Not many new fans might know about Manor F1, one of the backmarker teams that had a horrible stint in the sport. Surprisingly, one of the team's drivers is on the current grid and is performing fairly well with a different team.
Manor have been in F1 since 2010 under the names Virgin Cosworth and Marussia Cosworth. However, they officially entered the sport under their own name, Manor Racing, in 2016. Unfortunately, that season did not bring any fortunes for them either. They finished last in the constructors' championship, scoring only one point.
Three drivers raced for Manor Racing in 2016. This was because Rio Haryanto, an Indonesian driver, was demoted to being a reserve driver due to a lack of sponsorships. Following the demotion, the team announced Esteban Ocon as Haryanto's replacement.
The French driver raced in nine of the 21 races in the 2016 F1 season for Manor Racing. Unfortunately, he was not able to score any points for the team. His best finish with the team was 12th in the Brazilian GP.
Apart from that, Pascar Wehrlein was the third and most consistent driver for the team. He was the only driver to bring home some points in the Austrian GP, where he finished 10th. However, after scoring a single point, his car broke down several times due to various issues, drastically decreasing his chances of scoring more.
After the end of the 2016 F1 season, Esteban Ocon moved ahead with his career and shook hands with Force India (Aston Martin) in 2017 and drove alongside Sergio Perez.
Esteban Ocon confident of Alpine rocketing up the F1 grid like Aston Martin
Esteban Ocon is confident that Alpine could also take a massive leap in terms of performance, similar to what Aston Martin did between the 2022 and 2023 F1 seasons. He explained how the green British outfit jumped up the grid by working hard for just three or four months. He said (via motorsport.com):
"We have to think it is possible, otherwise there's no point racing. If you think about it, we finished the season in December, and when we restarted it was the end of February, beginning of March. So it's about three, four months."
He added:
"I don't know if Aston would have been able to do that in-season, but if you take three or four months, it's not the end of the season. Aston Martin have shown, and fair play to them, that it is possible to make a big step if you find the right things. It is doable."
Since Aston Martin were able to pull this off, Ocon believes Alpine can do so as well. Of course, this kind of performance jump can only be achieved in between two seasons. Hence, the French team will have to make do with what they have and bring in as strong upgrade parts as they can.
