May 11 (GMM) Manor is hoping to leave struggling Sauber at the very back of the grid from this weekend’s Spanish grand prix.
Barcelona, traditionally the first European race of the season, will this weekend see most teams running heavily updated packages in the wake of the opening four ‘flyaways’.
But the Swiss team Sauber is struggling financially in 2016, and has announced that it will not do the post-race test next week because it does not have a Barcelona-spec upgrade to develop.
Even the usual backmarker Manor, however, will arrive at the Circuit de Catalunya with a car update.
“I’ll have a new rear wing, a new front wing and a new floor,” Pascal Wehrlein, the team’s Mercedes-backed race driver, told Speed Week.
“They are minor things but I hope nevertheless that it’s a good step forward for the car and we get the tyres to work better,” the German rookie added.
Wehrlein continued: “For sure Barcelona will not be easy, but in the last races we have always been in the fight with the Sauber guys and it would be nice if we can take another step forward now and get past them.”