Timo Glock revealed that he almost retired from the Singapore Grand Prix, which would have seen the outfit miss out on 12th position – the best result by any of the new teams to date.
The result moved Marussia ahead of Caterham in the contructors’ standings which, if they can hold that position until the end of the season, would mean a far larger share of the prize money will come their way.
Glock though damaged his MR01 after hitting the wall, but battled to keep the car under control and managed to finish the race.
“It’s fantastic,” said the German. “I knew I had a chance against Caterham if we stayed close in the first stint and that’s what I tried.
“Unfortunately, the rear tyre pressures came up a bit too much and I overshot the car in turn 19 and hit the wall. In the first moment I thought the race was over and I realised that the toe was really out; I had to change my driving style and, actually, changed everything that I could do to keep the car on track.
“Every time I had a left-hand corner I had massive problems, but in the end I kept pushing and just didn’t want to give up. I had to save the car in every left-hand corner and at the end I think I did 40 laps on the prime tyres, which is incredible for us.”
He praised the effort put in by the team and the developments brought to the race: “It’s great for the team, it’s paid off slowly and I think what we have achieved in the last three or four months in terms of development it’s great for the team.”
