The Manor Marussia F1 Team, barring a disaster, is guaranteed to be on the Australian Grand Prix starting grid after its modified 2014 chassis passed the mandatory FIA crash tests on Thursday.
The outfit has been busy preparing a car for the first race of the season. However due to the very strict timescales and the fact investment to save the team only came just over a month ago, it has been forced to modify its 2014 car to meet this year’s regulations.
It had hoped to compete with the 2014 car as is, but that was blocked by Force India, making the team’s job even more difficult.
However on Thursday the revived outfit confirmed its car had passed the crash tests needed to take part in a race weekend, allowing for its freight to be shipped on Friday.
“Our big news of today is that we have now passed the FIA crash tests. Well done team! That’s it – we’re all set for Melbourne!”
The chassis will be almost identical to last years, other than a new nose section according to team boss Graeme Lowdon.
“It’s the 2014 car with a very high degree of carry over, and then some really quite clever engineering solutions to make sure it is fully compliant with the rules,” he told Autosport.
“The nose is different and the chassis has to be modified, with added zylon safety panels.”
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