The Manor Marussia F1 Team is rethinking its plans to introduce a brand new car for the 2015 season to instead focus resources on next year.
The resurrected outfit had originally planned to introduce a completely new chassis at the Belgian Grand Prix in August, but with new technical signings including former Mercedes technical director Bob Bell, the team are considering switching their focus to 2016.
Their decision is also based on the fact that their current chassis, a modified version of their 2014 car, has easily qualified within the 107 per cent regulation and they don’t see that being a problem through to the end of the season.
Therefore Bell’s immediate focus is on “the big picture” according to team principal Graeme Lowdon, who hinted that the decision with regards their 2015 car will be Bell’s call.
“We are bringing people on board all the time who will have an input in to the decision-making process,” Lowdon told Motorsport.
“There is no point having a dog and then barking yourself. So there is no point hiring these people and then telling them this is the tactical plan [to run the new car this year].
“There is no hard and fast route. There is nothing saying we definitely cannot have a different engine or a different chassis.
“Everything is open and whatever the right answer is, that is what we will do. But bear in mind that some of the people who can make a big impact in to that answer are just getting on board.”
