Manor Racing have announced that Rio Haryanto will be made reserve driver for the remainder of the 2016 season after ‘failing to meet his contractual obligations’.
The Indonesian driver started the opening 12 races of the season after securing his drive with the team thanks to a multi-million pound sponsorship package funded in part by the Indonesian government.
Manor Racing Director Dave Ryan says that Haryanto remains a ‘much valued member of the team’.
“Some time ago, his management indicated that they were experiencing difficulties honouring the obligations of that contract beyond the Hungarian Grand Prix,” explains Ryan.
“Rio’s team have worked tirelessly to try to resolve that situation with his Indonesian backers and we have supported those efforts as much as possible, including allowing Rio to race in Germany. Unfortunately we reached a point where, in the best interests of the team, we were forced to explore other options for the remainder of the season.
“We are very pleased to continue our support for Rio’s Formula 1 ambitions, by offering him a Reserve Driver role for the rest of the current season. We very much hope that he will accept that offer.”
Manor announced that they will name a replacement for Haryanto’s seat ‘shortly’.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
10th August 2016, 9:12
Shame. Predictable, but a shame.
Lauri (@f1lauri)
10th August 2016, 9:24
Maldonado in :) ?
Luis Torrelles (@torrelles)
10th August 2016, 11:52
Yes please :D
BasCB (@bascb)
10th August 2016, 9:29
Seems at least one candidate has not taken the seat – Alexander Rossi apparently turned down the offer to get into the car for the remainder of the year – http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/indy-500-winner-alexander-rossi-wont-take-back-manor-f1-1785046386?rev=1470773094342&utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
I can’t blame him for it, afterall he is currently running a very solid rookie season in Indycars in a competative car. And doing half a year with Manor would hardly be an improvement!
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
10th August 2016, 9:31
Motorsport.com reports Esteban Ocon is set to get he seat. Ocon vs Wehrlein!
BasCB (@bascb)
10th August 2016, 9:40
I saw that too @lolzerbob, let’s see if it’s confirmed
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
10th August 2016, 9:41
Yup..confirmed
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ocon-announced-as-haryanto-s-replacement-at-manor-806308/
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
10th August 2016, 10:02
Exciting pairing!
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
10th August 2016, 11:29
Yup, two Mercedes proteges going for it!
nase
11th August 2016, 10:40
@spoutnik
Yeah, great news!
I’m a bit sad for Rio, who did a solid job and even managed to compete on the same level as Wehrlein in qualifing. But, on the other hand, this leaves Manor with one hell of a driver pairing.
Some ten years ago, this could’ve been a typical Sauber line-up. Which is both good news for Manor and bad news for Sauber.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
10th August 2016, 9:34
Considering that Haryanto was doing MUCH better than I anticipated, this actually makes me slightly sad. Then again, it gives the chance to Ocon, who is the best young driver outside of F1 atm. Manor is basically a Mercedes junior team now…
anon
10th August 2016, 19:03
@hahostolze, I do have to agree that Haryanto does seem to be very harshly criticised when he has shown the ability to get much closer to Wehrlein than you would have expected.
After all, what seems to be forgotten is that Wehrlein has had an advantage from Mercedes arranging for him to participate in test sessions for Force India, along with carrying out tests on their own cars and having the benefit of working with their engineers before he was given that seat at Manor.
I do not wish to disparage him, but the coaching and additional preparation Mercedes have given to Wehrlein in the years leading up to his debut gave him an advantage over Haryanto before the season began. Mercedes have been pushing Wehrlein quite hard as their next big thing and they’ve been investing quite a bit in his career development over the past few years, so I’d have been more surprised if he hadn’t managed to beat Haryanto when you take that into account.
OOliver
11th August 2016, 7:40
While I do not disagree with you, I find the perception that a very good driver should be miles ahead of his competition, rather perplexing. A car has its performance limit, an an exceptional driver will get there first and sustain that capability, while a very good driver will get very close to that limit.
A tenth or 2 tenths of a second performance margin, small as it is, sufficiently differentiates the two classes of drivers. Anything larger, indicates a bigger problem.
Warner (@warner16)
10th August 2016, 9:43
Its been confirmed that Ocon will replace Haryanto for the rest of the season!
http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/8/ocon-replaces-haryanto-at-manor.html
BasCB (@bascb)
10th August 2016, 9:56
pretty good news this. I really think these two will give Manor a boost and it certainly is great news to have talents like Ocon and Wehrlein up against each other in a car in F1 now.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
10th August 2016, 9:49
Good. Waste of a perfectly good seat. In Ocon they have lots of potential and one of the most exciting pairings on the grid.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
10th August 2016, 10:01
So Ocon will have driven a Mercedes, a Renault and a Manor in one season. Surely a record?
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
10th August 2016, 10:28
Great news! Ocon is a far superior driver, and Haryanto was just finishing last in almost every race so we haven’t lost a talent.
Will Of The Supremo
10th August 2016, 10:29
Oh no, i’m SOOOOO sorry we lost another potential World Champion..
Good Riddance. Will be lucky if he go on in Asian local tournaments. Maybe Japan Super Formula. Won’t be missed more than Sato.
LosD (@losd)
10th August 2016, 11:36
Hey, I miss Sato.
Biggsy
10th August 2016, 10:29
“failing to meet his contractual obligations”
You’d think drivers contractual obligations would consist of showing up at the race weekend and providing a certain level of performance, along with perhaps some marketing duties here and there.
But this is the “pinnacle” of motorsport, so there you go…
DavidTyrrellF1 (@davidtyrrell)
10th August 2016, 10:53
Haryanto gave it his best and performed better than people expected of him. Unfortunately, with a team like Manor they need drivers with sufficient backing. Let’s see how Ocon gets on, I’m sure Renault will be watching very closely.
Evil Homer (@)
10th August 2016, 13:11
I agree, he didn’t set the world on fire but was maybe a bit closer to Pascal than most thought at the start of the year.
I hope he does well but not sure we will see him in F1 again. Once again in F1 when your money runs out……….
pcxmac (@xsavior)
11th August 2016, 0:09
yeah, when I saw didn’t meet contractual obligations, I thought about his sponsors willing to throw in to the pile. Oh well, maybe Mercedes (Toto) will give Manor the Williams treatment and they will start beating half of the field.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
10th August 2016, 11:05
I would imagine this means Ocon is losing the battle for Palmer’s seat to Perez or even Bottas, which is a shame, and odd given that Jerome Stoll has expressly voiced his enthusiasm for a French driver.
In terms of Wehrlein v Ocon, I would be surprised if Esteban isn’t beating Pascal very quickly. Whilst Wehrlein’s single seater campaign was cut short by his DTM deal before we could see him in more powerful machinery, in the past two years Ocon has produced a pair of inspired campaigns to take both the GP3 and Euro F3 titles. If Mercedes are going to match young talent of the likes of Verstappen and Vandoorne, Ocon is, in my view, the better bet.
Todfod (@todfod)
10th August 2016, 12:00
Agree completely about Ocon being a better bet to match up to Verstappen and Vandoorne. I’m pretty sure that Ocon should have a handle on Wehrlein within a couple of races time.
Regarding Ocon’s drive in Renault, I’m pretty sure he’s right up there on Renault’s priority list. I seriously doubt K-Mag or Palmer will retain their seat for 2017, which definitely keeps the window open for Ocon.
pastaman (@)
10th August 2016, 13:04
How is Ocon driving for Manor this season negatively affecting his chances at a seat next season? If anything, this will be favorable for his chances at Renault.
Patrick (@paeschli)
11th August 2016, 7:43
Exactly, make him familiar with the different F1 procedures, and then move him up to Renault next year?
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
10th August 2016, 12:04
Rio should go to Manor LMP2..
Xcm
10th August 2016, 19:48
Post Maldonado, it really disgusts me when a driver’s main financial backing is his home country…
anon
10th August 2016, 21:06
Do you dislike drivers who are sponsored by corporations which are tied into the government of a particular country? For example, do you object to Felipe Nasr and the sponsorship he enjoys from Banco do Brasil, which is effectively controlled by the Brazilian government?
pcxmac (@xsavior)
11th August 2016, 0:13
have you seen the Olympics? seen how tax payers float big sports arenas/etc… Taking from the till is an art. If anything Haryanto proved he was actually faster than his teammate for a good amount of the time, even if it didn’t amount to much in a back marker team being propped up by Mercedes. Not a real shocker Merc are putting another one of their drivers in to their second string team. If you think about it, Toto probably would have put Pascal in at Williams had he not been forced to sell his shares/his wife asked to leave/etc….