Awful Austria

With their win streak slowing down starting at San Marino, Manor hoped to turn the tide back in their favor at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. As it turned out, they will have to wait another week.

Daniel Ricciardo had a strong qualifying session to record his first pole since Malaysia, while Carmen Jordá qualified fourth. Ricciardo started the race on a high note as he led the field, but disaster struck on lap 10 when he was forced to retire from the race after his MM3 lost power. As a result, Jordá was able to run within podium positions, but technical problems of her own relegated her to 4th behind Mercedes’ Giedo van der Garde and the Ferraris of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Nasr.

Despite the recent struggles, Team Principal Macus16 remained calm. “You can’t expect to run in race victories every week,” he stated. “We are still collecting good points and I expect to fight Ferrari next time around.”

With his win, Rosberg overtook Jordá for second in the World Drivers’ Championship, currently holding a one-point gap with 119 points, while Ricciardo remains at the top with 135. In the World Constructors’ Championship, Manor continues to lead with 278, an 86-point advantage over Mercedes.

Next week, the Model F1 World Championship heads to Zandvoort for the inaugural MF1 Dutch Grand Prix.

Seeing Red (Bull)

With their new partnership, Manor and Red Bull have been getting involved in various promotional events over the week. The four drivers (Ricciardo, Jordá, and RBR’s Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton) helped distribute cans of Red Bull to the local population, while also running laps in the KTM X-Bow around the circuit.

Ricciardo also joked about potentially running a Red Bull Global Rallycross race in the future. Macus16 did not comment on whether or not he would be permitted to run, but it’s safe to assume it will not be happening in 2016 as the GRC season ended last Sunday.