Victory in Melbourne

Entering the 2016B season, there were high hopes for Manor-Mercedes. Coming off a 99-point season and with more experience than ever, many expected to see a Manor victory sometime during the season. As it turns out, they didn’t have to wait long.

With Model F1 newcomers Pascal Wehrlein and Carmen Jordá replacing the retiring Felipe Massa and departing Pastor Maldonado, the team was met with some skepticism at the new driver lineup. Such doubt was rendered mostly invalid when the two qualified 1–2 for the Australian Grand Prix.

On raceday, Jordá was supposedly shunted from behind on the parade lap; her day went downhill from there. After the five lights went out to start the race, she struggled to take off and fell to last. She retired from the race on lap 3.

Meanwhile, Wehrlein dominated the race from start to finish. After pulling away from Aston Martin’s Daniil Kvyat at the start, he never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the event. Additionally, Wehrlein lapped every car minus the Saubers of Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso, finishing the race with a 1:15.164 gap between him and the second-place finisher Magnussen.

Wehrlein could hardly contain his emotions after the win. Upon parking the MM3 in parc fermé, he greeted the Manor team with enthusiasm, giving hugs all around.

“This is unbelievable. First race ever for me and it ends on top of the podium, I still can’t believe this is happening. Macus, Splendid, you are awesome!” Wehrlein commented during the postrace conference.

Team principal Macus16 was equally in awe at the win. “We thought we would be quick, but we did not expect to run out with that level of victory on the first race. This is Brawn-level victory.”

“Guess we better practice our German if it means we get to hear the anthem whenever Pascal wins,” he joked.

Team manager Splendidtree commented, “We wouldn’t be here had it not been a seasons-long effort by everyone, but I think our [Glorious Leader] Mac deserves the credit because of many great partnerships and deals up and down the paddock.”

In two weeks, Manor hopes to record two straight wins as the Model F1 World Championship heads to Asia for the Malaysian Grand Prix.