Will Stevens has lost his drive in Formula One with Manor poised to announce his departure from the team.

Stevens, 24, spent last season with the minnows but is understood to have been replaced for 2016 by Rio Haryanto. The Indonesian is bringing at least £10 million in sponsorship in large part thanks to backing from the country’s state oil company.

The news comes as a bitter blow for the Englishman just a week before the first pre-season test in Barcelona. Stevens is likely to try racing elsewhere, perhaps in America, before seeking again to make it in Formula One.

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It also means the number of British drivers in the sport will remain at three, with triple world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Jenson Button at McLaren, and rookie Jolyon Palmer at Renault.

In his year in the sport Stevens has struggled to make an impression, with Manor so far off the pace in 2015. But with a Mercedes engine in this year’s car he would have had more of a chance to show what he could do.