Roberto Merhi has been confirmed as Manor’s second driver ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
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Manor have completed a remarkable turnaround to return to the F1 grid after Marussia missed the final three races of the 2014 season after going hitting major financial difficulties.
Merhi will join Will Stevens for at least the “opening rounds” of the season, with Jordan King, son of chairman Justin King, named as development driver.
“It is fantastic to welcome Roberto and Jordan to the team,” team principal John Booth is quoted as saying by F1.com.
“Not only are they very talented young drivers with exciting futures ahead of them, they have also been ‘graduates’ of Manor Motorsport in the junior formulae, which is obviously very rewarding for us, given that the development of young talent is an important part of our philosophy.
Merhi said he was over-the-moon to be handed the opportunity to make his debut in Formula 1.
“I am incredibly excited to be making my Formula 1 debut in Melbourne this weekend,” Merhi said.
“It is a big responsibility but I feel ready to make this step in my career and to show that I can make an important contribution to developing a team.”
The Spaniard drove in three FP1 sessions for Caterham in 2014 and finished third in last year’s Formula Renault 3.5 series.
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