Esteban Ocon replaces Rio Haryanto at Manor Racing for the rest of the season

It was confirmed yesterday (10/8/16), Manor Racing Team has terminated Rio Haryanto's Formula 1 contract after he failed to meet his contractual obligations, replacing him with Mercedes, Renault reserve driver and current GP3 Champion Esteban Ocon.



Haryanto signed at the start of the year but only had enough funding to carry him through to the Hungarian Grand Prix. He secured a deal to race in the following weekends German Grand Prix in the hope he could get his investment sorted for the remaining races of the season after the summer break.It is believed Haryanto's management had trouble convincing the Indonesian government to look beyond his results and explaining the competitive nature of F1.

Meaning, no investment forthcoming, Manor has now taken the decision to replace Haryanto with Esteban Ocon, who is Mercedes and Renault reserve driver. Ocon will make his Formula 1 race debut at the Belgian Grand Prix later this month, partnering with Pascal Wehrlein.



Ocon achievement includes winning the 2014 FIA European F3 Championship in his rookie season ahead of Max Verstappen also in his rookie season. Then in 2015 he also won the 2015 GP3 Series once again in his rookie season.



However, Manor has offered Haryanto the role of reserve driver for the rest of the season but it is unclear whether he will accept (which his has accept after this post has gone online).

Great News to see Esteban Ocon stepping up to a full F1 drive at Manor for the rest of the season, well earned. While, I feel sorry for Rio Haryanto losing his drive with no fault of his own due to sponsorship difficulty despite sometimes outperforming Pascal Wehrlein in qualifying.