Timo Glock to drive Manor Grand Prix F1 car in 2010
Formula One driver Timo Glock has announced that he would drive for the newcomer F1 team, Manor Grand Prix, in the 2010 Formula One season. Tim Glock was driving for Toyota in the 2009 season, and was left without a drive when Toyota decided to exit Formula One.
Photo: Timo Glock to race for Manor / Virgin F1 team in 2010
Nobody expects Manor GP to do amazingly well in the 2010 season on their first attempt, and Timo Glocm surely knows that. However, his reasoning, at least officially, is that he woudl like to be part of a team building process and developing the car.
Manor Grand Prix is expected to announce the signing of Virgin of Richard Branson as a sponsor the 2010 F1 season. Virgin was a sponsor for the title-winning Brawn GP car in 2009, and after the win, apparently, the cost of sponsoring their team was too much for Virgin. Brawn GP and Mercedes announced last week that Mercedes would be taking over the Brawn GP team by taking a majority stake in the racing outfit, and the team would henceforth be known as Mercedes Grand Prix. There are rumours that Manor would be renamed Virgin F1 once the sponsorship is announced. Related News: Jenson Button to join McLaren in 2010
Manor GP 2010 F1 car photo from their website; probably a mockup
Manor Grand Prix has announced who their second driver for the 2010 season would be. Former Renault test driver Lucas Di Grassi meanwhile said that his chances of joining the Manor GP team were very good indeed, and that he was awaiting final word from the team bosses.
Timo Glock’s deal is for a two-year term. BBC reported that Manor technical director Nick Wirth told them that he was happy about Timo Glock, and it was his recommendation that the team should have one driver experienced with the 2009 cars to help with the Manor GP 2010 F1 car development programme.
After scoring two points in his first Formula One race outing with Jordan in 2004, Glock moved to Champ Car for 2005, taking second place in one race. In 2006, Glock moved to GP2 racing, a run below Formula One. In 2008 and 2009, Glock signed up with the Toyota F1 team. In the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, he crashed and he could not race thereafter, with newcomer Kamui Kobayashi taking his place and doing well.
Mercedes Grand Prix was rumoured to try to have a pair of German drivers for 2010, but it is not known if Timo Glock was considered by them. Renault was another option for Glock, but the team is reticent about their plans for the 2010 season, and whether they would race or not is not certain at this point.
Considering it is good for Timo that he got a drive with Manor (future Virgin F1?) and for Manor to get an experienced driver like him. Now all we have to do is wait for the announcement of the second driver. Manor has already said that their aim is to be the best of the newcomers in the 2010 season.
Manor are no newcomers to racing, although most of today’s F1 fans have probably not heard about them. But drivers such as Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton have raced for Manor Motorsport in the F3 racing series.