» Merhi stays in the saddle

The Manor Marussia team will head into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix with an unchanged driver line-up.

There had been speculation that the team, which continues to operate with negligible sponsorship, would jettison rookie driver Roberto Merhi, who competes on a race-by-race deal, should a driver with better funding come knocking.

The 24-year-old Spaniard additionally competes in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with the Pons team, although he will not race for Pons this weekend when the feeder series stages a round on the streets of Monte Carlo, clashing with the Monaco Grand Prix.

Merhi has been consistently outperformed by fellow rookie teammate Will Stevens all season, although the Spanish press has claimed that the Briton – who brings some backing as part of his drive – does enjoy the priority of better “parts and strategy”.

Image via XPB Images