Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news
Manor Marussia have confirmed that 23-year-old Roberto Merhi as their second driver for the 2015 Formula One season as the team prepares to return to the grid at this weekend's race in Melbourne.
The Spaniard will partner Great Britain's Will Stevens this season, with the confirmation of their driver lin-up coming just three days before the season gets underway on Friday with practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
"We're delighted to announce that robertomerhi will be racing alongside Will Stevens," the team confirmed on Twitter.
Marussia missed the last three races of 2014 after the team hit significant financial problems, but came out of administration in February after a last-minute takeover from energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick and were last week given the green light to race in Melbourne after passing crash tests set by the FIA.
Show all 22 1 /22F1 2014 championship driver ratings F1 2014 championship driver ratings Lewis Hamilton – 9 The two-time world champion deserved every bit of his success in 2014, in which he showed he was the faster driver in the battle with Nico Rosberg. Had he not made the error in Brazil that allowed Rosberg to take victory, it could well have been a perfect 10 for Hamilton.
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Nico Rosberg – 8 Rosberg pushed his team-mate all the way but ultimately who had no answer to Hamilton’s sheer speed when it was a straight dog-fight between the two. The mechanical failure in Abu Dhabi robbed him of any hope of winning the title, but it would’ve been unlikely that he could have passed the eventual champion anyway.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Sebastian Vettel - 5 Who’d have thought the four time world champion would not win a single race this season? Perhaps that’s not so bad given Mercedes dominated the season, but his new team-mate Ricciardo won three times, and simply it’s been a case of not good enough from Seb. He’ll hope the grass is greener at Ferrari next season.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Daniel Ricciardo - 9 A world champion in the making, Ricciardo has shown that he is both hugely talented and one of the nicest guys on the grid. He was rewarded for his excellent drives with three victories in Canada, Hungary and Belgium, and he fully warrants his third place in the Drivers’ Championship.
GETTY IMAGES
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Fernando Alonso - 6 The Spaniard may have endured a difficult year with Ferrari which has led to his exit, but in his eyes he has put in some of his best drives this season. He dominated his team-mate, the 2007 world champion, and he can still be pleased with a number of his performances this season.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Kimi Raikkonen - 3 What happened to the Flying Finn of last season at Lotus? Raikkonen has not performed well at all since his return to Ferrari, and there’s a strong case to drop him to have been dropped for next year – though he will partner Vettel next year. A season-best of fourth in Spa is the anomaly of a poor season.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Felipe Massa - 7 His career could have been over when he left Ferrari last season, but the Williams team rewarded his determination to remain in F1 with a massively fast car. Two third-place finishes – the best in Brazil in front of his home fans – made up for a few retirements and nasty crashes, though they weren’t of his doing.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Valterri Bottas - 7 One more podium finish than his team-mate and just one retirement all season has capped a breakthrough year for Bottas. The Finn is showing why he is rated so highly and he has a phenomenally calm head on his shoulders. His drive in Austria was a particular highlight.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Jenson Button - 6 Somehow under the radar Button has performed admirably in a car that has not been up to scratch this season. Button has out-performed Magnussen in the Drivers’ Championship and started with a bang as he secured third in Australia, and a strong end to the season could still see him remain for 2015.
Getty images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Kevin Magnussen - 6 Moments of sheer braveness and incredibility have been hindered by errors and rashness, and a number of penalties this season have ended up costing Magnussen. Like Button, he amazed by finishing second in Melbourne, but has managed no better than fifth since then.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Sergio Perez - 4 Inconsistency has seen Perez finish up and down the field, with a third place in Bahrain helping him forget the fact that he didn’t even start in Malaysia due to reliability failure.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Nico Hulkenberg - 5 Big things were expected from Hulkenberg after last season’s performances despite missing out on a so-called ‘big team’ but hasn’t been as outstanding as we’ve come to expect. Consistently inside the top-10, Hulkenberg will still be in the Force India next year.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Jean-Eric Vergne - 4 Five retirements in the first eight races looked to pave the way for Vergne’s exit, but Kvyat’s move to Red Bull could yet allow the Frenchman a second chance in F1. A season-best of sixth in Singapore was the best of a poor season.
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Danil Kvyat - 4 The young Russian has shown that he has what it takes to make it in F1, but too many times this season he’s fallen away and finished outside the top 10. Only three times this season did he finish inside the top 10, which hasn’t been good enough.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Adrian Sutil - 2 A dismal year for Sauber looks to have confirmed the end of Sutil’s time in F1. He hasn’t scored a point and has already been confirmed as leaving Sauber, and he’s unlikely to be picked up again before the start of next season.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Esteban Gutierrez - 2 A year to forget for the Mexican who will also be leaving Sauber this year. He remains confident of securing another drive for next season, but it certainly won’t be based on results this season.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Romain Grosjean - 3 Let’s not take too much from Grosjean’s results, as the Lotus has simply been awful this season. He’s asserted himself as the lead driver in the team following Raikkonen’s exit, and he’ll hope for much better fortunes next season having confirmed his stay witht he team.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Pastor Maldonado - 1 Where do you start with him? If he’s not crashing, he’s being penalised by the stewards for reckless driving. At times he’s even been running behind the Caterhams and Marussias which simply isn’t acceptable for Lotus. Finally scored a first point of the season in the United States.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Jules Bianchi - 5 It would be easy to bump up his rating due after the tragedy of his crash in Japan, but the fact is that Bianchi has impressed everyone this season. His drive in Monaco to score Marussia’s first ever point will go down in F1 history, and he looked nailed on for a future Ferrari drive. Here’s hoping he makes a recovery from his serious injuries.
Getty Images
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Max Chilton - 2 Chilton’s efforts in finishing every race he started finally came to an end in Canada, but he was consistently out-performed by Bianchi. Marussia’s absence from the grid towards the end of the season looks to have ended his time in F1.
REUTERS
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Kamui Kobayashi - 2 A strange season saw Kobayashi somewhat surprisingly recalled to Caterham, but financial problems meant he lost his drive in Monza only to return for the next race. Two 13th place finishes represents Caterham’s best finishes this season.
GETTY IMAGES
F1 2014 championship driver ratings Marcus Ericcson - 1 He has structured a move to Sauber for next season and severed ties with Caterham before their return in Abu Dhabi. A tough year, but he’ll get another chance to impress next term.
Getty Images
Merhi posted on Twitter: "I will like to thank ManorF1Team for the opportunity and I hope to pay back the hard work of the team with a solid weekend! #TeamMerhi"
He added: "I want to thank my manager markblundellf1 MBPartners for supporting me with my Grand Prix debut this weekend with ManorF1Team #TeamMerhi"
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies