Formula 1 News

Timo Glock to race for Manor Grand Prix in 2010 

Starting from next season, former Toyota driver Timo Glock will be pursuing his Formula 1 career with new Manor Grand Prix F1 team. The racing experience behind this ambitious British team has been extremely successful in various junior series in recent years, responsible for developing great talents such as Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton in their early careers.

“It might seem like a brave step,” explained Glock. “But there are many good reasons to join this team. For me as a driver, for example, it was important that I was assured I would be involved in the development of the team and the car. The car is being designed by Nick Wirth. That was another argument in the team’s favour as far as I was concerned,” added Glock.

“Nick Wirth has a lot of race car design experience and a very good reputation. You only need to look at the Acura ARX-02a to see what he and his team can do. That prototype was immediately successful in the American Le Mans Series despite not spending a single hour in a wind tunnel. It is a sensational car!”

Many Formula 1 fans will remember Wirth as a leading aerodynamics engineer at the Benetton team, and he later designed a complete car for the first time with Simtek. The Brit learned his trade while working alongside star designer Adrian Newey at March and Leyton House. “When Nick and his colleagues John Booth and Graeme Lowdon talked to me, we were on the same wavelength straight away. They really wanted to have me on board to help develop the car,” said Glock.

“With a year left on the Toyota contract, we originally had other plans and were aiming to really compete for the world championship with the team. Now, for obvious reasons, that is not going to happen,” continued the German. “Ahead of me now is a great challenge. And I’m really looking forward to it!”

It is not only the technical side of things that has convinced Timo to join Manor. He explained: “The personal side is also extremely important to me. The atmosphere in a private British team like this is always terrific. I saw that during my time with iSport International in GP2. There we worked very closely together to achieve shared success. Manor is starting out with a similar working style which is why I have actively decided to join this team. We will all be pulling in the same direction and encouraging each other in order to drive the programme forward.”

Timo’s friend and manager Hans-Bernd Kamps looked at all the options available to Timo in 2010 and concluded: “I think it’s great that Timo is taking on this challenge with Manor Grand Prix. I know the team will benefit from his commitment, determination and speed.”