Pascal Wehrlein: 'Manor want to move past struggling Sauber'

Pascal Wehrlein of Germany and Manor poses for a portrait during day one of F1 winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 1, 2016
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Manor are hoping to leave struggling Sauber at the very back of the grid from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, according to Pascal Wehrlein.

Manor are hoping to leave struggling Sauber at the very back of the grid from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, according to Pascal Wehrlein.

Barcelona, traditionally the first European race of the season, will this weekend see most teams running heavily updated packages in the wake of the opening four 'flyaways'.

However, Swiss team Sauber are struggling financially in 2016, and have announced that they will not do the post-race test next week because they do not have a Barcelona-spec upgrade to develop.

Even the usual backmarker Manor, however, will arrive at the Circuit de Catalunya with a car update.

"I'll have a new rear wing, a new front wing and a new floor," Wehrlein, the team's Mercedes-backed race driver, told Speed Week.

"They are minor things but I hope nevertheless that it's a good step forward for the car and we get the tyres to work better.

"For sure Barcelona will not be easy, but in the last races we have always been in the fight with the Sauber guys and it would be nice if we can take another step forward now and get past them."

Manor are yet to pick up a point so far after the first four grands prix of the year.

Manor's Rio Haryanto on March 17, 2016 ahead of the Australian Grand Prix
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