Manor up for the fight in Malaysia, insists Stevens

Although the team made it to the opening race at Melbourne’s Albert Park after being rescued from administration by energy entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick last month, they failed to get a car out on track due to a number of issues.

Stevens concedes that although he was fully aware of the situation, what transpired was ultimately disappointing for him and the team.

South Yorkshire-based Manor now appear set to hit the track on Friday for first practice ahead of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, tweeting the fact they had completed a planned fire-up of their Ferrari powertrain in the garage at the Sepang International Circuit on Thursday.

Asked whether he would run this weekend, 23-year-old Stevens said: “That’s the plan, certainly.

“Clearly we’re in a much better position than we were in Melbourne, but we’ll take each session as it comes over the weekend.

“The main thing is we just want to take it a step at a time and work our way through the weekend. We’ll stick to the run plan and get out and see where we’re at.

“In terms of expectations, we aren’t setting ourselves any, so we’ll take it easy at the start and then see where we end up.

“But we’re here and ready to fight, which is a massive plus.”

Stevens is now over the setbacks suffered a fortnight ago, adding: “It was disappointing. No-one has ever said it wasn’t.

“I would have loved to have been out on the track because that’s what we’re here to do.

“But I know everything that is going on. We’re going to plan and I’m sure everything will be fine. Now we’re back and raring to get going.”