Manor will ‘absolutely’ develop the MRT05

Dave Ryan is adamant Manor will continue to develop their MRT05 as the 2016 season progresses but says they won't just "throw things at the car" and hope.

In previous years Manor's attempts at moving up the order have been hindered by a lack of money and therefore a lack of development.

And although money is by no means flowing freely, racing director Ryan insists the team will introduce new parts for their Mercedes-powered car.

"Absolutely," he told Crash.net. "Just because we're a small team, it doesn't mean we've just built a new car and then stopped. We haven't – it's just the opposite.

"This is a new era for us: we've got a new car, we have a development programme, we have some great people back at the factory. Every single person back at the factory is so full of enthusiasm and optimism, the work they're putting in is phenomenal.

"The thing we need to do is not spend that money badly. If we do development, we have to be sure they're developments that will benefit us, so we can't just throw things at the car and hope they benefit us.

"We have a programme of changes throughout the year but, as long as we validate them properly, they will get on the car. If they don't get through that phase, we won't put them on the car. So in terms of 'are we going to develop the car?. Absolutely!"

Manor made a solid start to pre-season testing as the team covered 257 laps in the new car with Pascal Wehrlein 16th fastest of the 23 drivers on the overall timesheets.