What happened to Manor F1? Exploring the former backmarker's journey in the sport

Several F1 teams have entered the sport and left due to all kinds of issues. Many fans might not even know about them or how they performed in the sport before leaving. Manor was one of those teams. The British outfit raced in only one season and was the last team in the constructors' championship, scoring only one point.

Manor has been in F1 since 2010 under different names like Virgin Cosworth and Marussia Cosworth before entering the sport under its original name, Manor Racing MRT, in 2016.

The team already faced a lot of issues while it was trying to build a strong car. The issues persisted as the 2016 F1 season went along. At the start of the season, one of their cars had to retire due to a powertrain failure, followed by other retirements in Russia, Baku, Silverstone, etc.

In the 2016 F1 Brazilian GP, the Sauber team gained two points, which placed them above Manor. This was quite unfortunate for Manor, as they were now the backmarker team. At the end of the season, former owner of the team, Stephen Fitzpatrick, confirmed that the team is in talks with investors to enter the 2017 F1 season.

Though they managed to submit the entry fee, they were unable to participate, and the fee was returned by the FIA. This marked the end of one of the worst teams in the sport, at least in recent history.

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Life Racing Engines built one of the worst F1 cars of all time

Former Ferrari engineer Franco Rocci was the mind behind one of the worst failures in Formula One history. In 1990, his engine design saw the Formula 1 calendar for its first and only season when Life Racing Engines founder Ernesto Vita bought the design to run in his cars.

But it's worth noting that Vita initially intended to sell the design for a profit. He only decided to actually enter a Formula 1 team when no one would buy the engine design from him.

Grand Prix of Monaco

The design of the power unit was simple. It was a W12, which was essentially a V12, but instead of having two banks of six cylinders in a V-formation, it had three banks of four cylinders in a W-formation. On paper, the idea seemed brilliant. But since all the team had was an engine and no cars or facilities, they ended up buying the chassis of failed F1 entry First Racing (which failed the FIA crash test).

Nonetheless, Life managed to build a single car that surprisingly passed the FIA crash test, and Gary Bradham was signed to drive it.

Ultimately, the venture failed miserably. The car was 1-minute-13 off pole in its first qualifying session of the season (the USA). This underlined Life's 1990 F1 run, as the team entered 14 races that season, of which they started none. Franco Rocci's engine design suffered from severe overheating and couldn't even produce half the power of the frontrunners.

Despite the passion that went into Life's machinery, it could widely be considered the poorest entry in the sport's history.