The struggling Marussia Formula One team will race under the new name Manor Racing when the 2016 World Championship kicks off in mid-March. The name change doesn’t come as a complete surprise as the team, which is based in the United Kingdom, was already being referred to as Manor Marussia last season.

Manor Motorsport was founded in 1990 and it's initial focus was on Formula Renault competition. It entered F1 in 2010 but raced under the name of main sponsor Virgin. The Virgin deal ended in 2012 when Russian sports car brand Marussia bought a controlling a stake and used its own name for the team. With the demise of the Marussia sports car brand in 2014, the Marussia F1 team soon fell into disarray.

Manor Motorsport ended up taking full control of the team in 2015 and raced as Manor Marussia. With limited time and funds to prepare for the 2015 season, the team failed to gain a single point. Its drivers Roberto Merhi, Will Stevens and American Alexander Rossi also didn’t see much success.

Going into the 2016 season, Manor will start using Mercedes AMG power units. Previously, the team relied on Ferrari power. Serving as team principal is Dave Ryan. He will be working closely with technical director John McQuilliam who has previously worked for teams such as Jordan and Williams.

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