Former Toyota driver Timo Glock was recently confirmed as the first official driver for the new Manor Grand Prix, the German racer, who sat out the final few events of the 2009 season due to a n injury sustained in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, putting his complete confidence and faith in one of Formula One’s newest teams.

This was just one of the many traits the team liked about the F1 racer right from the word go and they fully believe he will be a great asset to their fledgling outfit.

“The wonderful thing about Timo was that he came over to meet everybody and it was not hours and hours of negotiation and selling to him what we could do.,” team boss John Booth told Autosport in Macau on the weekend. “He just bought into the concept straightaway – and made his decision almost immediately. We had to finalise contracts and things, but he liked what he saw and wanted to be part of it. So somebody of his experience and quality, wanting to be part of it, not just an employee, is great. He wanted to build a team around him is as he put it. It is a fantastic boost for Timo to believe in us like he does.”

Booth went on to say that Timo’s experience in the world of Formula One has been a massive help to them, even in regard to the seat fitting for their first contender and also helping them prepare for their first official test session. As for who his teammate will be, well, that news could be another few weeks in coming but Booth did hint that Renault test driver, Lucas di Grassi would be perfect for the role...

“Lucas would be great for a number of reasons. He is an ex-Manor driver anyway. He won here in Macau for us. It would be great for us to have Lucas, and he has F1 testing experience as well in F1. Somebody like Lucas would be perfect.”