F1: Manor certain of Sepang track time

Manor is "100 percent" certain of being able to run in Friday morning's first free practice session ahead of the second Formula 1 race of the year in Malaysia, according to team principal John Booth.

The former Marussia squad was in Australia, but because of having to rebuild IT infrastructures was unable to take to the track. But Booth expects its pair of 2014 machines, which have been converted to meet the current regulations, to be fired up today in preparation for Friday's track debut.

"Yes, 100 percent certain," Booth told AUTOSPORT when asked if he was sure the cars could run. "We made a lot of progress in Australia and most of the software glitches were solved by Sunday afternoon as we didn't waste any time there. The car build here has gone really well and we should be rolling out at 10 in the morning.

"With these cars, you are constantly trouble-shooting, but we think we are in a position to fire the cars up once we get the batteries in."

With much of the IT work completed in Australia, that team has been able to focus on system checks to ensure that the cars should be ready to run since work started in Malaysia this week.

"The cars were prepped mechanically in Australia, so there's not been a massive workload on the cars," Booth added. "It's just been double-checking and re-checking all the configurations and racks."

The team is set to take a conservative approach to track running on Friday as it adapts to its modified cars. Although the 2014-based cars are familiar to the team, it is determined to maximize the available track running to maximize the progress it makes in practice.

"We will be cautious all day Friday, that's what's in our minds at the moment," said Booth. "We know the car but we have quite a few new people, so it's a good chance to get the people tuned up as well as the car.

"The weight distribution has changed a bit and that will have a small effect. The nose and wing mounts are also totally different so we will have to [try] it and see, because we haven't had the chance to do much sim work."

It's unclear whether the car will have the pace to qualify within the 100 percent cut-off in Q1, with Booth admitting "a lot will depend on whether Mercedes use option tires."

Originally on Autosport.com