Rio Haryanto will become Indonesia’s first Formula One driver after signing a deal with Manor Racing. The 23-year-old will make his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix on 20 March after testing in Barcelona next week. Haryanto replaced the Briton Will Stevens, who failed to score a point in 18 starts last year. Haryanto will join the German rookie Pascal Wehrlein, a former Mercedes reserve driver, at Manor.

Haryanto has previous F1 experience, having tested for Virgin Racing at the end of 2010, and then for same team, by then renamed Marussia, in 2012 and ’15. He also has a prior relationship with Manor, having first driven for them in GP3 in 2010. “Rio’s been racing since he first got into a kart at six years old. He’s tenacious on and off the track and made a big impression on last year’s GP2 battle.

Additional Info – Indonesia

• It is the largest island country in the world by the number of islands, with more thanfourteen thousand islands.
• Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status. Its capital city is Jakarta.
• Indonesia has an estimated population of over 255 million people and is the world’s fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country.
• The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indós and nèsos, meaning “Indian island”