Booth says Bianchi points saved Manor

The French driver gave the team its best ever result - and its first points in F1 - with a superb drive to ninth place in Monte Carlo.

Those points meant Marussia secured ninth position in the constructors' championship, and a big financial boost in the form of prize money for this year.

Bianchi, critically injured in an horror crash whilst driving for Manor's former guise Marussia during the Japanese Grand Prix, is still laying in a coma.

Booth paid tribute to the Frenchman, and he hopes the team's presence this season will offer some relief to Bianchi's family.

"Without him, without those two points he got in Monaco last year, we would not be here," Booth was quoted as saying by France's Auto Hebdo.

"In the end, that is what convinced the new investors about the potential of the team.

"Being here now is our way of saying to Jules that the race is not over until the chequered flag has fallen.

"I don't know if our presence at the track is any help to his parents, but I hope it is, however small and insignificant.

"We are the first to emerge from the worst ordeal Manor has ever been through, and I have no doubt that Jules will succeed as well."