To the Manor born?

Wirth reckons his team have got the jump on the fellow debutants, saying: "It's quite obvious that we are in the lead.

"You can talk the talk and walk the walk but we were the first team to put the money down with engine suppliers Cosworth and get going.

"We are so proud to have made it and are very, very happy with where we are. I just can't wait to show everybody what we've achieved."

Engineering whiz Wirth has a history in F1 - he ran the Simtek team for a couple of years in 1994-5 and was Benetton's designer in their late 1990s fallow period. After leaving F1, he turned his hand to designing a Labrador-sized robot dog before moving back into racing.

Now, he designs and develops sports cars for the US market and describes his American Le Mans Series Acura as "basically an F1 car built to sports car regulations".

But applying a sportscar design principles to an F1 car is not quite as straightforward as all that. For a start, F1 cars come with exposed wheels and bodywork and there are other aerodynamic considerations like front wings to factor in.

Wirth is positive, however, that the required infrastructure is in place and the parts for Manor's F1 cars will be made at Wirth's HQ before the finished product is assembled at the team's Sheffield home.

Wirth and team boss John Booth also had to prove Manor GP had enough cash, as well as technical nous, to gain a spot on the hallowed F1 grid - a process Wirth calls "a grilling."

The team look set to be sponsored by Virgin, which has helped line frontrunners Brawn's pockets this season.

And there have been mutterings in F1 about Wirth's close relationship with FIA president Max Mosley, and FIA chief steward Alan Donnelly's apparent role in facilitating Manor's sponsorship quest.

For now, all Wirth will say is: "Our partners will be joining us in a few months' time. They are supporting some teams at the moment and they're well known.

"They sat next to us in the due diligence meeting with the FIA and said 'we are supporting these guys and this is why.'"

The next hurdle for Manor is deciding on a driver line-up. Race seats are traditionally settled around September but on the team's shopping-list is "a combination of proven experience and joyful enthusiasm of a youngster".

Of course, a firm resolution over 2010's technical regulations is still to be inked and the threat of a breakaway series by the eight F1 teams' association members still looms large.

So, with the best of intentions are Manor certain they will be lining up on the grid in Melbourne?

"Absolutely," says Wirth.