
Merhi is replacing Japanese racing legend Satoshi Motoyama alongside Yoshiaki Katayama for the remainder of the 2022 season, a change LeMans belatedly admitted was necessary due to a budget shortfall after news of the move initially broke by way of an entry list reveal.
It marks the start of a new challenge for the Spanish driver, who has had a fairly nomadic career since his one and only F1 season with the minnow Marussia team in 2015. After a single season in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship with Manor in '16, he then spent two years trying to re-establish himself in single-seaters in Formula 2.