Glock hopes Virgin can worry Lotus

Timo Glock thinks that Lotus may have to start worrying about the challenge from his Virgin Racing outfit once again judging by the success of recent updates added to his car.

Although Lotus said recently that its attention had shifted away from the contest between the new teams on to the fight with the established outfits, Glock reckons the battle of F1 rookies has been reignited once again.

And, after updates to the VR-01 helped him lead the new team contest on Friday in Hockenheim, and more tweaks scheduled to be fitted to his car before final free practice, Glock is more encouraged than ever about Virgin's form.

When asked about Lotus' recent claims that they had moved their attention away from worrying about the new team contest, Glock said: "Maybe they have to think about it again! Let's see.

"It is hard to say after a Friday about who is driving what engine, how old is the engine and just let's see how tomorrow goes.

"However, it is positive that we have two races now where we bring parts and they work. It is quite a nice step and I hope there is more to come.

"Nick [Wirth, technical director] is pushing for another big upgrade later in the season and that could bring us another step. And I hope now the time comes where we can concentrate only on bringing performance on the car."

Virgin Racing had one of its biggest updates of the season at the British Grand Prix and Glock thinks that finally the team is making the progress that he had hoped for when he joined.

"It is more positive, yes, definitely. It is going in the right direction," he said. "The one is Silverstone was quite a big one, which brought us quite close to Lotus.

"And now we have another three or four tenths which should theoretically bring us in front of them."

Glock to drive sole upgraded Virgin

Virgin Racing has only been able to complete urgently needed modifications to one of the two cars it will bring to the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix, owing to the disruption caused by last month’s Icelandic volcano eruption.

Having discovered that the fuel tank on its VR-01 was not large enough to complete races at full speed, the fledgling team had intended to have two new chassis ready for the start of the European season.

But the closure of airspace caused by the volcano ash cloud kept many team personnel stranded in Shanghai for up to five additional days, foiling plans to prepare and homologate two chassis with lengthened fuel tanks.

As a result only the more experienced of Virgin’s drivers, Timo Glock, will have a fully upgraded car at his disposal in Barcelona.

“Having worked tirelessly to prepare the new car for the race, including its successful rehomologation, it is a bitter pill to swallow that we are unable to complete the second car due to the ‘volcanic delays’,” said technical director Nick Wirth.

“Running two fundamentally different specification cars at Barcelona will certainly challenge the team, but, as the reliability fixes apply to both specifications, we’ll keep our heads down and focus solely on getting both cars to the chequered flag.”

Team principal John Booth added: “What should have been a useful three-week break in the calendar, and an opportunity to ensure we are fully prepared for the European season, turned into something of a race against time thanks to the fallout from ‘The Volcano’.

“It took up to five days after the Chinese Grand Prix before the entire team were back in England, so we had to rush headlong into preparations for Spain.

“The planned modifications to the chassis were always going to be our most significant development, but they were also the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we will bring to Barcelona.

“As a new team we will be using new trucks and a new motorhome for the first time and on top of that we moved into our new race preparation facility while the team were stranded in China, so we certainly had a lot going on for us when we finally made it home.

“Nonetheless, the team have done an admirable job and we’ll be heading to Spain this week full of optimism for the next phase of our debut season.”

Glock is optimistic the team will make progress over the next few races, but admits it will be harder running two cars to different specifications in Barcelona.

“The last few weeks haven’t exactly gone according to plan thanks to the Icelandic volcano, but what this has enabled us to do is draw a line under the disappointment of Shanghai and focus on better things ahead,” said the German.

“We have taken a good hard look at the first four races and now have a very clear picture of where things have gone well for us and where we need to improve.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t bring two new modified chassis to Spain, because we would have had two sets of data to work from, but we will work with what we have and hope that it brings the kind of results we are hoping for.”

Rookie team-mate Lucas di Grassi said: “Though I’m disappointed that I will be driving the previous specification chassis, as we didn’t have enough time to modify two cars, I hope with all the work we’ve been doing to make our race weekends go more smoothly we can have a positive European debut.”

Wirth praises Virgin's step forward

Virgin's technical director Nick Wirth praised the team's step forward after Timo Glock qualified in 15th position for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

"Today has been a great day for everyone involved in Virgin Racing - a clear step forward for the team," said Wirth, whose team had never made it to Q2 before.

"Despite still not running qualifying fuel loads, it was nice to again demonstrate the underlying potential of this car and its unique design process," added the Briton, referring to his cars still running with more fuel than necessary to work around its fuel pick-up issues.

"Timo continued to demonstrate our potential in Q1 and whilst some of our more experienced competitors elected to stay in the garage at the optimum time, Timo made it through to Q2.

"The Q2 session was tricky. We were running with all our weather prediction services warning us of an imminent downpour, so unfortunately we ran our last set of Intermediates a little bit early, which costs us a place. Looking at our times from earlier today though, that won't matter in the race."

Glock was also very pleased with his day's performance.

"It's been a very good weekend for us so far," he said. "We've had no real problems with the car and we've been able to do proper work during every session. Qualifying went quite smoothly considering the rain at the start of the session.

"It was critical to get out on time and my lap in Q1 was really good, getting me into Q2. It was good to see us do a better job than some of the top teams and as a result they will be starting behind us. Q2 wasn't perfect though as we came in too early and that cost us the place against Heikki.

"In general though we have to be happy with what we have achieved today. It's great for the team and there is now a lot of motivation for tomorrow. It looks like it could be a crazy race tomorrow, so we have to stay focused - and stay on the track - and we'll see how it all ends."

Team-mate Lucas di Grassi, on the other hand, was unable to escape trouble and qualified at the bottom of the grid.

"Once more some problems affected us today and we had to rebuild parts of the car between practice and qualifying," di Grassi said. "It was touch and go whether we would even get the car out at all for qualy, but the mechanics did an incredible job and because of that we were able to do at least a couple of laps to make sure the car was working well.

"While it has been a disappointing day for me personally, it has been a good day for the team so we all have to be pleased for that. We look forward to the race tomorrow and hope that brings better things, including achieving our target of finishing our first race.

Virgin in Australia

The Virgin Racing boys did an incredible job today, reaching the halfway mark with Lucas and completing 70% of the race distance with Timo.

When the entire pit crew decamped to the end of the pit lane for the start of the race, both cars got away seamlessly in challenging conditions. And not only that, but we had a race of our own with Michael Schumacher. Okay, so it lasted for around half a lap, but at one point Timo definitely overtook Michael. It was short, but very sweet and perked up the pit crew no end.

The Virgin Racing cars lined up for the start of the 58-lap race in the pit lane, after changing the collectors in both fuel systems following yesterday’s fuel pick-up problem. The ‘will it? – won’t it?’ weather conditions fired enough of a warning salvo to make most of the field decide to opt for intermediate tyres and it was definitely raining as the race got underway, although a full-blown downpour never materialised.

The start procedure worked well and Timo and Lucas avoided getting caught up in the first lap mayhem. The highlight of the opening laps was most definitely a lap 5 tussle with Michael Schumacher as he was working his way back up the field after an early pit stop. Timo in particular fought hard to keep him at bay and having been passed he decided to have another go and retook Michael until giving way to the seven time world champion became inevitable. It was fun while it lasted!

Timo Glock #24
“The start of the race was okay. After leaving the pit lane I was able to catch up Chandhok and some other cars and we had a bit of fun fighting with Michael. The car felt reasonably good in the wet and dry conditions. It was a little busy with all the traffic when we became lapped.

So it was a real shame that we had a problem just 15 laps from the end of the race when I started to feel that there was something wrong with the way the car was feeling. I came in and we found a problem which we now know to be a camber shim having worked loose, and this was causing the suspension to move around on the left rear.

Had we not had the suspension issue I think we would have been looking good for our first chequered flag. So we have to take the positives and see that in some ways we have made progress, albeit there is still a lot of work ahead.”

Lucas di Grassi #25
“The early part of the race was okay for me. The car was behaving quite well at the beginning. Unfortunately, we didn’t time the strategy well to change to slicks but otherwise things were going okay. So it’s a shame that we were hit by another problem - a hydraulic problem – and we had to retire after 26 laps. For sure we will find the problem, fix it and be better for the next race. These are small steps that maybe other people can’t see but they are good steps for us. We are working very hard to improve our situation and I have confidence that we will.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director
“With the fuel pick-up problems we’d seen on Saturday, it was unfortunately necessary for us to break Parc Ferme this morning and convert our fuel system back to the specification that we had tested on Friday, albeit with further modifications.

The team did a great job to get that done in time as we weren’t allowed to start that work until midday today. Both cars therefore had to start from the pit lane and we were immediately into a very aggressive fuel-saving strategy, which we’d practised in the Simulators last week.

The drivers and the team coped well with the unusual driving style that this called for, as well as the tricky conditions, and overall they both did a brilliant job for the team today. Lucas’ race ended with an internal hydraulic leak, the cause of which we have yet to identify.

We got to 70% distance with Timo and were on target to finish the race fuel-wise when it seems that a rear suspension bracket came loose and allowed some setting shims to eventually fall out, which ended his race. So ultimately we leave here yet to finish our first Grand Prix but with clear signs that our performance is improving.”

John Booth, Team Principal
“Today I’d like to applaud the team on a terrific job in the face of a challenging set of circumstances, at the end of a difficult weekend. The start from the pit lane was seamless and the boys were ‘on it’ in both pit stops.

We got to almost half distance with Lucas and nearly three-quarters of the race with Timo and with the problems we’ve had I am very proud of the way the team have coped. We can go into Malaysia with our heads held high and knowing that things will get better as we get more of the season under our belts.”

Virgin forced to increase fuel tank size

Virgin Racing has been given permission to change the size of its fuel tank after finding that it cannot hold enough petrol to get it to the end of some races.

With teams having to homologate their chassis this year, the Virgin outfit had to apply to the FIA to be allowed to make the major modifications on reliability grounds.

The team has discovered that the capacity of its tank does not allow it to fill up with enough fuel to comfortably get it through races where consumption is quite heavy.

This could prove to be a particular problem at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, with the Albert Park circuit being one of the most demanding in terms of fuel use.

Nick Wirth, technical director of Virgin Racing, hopes the modifications to the fuel tank can be made by the early stages of the European season - probably around the time of the Turkish Grand Prix.

"We recently applied to the FIA for permission to change the size of the fuel tank on the grounds of reliability and we are pleased that the FIA has granted us this permission," said Wirth

"It has become clear during pre-season testing and our debut race in Bahrain that our fuel tank capacity is marginal and if not addressed there is the possibility that fuel pick-up could become an issue in certain circumstances.

"At the time the design of the tank was locked down in June 2009, its capacity was determined by a number of factors, some of which have since changed, and the tank capacity now needs to be increased accordingly. We thank the FIA for permitting this change, which we expect to introduce in the early part of the European season."

Wirth: Virgin pace justifies CFD

Virgin Racing's technical director Nick Wirth says his team's performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix justifies its all-CFD design approach.

Virgin was the best of the new teams in qualifying yesterday and was running in front of its direct rivals before both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were forced to retire.

Di Grassi suffered a hydraulic fitting failure, similar to those that had hindered him during the weekend. Glock was forced to retire after losing his gears.

Wirth admitted the double retirement was disappointing, but he believes the team's approach to not use a wind tunnel has been justified by its performance during the weekend.

"So we leave our first grand prix disappointed that we did not manage to get either car to the finish but at least we haven't had a repeat of any of our winter testing problems," he said.

"Most importantly, we now know that our faith in the all-CFD design approach was justified, as we have demonstrated that we have built a competitive Formula 1 car.

"That is one reward that we can take away from this weekend. Finally, congratulations to Lotus Racing on achieving a two-car finish in their first race.

"It is a fantastic achievement for a new team and I hope we can get Timo and Lucas to the flag in Melbourne in two weeks' time."

Wirth admits Virgin behind schedule

Virgin Racing technical director Nick Wirth has admitted that the persistent hydraulic problems his team suffered at Jerez this week have delayed its test programme.

Wirth said the intention had been to bring aerodynamic developments to Barcelona next week, but with Lucas di Grassi and Timo Glock only able to complete 144 laps between them over the past four days at Jerez, Virgin will now have to keep focusing on reliability work in the final test.

"It has been a character-building week, that's for sure," said Wirth. "Despite our best efforts to cure the hydraulic problem which has beset our entire test, this was simply not achievable with the components that we had available in the field.

"The specific problem is that we have been losing hydraulic oil at a rate which has limited the number of laps we can achieve on each run and so we look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem.

"Having said that, we will now need to continue focusing on reliability work when we would have liked to introduce our Bahrain-specification aerodynamic updates. The revised programme means we will be reserving our full set of aero warpaint for the first race."

But Wirth added that while the test delays were a blow, he was very optimistic about the VR-01's pace.

"On a positive note, despite these issues, we have actually completed a lot of good race preparation work and it is satisfying to see the car's potential with minimum set-up changes or development, bearing in mind that we have consistently run with a healthy amount of fuel," he said.

"Indeed, none of our lap times have been achieved with anything close to qualifying fuel and therefore we are not letting the frustrations in one specific area overshadow what has generally been an encouraging start to our development programme."

Virgin: Reliability problems are solved

Virgin Racing has overcome the reliability issues that hampered its running early in the Jerez test, according to the team's technical director Nick Wirth.

Timo Glock had only done 26 laps in the car before today, due to last week's front wing mounting issue and the hydraulics glitch which limited the German to just 10 laps yesterday.

But with the car running well today, Glock managed 72 laps and set the eighth fastest time, albeit in changeable conditions he was quicker than Vitantonio Liuzzi, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen.

When asked about the mileage clocked up today, Wirth told AUTOSPORT: "We needed it. Yesterday was a real challenge, the problems we had were tricky, not ones we had experienced before and it just required a lot of thinking.

"We eventually found the problem, but too late to get going. There was a lot of work last night to fix that problem and get everything ready for today - try and regroup and have a good day today.

"Timo had a very frustrating week last week, so it was nice to finally get him in. He seems to enjoy driving the car; he's got a big smile on his face today. The whole team, everybody put in a continuous effort and it's nice to finally see that rewarded. I just wish the poor guy could get some dry laps."

Although hoping for some dry running, Wirth is not concerned that the amount of wet testing will leave Virgin unprepared for the opening race in Bahrain.

"We are finding and fixing problems, we're not stopping because of the weather," he said. "We had another issue today and pretty much every issue we've had has fallen into the category of 'happy issues', which are problems that are not fundamental, but are new problems that we did not understand when we got into this project. It's just about fault-fixing, and we're all in the same boat."

Virgin delighted after breakthrough day

Virgin Racing team boss John Booth said his crew were feeling 'buoyant' after his fledgling squad finally managed some extended running on the final day of testing at Jerez yesterday (Saturday).

Rain, late components and a front wing problem that forced a rapid redesign had all conspired to keep Virgin's VR-01 in the garage for much of the first three days of testing, but yesterday Lucas di Grassi was able to complete 63 laps in the car.

"This is a great reward for the team," Booth said.

"They have all worked so hard over the past few days to achieve such positive running on our final day here.

"Everyone is extremely buoyant and looking forward to being back here in Jerez next week."

Di Grassi was thrilled to put some laps on the new car, and encouraged to be within 3.3s of the pace despite Virgin's tough week and lack of experience.

"After three days of very little running, in the space of one day we have completed lots of mileage in the dry and we were able to work through lots of important items on our programme," he said.

"The car was behaving much better after the work we did since yesterday and I think what we have achieved today is a very good start for our team."

The Brazilian added that he felt the Virgin team had proved its strength in adversity during the test.

"I would like to thank the guys for working some unbelievable hours this week," he said.

"The way they have come together is fantastic and generally I am very happy with where we are."

Designer Nick Wirth said his team had kept its head down and kept working, and was delighted with yesterday's breakthrough.

"It is very pleasing to end our first test on such a positive note, having finally achieved some solid running in dry conditions," he said.

"We have remained focused on the job list in hand and given that we have been working with a representative fuel load to evaluate various set-ups, our lap time and rate of progress is encouraging at this very early stage."

Glock: Dry running essential for Virgin

Timo Glock is praying the rain abates at this week's Jerez test - so his Virgin Racing team can find out exactly where it stands compared to the opposition.

After a frustrating first day of testing, where the late arrival of parts and wet weather meant Glock could complete just a handful of laps, the German is keen to get a picture of just how competitive the new VR-01 is.

As Virgin is a new team, and has designed its car without the use of a windtunnel, the former Toyota driver is well aware that the outfit is stepping into new territory.

"It's different you know [to Toyota], it makes no sense if you sit here and think 'bloody hell, bloody hell I want to drive!' because this situation will not change," Glock told reporters after the testing.

"You just have to back off yourself a little bit, just stay normal and help the team - give the team confidence in what they're doing.

"The mechanics are pretty well and for me it's easy to adapt because I know we can't do something special in the first year - this is just not possible in Formula 1.

"It is normal that it will be a slower start, but I think when we build up everything in a rhythm and it's running smooth then we should be not too bad.

"I think the way Nick Wirth, who has designed the car, and all the guys back in the office do a proper job, they know what they do.

"For the first test we have just a solid baseline car, there is nothing magic on the car, but I think it will come in the future. We have some good stuff to come for the first race.

"I'm sure there are some updates coming, but the question is how far we are away from midfield running teams? Where is our starting point? That is what we have to wait until it's dry for – to see where we are."

Glock thinks that even if the initial baseline of the car is good, it will still take some time for Virgin Racing to find its feel in F1.

"I think the first three or four races, or even the first year, will still be a test for us," he said. "Every race will be a test for us rather than a real proper race."

Virgin reveals its VR-01 F1 contender

Virgin Racing has revealed its first Formula 1 car, the VR-01, although its planned online launch was delayed by technical difficulties.

The VR-01 was due to be unveiled on the team's website this morning, the team having opted for an 'all-digital' launch to mirror its 'all-digital car' - reflecting the fact that design company Wirth Research created the car entirely using computational fluid dynamics rather than using a windtunnel.

But technical issues prevented the broadcast from taking place as planned, so the car has now been revealed via the team's website later than scheduled.

"Today is a very proud day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing, however on this occasion, where the car is the star, I want to pay tribute to all the amazing people at Wirth Research who deserve so much of the credit for the VR-01," said designer Nick Wirth.

"Putting together an F1 team, assembling an engineering group and designing a new car from scratch is an epic task in the timeframe we have been working to.

"I have been fortunate to have worked with the very best designers in F1 and I am well aware of exactly what it takes to be successful in this sport. When you see what the existing teams have achieved using the conventional but proven design approach, it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of scepticism about our all-CFD approach.

"But we are competing in a sport that is undergoing significant change having come face to face with today's harsh economic realities. Under resource restriction, convention will become too costly and necessity really will be the mother of invention. I have absolute belief in the digital design process and the opportunity to put the all-CFD approach to the test at the highest level - to demonstrate that this could be the way for the future of F1 - is very, very exciting."

Virgin's F1 project was officially launched in December, when Lucas di Grassi and Timo Glock were announced as its drivers. It fired the Cosworth-powered car up for the first time last week, and will conduct a shakedown at Silverstone on Thursday and Friday.

The team will then join the rest of the F1 field for the second winter test at Jerez, where it will also become the first of the new entrants to test alongside the established squads.

While unwilling to make grand predictions for his car's debut, Wirth is quietly confident about the VR-01's prospects.

"We are a serious racing team with serious ambitions, so we aren't going to try to run before we can walk," he said. "The starting point is to try to run reliably, safely and efficiently and be the best of the new teams. Then we will start to bring performance to the car through a continuous development programme in computer simulation."

He acknowledged that the CFD approach had limitations - but insisted windtunnel testing was no different.

"We fully expect to encounter issues along the way; CFD is an approximation - as is scale-model testing," Wirth said. "In both cases, it is only when you hit the track that you can really appreciate the effect of factors that are tricky to model with any technology such as the effect that the real stiffness of all bodywork components and joints has on the airflow for example.

"We've done all of this before on both closed and open-wheel cars, so I'm pretty confident in the accuracy of our predictions and looking forward to seeing how our starting configuration performs on the race track."

Virgin boss announces GP3 team

The new Virgin Racing team’s plans for a driver development programme have taken a major step forward with news that team principal John Booth is also launching a GP3 team for 2010. The Manor Racing GP3 squad will share race shop facilities with the Virgin Formula One team and its best driver will earn an F1 test.

GP3 is a new single-seater racing category making its debut this season as a feeder series for the GP2 Series. It will run alongside the GP2 championship with the inaugural race scheduled for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in May.

Prior to entering Formula One under the Virgin name, Booth and his Manor Motorsport organisation achieved great success in other junior series such as Formula Three and Formula Renault and played a major role in the development of several driving greats, including Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.

“Manor GP3 is a terrific opportunity for potential stars of the future to climb the Virgin Racing ladder,” commented Booth. “Our objective has been to achieve a budget for the series that is not only extremely competitive, but which also offers our drivers the added benefit of the Manor driver development blueprint and integration with the F1 team.

“In addition to receiving fantastic support from our highly experienced race team professionals, Manor GP3 will occupy the same race shop facilities as the Virgin Racing F1 team, have access to the simulator programme operated by Wirth Research, and run in support of European rounds of the 2010 Formula One calendar. The icing on the cake is the fantastic prize of an F1 test with Virgin Racing for the most successful Manor GP3 driver.”

The GP3 cars are a standardised, all-new Dallara chassis combined with a 280bhp Renault engine and with a six-speed longitudinal sequential Hewland gearbox. Pirelli will supply tyres to the series and GP2 supplier Brembo will manufacture brakes.

Booth replaces Tai as Virgin Racing boss

Virgin Racing has undertaken a management reshuffle, with John Booth taking over from Alex Tai as its team principal with immediate effect.

Less than one month after Tai was revealed as the team boss of the new outfit at its official launch in London, Virgin Racing revealed on Tuesday that he was moving on to fresh projects.

He will be replaced with the highly-respected Booth, who originally headed the operation when it was operating as Manor Grand Prix and was previously sporting director at Virgin

Speaking about the reasons for his decision, Tai explained: "Finding new opportunities and the challenge of starting new ventures is where my focus and interest lies.

"I am proud that we have taken the team from concept to reality in a short period of time and I am confident that Virgin Racing will be in trusted and experienced hands."

Virgin Racing's chairman Etienne de Villiers said: "John’s impressive racing pedigree and reputation is beyond question in the critical role of team principal.

"John will be joined by Graeme Lowdon as CEO who previously held the position of Director of Racing. He was one of the founders of the original Manor Grand Prix team and a key architect of its successful formation last year.

"Graeme has a proven track record with Manor Grand Prix and is a formidable operator with an excellent reputation in the sport. Their combined experience and expertise make them the ideal candidates to lead the Virgin Racing team as we head into an exciting first season."

He added: "These appointments reflect our long-term commitment to fully addressing the complexity and challenges of the new business and to creating a team with the appropriate skills and experience to ensure its sustainable success.

"We knew this day was coming but we are still sorry to see Alex move on from his executive duties. He will continue in his role as Director of Special Projects for Virgin and will retain a close relationship with the team. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Alex for his support, energy and commitment from the outset and we look forward to his continued contribution to the business."

Virgin Racing has signed Lucas di Grassi and Timo Glock for its debut campaign, with its car expected to hit the track for the first time at the second official pre-season test

Wirth: Glock a huge asset to Virgin

Virgin Racing technical director Nick Wirth says he regards Timo Glock's faith in the team as a major endorsement of its potential.

Former Toyota driver Glock made an early decision to join the new squad rather than chasing vacancies with established teams.

Wirth said signing an experienced driver had always been a priority for him, having seen the positive effect that David Brabham had on the Acura sportscar project, in which Wirth Research designed the LMP cars.

"The day Timo signed I nearly burst into tears, I couldn't believe it," said Wirth.

"I stuck my whole company's reputation and our contract on the line at one particular moment during the Acura programme to get David Brabham to drive the car, because David was one of my F1 drivers [at Simtek], and I know as an engineer how critical it is to have a lead driver with lots of experience and who is someone you can trust, and who is quick and all the other bits and pieces.

"I said to management, I hope we're not forced to get two young, inexperienced drivers who help the finance by bringing budget.

"And when Timo came along, quite late on in the process, on his way to look at another Formula 1 team, and we spent three hours together and he saw the process, he understood this digital [design] process because he's got friends who drive my Acuras.

"So he phones them up and says 'what's this nutter like, is he any good?', and they told him whatever, and he just flew back with his manager and said 'we're going to do this'.

"I was just literally over the moon, because Timo to me represents all that I wanted - someone who has driven the slick tyres, he has two years' experience, he's a GP2 champion and he's so young, and so grounded."

Virgin has signed former Renault test driver and GP2 frontrunner Lucas di Grassi as Glock's team-mate, a choice that Wirth is also very happy with.

"We've got a lot of engineers from Renault who have joined us," he said. "Lucas has been a test driver there for two years. They were super-enthusiastic about Lucas's testing ability, feedback and skill."

Virgin car set for February run

Virgin Racing's new Formula 1 car is on schedule to run for the first time in February - with technical director Nick Wirth confirming it will not be tried out in a wind tunnel before that maiden test.

Wirth has been a pioneer in pushing state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics technology, and is confident that it is now advanced enough for car designs not to need proofing in wind tunnels.

His company, Wirth Research, has already produced the class-winning American Le Mans Series Acura LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes using this system.

"We will continue our philosophy of major investment in cutting edge technologies to carry on innovating," he said.

"Our group of companies has involvement in many areas both inside and outside motorsport and our philosophy of technology transfer will continue to benefit all of our existing and future clients.

"The fact that our Formula 1 project is fully on schedule speaks volumes for the motivation and capabilities of our entire workforce. We are all looking forward to seeing the car break cover for the first time on track in February."

He added: "We are of course delighted to add Virgin Racing to our burgeoning list of blue-chip clients," comments Nick Wirth, Technical Director of both Wirth Research and Virgin Racing.

"Virgin Racing is an all-new Formula 1 entry and here at Wirth Research we are very proud to be providing the backbone to it with a unique approach to car design and development, part of a process we call 'Development in the Digital Domain'."

Virgin Racing officially unveiled its plans for 2010 at a press conference in London on Tuesday - confirming that Lucas di Grassi will join Timo Glock as the team's drivers.

Di Grassi to partner Glock at Virgin

Virgin Racing has confirmed that Lucas di Grassi is to race alongside Timo Glock at the team next year.

After what the team itself called 'the worst kept secret in F1', Virgin Racing unveiled its new logo and showed off its drivers in public at a launch in Notting Hill, London, on Tuesday.

Although Glock signed for the team several weeks ago, di Grassi only recently committed to the outfit - having tested for the Renault team in the recent run out for young drivers in Jerez.

Di Grassi arrives at the team after four seasons in GP2, and having gained experience of F1 through his role as a Renault test driver.

"It feels great to be here, it's a dream come true for me after two years of being a test driver, and from that and from GP2 I feel I'm ready and am very confident in this team," said di Grassi.

"We're here to race, not to do politics or mess around, we're here to race."

The team's sporting director John Booth said he was delighted with the line-up.

"I have 20 years' experience working with drivers," he said. "I have been privileged to work with some fantastic drivers in that time and I hope that's helped in giving me an eye for a good driver.

"The four drivers we have here are the four we wanted in our line-up, they're the perfect drivers."

Virgin to announce plans next week

Virgin Racing will officially announce its plans for the 2010 season on Tuesday next week.

The team has still yet to confirm its name change from Manor Grand Prix to Virgin Racing, despite the new name appearing on an entry list issued by the FIA last week.

Richard Branson's company entered Formula 1 as a sponsor of the Brawn team this year, but has long been linked with a larger role with Manor.

The team will use a chassis created by former Simtek and Benetton designer Nick Wirth's Wirth Research company, which also designed the Acura LMP cars.

Timo Glock has already been confirmed as the first driver in Virgin's 2010 line-up.

A statement released by Virgin conceded that it is the "worst kept secret in motor racing", and confirmed that Branson and the Virgin Racing management will make an announcement on the new team on Tuesday.

Manor team entered under Virgin title

Richard Branson's Virgin organisation is set to have its own Formula 1 team next year, as the FIA's latest 2010 entry list revealed that Manor GP would run under the Virgin Racing title.


The paddock rumour mill has long hinted that Virgin would be Manor's title backer.


According to the entry list, the team will be known as Virgin Racing, with its cars entered as Virgin-Cosworths.


The Virgin brand has been linked with an F1 entry for many years, and was mooted as a potential buyer when Honda put its F1 operation up for sale last winter.



Ultimately Branson's company was merely a sponsor of what became the Brawn team, and despite initial suggestions that this was a precursor to a bigger involvement, it became clear during the summer that Virgin was heading for a major role in the Manor project instead.


Manor has its roots in the highly successful Formula 3 team run by Englishman John Booth, and will run out of premises in Yorkshire.


Its cars will be provided by Wirth Research, the company formed by sometime Simtek and Benetton designer Nick Wirth, who was also responsible for the Acura sportscars that have raced in America in recent years.


Former Toyota driver Timo Glock has already committed to Virgin, with Renault test driver Lucas di Grassi linked to the second seat.