Virgin Racing

Virgin Racing were born on the 15th of December when Richard Branson announced that he’d taken over the Manor GP outfit that had been granted an F1 entry. Since then the team has signed Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi as their race drivers and launched the VR-01 car. With the team based in Oxford, UK they remain close the the motor racing hub of the UK and with the Virgin brand behind them they have certainly picked up a lot of publicity and the teams slick style shows through.

The Car

The VR-01 car has been designed solely in the digital world using CFD to model it’s aerodynamic behaviour, this means that prior to running the car at Silverstone on the 4th of February there had been no ‘real’ testing not even in a wind tunnel – something that all of the established teams use.

The Drivers

The teams drivers give it some experience with Timo Glock and some new blood with Lucas di Grassi, this pairing have the task of beating at least the other new teams, Timo Glock has shown the potential of a good F1 driver and it remains to be seen what di Grassi can do in his first F1 season.

Extra details

With the lotus team also owned by an airline company there is an apparent wager between the two owners, whoever’s team finishes second will have to serve on the others airline dressed as a stewardess – there’s motivation for you, though what type will depend on how much the teams like their bosses.

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