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Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing team which was under management of
Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...
,
Wirth Research Wirth Research is a group of engineering companies, founded by Nicholas Wirth in 2003, specialising in research, development, design and manufacture for the motor racing industry and other high technology sectors. The companies use virtual ...
and
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...
's
Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...
and competed in with a British licence and in with a Russian licence. It scored no points and finished last in the Constructor's Championship for the two years the team competed. The team was one of the four granted an entry for the 2010 season, and was originally known as Manor Grand Prix, before being renamed Virgin Racing when Virgin brought a shareholding and naming rights at the end of 2009. The team's original car, the
Virgin VR-01 The Virgin VR-01 was a Formula One motor racing car designed by Nick Wirth for Virgin Racing in the season. It was driven by former Toyota driver Timo Glock and Brazilian ex- GP2 driver Lucas di Grassi. The car was the first Formula One racing ...
, was the first in Formula One to be developed using only
computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...
, and was driven by
Timo Glock Timo Glock (born 18 March 1982) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He raced in Formula One for the Jordan, Toyota, Virgin Racing and Marussia F1 teams. He finished 10th in the Drivers' Championship in both ...
and
Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...
. At the end of the season,
Marussia Motors Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...
bought a stake in the team and became the main sponsor, with the team known as Marussia Virgin Racing. The partnership with Wirth ended midway through 2011, and a new technical structure bringing car development in-house was set up for 2012. Marussia Virgin Racing was renamed to Marussia F1 Team at the end of 2011. The company retained its base in
Dinnington, South Yorkshire Dinnington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is near to the towns of Worksop and Rotherham and cities of Sheffield and Doncaster. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshir ...
as well as setting up the technical base in
Banbury, Oxfordshire Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
for the construction of the racing cars.


History


Formation

In February 2009,
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...
's
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
organisation was reportedly bidding for the former
Honda Racing F1 Team The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began with the season, and in 1965 they achieved their fi ...
. Branson later stated an interest in Formula One, but claimed the sport needed to develop a more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image. Virgin later sponsored the new
Brawn GP Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 ...
for . The team was formed as ''Manor Grand Prix'' as a tie-up between
Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...
and
Wirth Research Wirth Research is a group of engineering companies, founded by Nicholas Wirth in 2003, specialising in research, development, design and manufacture for the motor racing industry and other high technology sectors. The companies use virtual ...
. Initially, Alex Tai was appointed team principal,
Graeme Lowdon Graeme Paul Lowdon (born 23 April 1965) is a British businessman and entrepreneur. He served as chief executive officer of the Virgin and Marussia Formula One teams. Originally from Corbridge, Lowdon grew up in Stocksfield. He gained both a bach ...
as director of racing, Manor Motorsport boss John Booth as sporting director and former
Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved ...
team owner
Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...
as technical director. Booth said: "I was introduced to Nick back in March 2009 when the budget cap concept was introduced. There was going to be £30 million TV money, that was going to be the cost of the season and it all sounded like a great idea." The team was meeting prospective sponsors for 2010 at the 2009 British Grand Prix weekend, at a time when Formula One faced a split amid commercial acrimony and the threat of breakaway championships. Against that landscape, the new teams were very much needed as an insurance policy by the sport's power brokers. But, once it was obvious that a breakaway was no more likely than at any other time during the previous 30 years, that was not quite so true. There would be no performance breaks for the newcomers, as promised, and the question was whether or not to continue. They ultimately decided to continue but within the financial framework they had decided on for the old regulations - and could only do that because of Nick Wirth's
computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...
(CFD) capability. With
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
purchasing Brawn GP at the end of the 2009 season, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix, with the team being renamed Virgin Racing. Less than one month after the Virgin partnership was officially launched, Tai left his position and Booth took over as team principal, with Lowdon becoming the CEO. Virgin Racing were based on a three-way partnership between Manor Motorsport, which ran the cars, Wirth Research, which designed them and Virgin which handled commercial operations. Car preparation and racing operations were run from its headquarters in Dinnington,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...
, while Wirth Research designed, developed and built the
Virgin VR-01 The Virgin VR-01 was a Formula One motor racing car designed by Nick Wirth for Virgin Racing in the season. It was driven by former Toyota driver Timo Glock and Brazilian ex- GP2 driver Lucas di Grassi. The car was the first Formula One racing ...
from its base in
Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...
,
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
before announcing a relocation to new, larger premises in
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
, Oxfordshire in July 2010. Virgin Racing had the lowest operating budget of all the teams in 2010 of £40 million. Branson said, "Money's not everything. They are determined to prove that via engineering prowess, great drivers and a great affinity with the public they can do well." The team also had plans to create a driver academy, a series of racing teams starting in the new
GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...
and advancing all the way up to Formula One.


2010 season


Pre-season

On 17 November 2009 it was announced by the team that former Toyota driver
Timo Glock Timo Glock (born 18 March 1982) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He raced in Formula One for the Jordan, Toyota, Virgin Racing and Marussia F1 teams. He finished 10th in the Drivers' Championship in both ...
would be the team's lead driver for the 2010 season. It seemed as though Glock would partner Polish driver
Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...
at
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, but following Renault's uncertainty over whether it would take part in Formula One for 2010, Glock chose an option where he would be guaranteed a drive, even though the car might have been less competitive. Glock was signed for two years with a one-year extension offer. He was partnered by Brazilian
GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...
regular
Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...
. It was reported by ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' that di Grassi had also provided Virgin with £5 million worth of sponsorship. An important factor in his decision was the chance to work with team principal John Booth. Technical director Nick Wirth took the decision to use only CFD to develop the aerodynamics, with no reference to a wind tunnel. Booth said, "My prediction is that wind tunnels will be a thing of the past and by the time Malaysia1 ( Lotus Racing) get theirs built, they will be redundant. When you look at the pace of development, particularly in the front wing area, there's no way that can be done in a wind tunnel -- there's not enough hours in the day. People will start splitting the resource much more towards CFD." Later upgrades to the VR-01 seemed to vindicate that decision The VR-01 was officially launched on the team's website on 3 February 2010. The car passed its mandatory
FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...
crash tests, and completed its first track run at
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
on 4 February in the hands of Glock. It tested with other teams for the first time at the group test at
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...
from 10 to 13 February. On the first day, Glock completed five laps of the track during wet weather conditions. On the second day, he completed eleven laps before the car's front wing failed; the team had to abandon the day's running due to a shortage of spare parts. Virgin modified the front wing mounting of the VR-01 ahead of the third day's running in Jerez, where di Grassi ran the Virgin for the first time. The following test was plagued by weather conditions and the car suffered a hydraulic problem on the first test day and Glock only managed 10 laps. On the next day Glock notched up 72 laps for the car and had no mechanical problems, however the weather was still wet. Di Grassi took over for the remaining two days of the test. Technical director Wirth said that the hydraulic problem was solved and the car had not suffered any big glitches. The problem recurred, however, at the final pre-season testing session held in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, costing the team further track time and necessitating a further redesign of the relevant components ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. During the first practice session in Bahrain, both Virgin cars were plagued by mechanical issues. Di Grassi could only manage a couple of installation laps whilst Glock was able to coax his car to a 2:03.680, about seven seconds behind the fastest time. In Qualifying, di Grassi was able to head the two Hispanias by just under three seconds with a 2:00.587, two tenths behind Lotus’
Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
, who qualified 21st. Glock took an impressive 19th, pipping
Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...
in the other Lotus to be the highest placed driver of the new teams. However the race did not go well, with di Grassi retiring on lap 3 due to a hydraulic issue while Glock lost both 3rd and 5th gears, ultimately retiring. Although the VR-01 seemed quicker, both
Lotus T127 The Lotus T127 is a Formula One motor racing car designed and built by Lotus Racing for the season. It was driven by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen and was unveiled in London, on 12 February 2010. The car made its track début in the hands ...
s were classified in the race, the only one of the new teams to achieve this. John Booth commented, "Everything connected with the hydraulics was such high pressure that the smallest impurity, crack or fault was a car stopper because it controls four or five major components," It had been reported by ''
Auto, Motor und Sport ''Auto Motor und Sport'', often stylized as auto motor und sport and abbreviated AMS or AMuS, is a German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk's subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publish ...
'' that the VR-01's fuel tank was too small for the car to finish a race, and that the team applied to the FIA in order to obtain permission to modify the chassis to accommodate a larger tank. This was later clarified to mean that the car would struggle to complete races with a heavy rate of fuel consumption. For the
Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
, Virgin Racing were granted permission from the FIA to change the size of their car's fuel tanks because their capacity was not large enough for their drivers to complete a Grand Prix at full speed. The revised chassis, with a longer underbody, engine cover and other bodywork changes, was expected to be introduced at the
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
. Both cars started from the pit lane after replacing the fuel collectors on their cars when issues in qualifying forced them to run with more fuel than would be ideal On lap 5, Schumacher attempted to pass di Grassi for 19th position but di Grassi managed to retake the position from Schumacher by driving around the outside of Ascari corner, but Schumacher got ahead of di Grassi on the pit straight. Di Grassi drove to his garage to retire with an issue with his car's hydraulics on lap 29, while on the 45th lap, Glock made a pit stop and his mechanics retired him from the race because a camber shim on his car was loose and it caused the left rear suspension to move around. Virgin had yet to finish a race, while Hispania scooped up a 14th, which would become costly for Virgin at the end of the season. In
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, di Grassi overtook rivals Lotus and Hispania to finish 14th. It was Virgin and di Grassi's first ever finish in Formula One, albeit on fuel conservation mode. Virgin's solution to their problem of a small fuel tank was to bring a longer chassis to the
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
, which would accommodate a larger fuel tank and a brand-new fuel feed system that would allow them to run as light as possible during qualifying. The VR-01 was also given a "shark fin" engine cowling. However, owing to the
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western Europe. The disruptions started over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional locali ...
in
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
that had disrupted air travel across Europe, only one of the newly developed chassis was able to make it to Barcelona, to be used by Glock. In practice, Virgin were given a penalty after the team failed to notify the FIA of changes to their gear ratios before the deadline. Glock and di Grassi qualified 22nd and 23rd, and Virgin scored their first ever double finish with 18th and 19th, the last of the finishers, although di Grassi battled with car setup and was the last driver to finish the race. Virgin finally brought a big update to the car for the
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. They qualified ahead of both Hispanias and split the Lotuses. However, di Grassi retired with hydraulic failure on lap 9. Glock had a simple race and was within sight of the Lotuses when he crossed the finish line, ahead of both Hispanias Di Grassi had impressed the Virgin engineers with his feedback but John Booth had not been satisfied with his pace against Glock and scouted an alternative driver. This resulted in Booth coming into contact with Belgian driver
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E. He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in t ...
. D’Ambrosio became the new Virgin reserve driver, and was handed di Grassi's car in the first
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
practice session. D’Ambrosio ended the session just over 0.2 seconds behind Glock At the Japanese Grand Prix, di Grassi out-qualified Glock, but had a heavy accident on the way to the grid. He left the track at the entrance to 130R, fishtailing wildly, spinning out across the run-off area and hitting the wall. Glock, on the other hand, finished a strong 12th, ahead of both Hispanias but behind both Lotuses. In
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, di Grassi lost control of his car while trying to overtake the Hispania of
Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver turned politician. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the , 2007 and 2010 seasons. Before Formula One Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka ...
and crashed into the barriers on the 26th lap. Glock was heading for 12th place after starting in 20th in very wet conditions. This 12th place would have brought Virgin up to 10th in the constructors' championship, since none of the other two new teams had finished that high. On lap thirty-one,
Sébastien Buemi Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
tried to pass Glock on the outside heading into turn 3 but lost control of his car under braking and rammed into the side of Glock. Glock drove back to his pit box where his mechanics examined his car for damage and decided to retire him from the race. This ruined Virgin's chances of finishing 10th in the constructors’ championship. In November 2010, Bernie Ecclestone said of the three new teams "They do nothing for us, they are an embarrassment. We need to get rid of a few of those cripples." He also said "Richard ransonshould put some money in there shouldn't he? He could do what Dietrich ( Mateschitz, owner of
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
) has done and put some money in". John Booth said that it was unfair to suggest Branson should put more money into the team, saying how "he was very brave joining a start-up operation that might have gone horribly wrong and he's been supportive throughout and brought us new backers". At the season-ending
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ( ar, سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a Formula One motor racing event. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on 1 November ...
, di Grassi commented "We had to do more than 50 laps with the same set of tyres, which seemed like a difficult task, but we managed it. I am ending the year with a feeling of ‘mission accomplished’”. Hispania managed to pick up some 15th places in Singapore and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and along with Virgin's unreliability at the start and not finishing 12th in Korea meant Hispania finished ahead of them in the constructors championship, despite having a slower car. On 16 December 2009,
Tony Fernandes Anthony Francis Fernandes (born 30 April 1964) is a Malaysian entrepreneur. He is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., which took over the first Malaysian budget airline, AirAsia. Fernandes turned AirAsia, a failing government-linked commer ...
, owner of Air Asia and the Lotus team accepted a "challenge" from Richard Branson. The losing team's boss would work on the winner's airline for a day dressed as a stewardess. Fernandes won the bet. He later joked "The sexier the better. Our passengers will be delighted to be served by a Knight of the Realm, but knowing Richard, the real challenge will be to prevent him from asking our guests 'coffee, tea or me?' That would be scary." In addition, the team produced a poster depicting Branson in an Air Asia uniform. However, the date of the flight was delayed several times: first because of Branson breaking his leg, then because of the 2011 royal wedding, finally because of a fire at Branson's home on Necker Island. Branson ultimately honoured the bet on 13 May 2013. On 11 November 2010, Marussia acquired a controlling stake in the team and guaranteed the team's future until 2014. Marussia engineering director
Nikolai Fomenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (russian: Николай Владимирович Фоменко, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering direc ...
stated that the team would race with a Russian licence in , becoming the second Russian team in the sport after Midland. Director Nick Wirth announced that it was a major financial boost for the team and that it will allow it to promote Formula One in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The team also announced that their CFD facility would be upgraded, to become the third largest such facility in the world.


2011 season

The Virgin MVR-02 followed the VR-01's design principle of exclusively using CFD instead of the more traditional
windtunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
approach. The car did not use KERS; chief designer Wirth commented that the gains offered by the system did not justify the expense in developing it. Instead, the team concentrated on improving the car's hydraulics and gearbox, both of which had been the frequent source of problems in 2010. After being forced to re-design the VR-01 when it was discovered the fuel tank was not large enough to finish races with a high fuel consumption, the MVR-02 was designed to be the same length as the original VR-01 chassis whilst retaining the full-size fuel tank. The air intake on the front of the nose was designed to resemble the one on Marussia's road car, the Marussia B2. Having previously driven for the team during Friday practice sessions at selected events in ,
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E. He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in t ...
replaced Lucas di Grassi in the team's second seat alongside Timo Glock for the season. Virgin first entered the MVR-02 at the
2011 Australian Grand Prix The 2011 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 March 2011 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. It was the 76th race in the combined history of the Australian Gr ...
. The car was performing poorly due to the condition of the track and speculation rose up that Virgin was not going to be able to race. But Glock and d'Ambrosio qualified, at the rear of the grid. Early in the race, Glock was forced to make a lengthy stop in the garage due to a mechanical failure. As a result, Glock completed less than 90% of the race distance and although the car was running at the end of the race he was not classified in the standings. D'Ambrosio finished 16th on the track, but the disqualification of both
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...
cars bumped him up to 14th. At the
Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and it ...
, Virgin yet again qualified at the back of the grid, and d'Ambrosio retired due to electronic problems. Glock finished 16th, his first classified finish of the season. For the
Turkish Grand Prix The Turkish Grand Prix ( tr, ) is a Formula One auto racing, motor race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and , and to , the latter two being due to ...
the team applied their first upgrade to the car. Glock was given an "extreme" update, while d'Ambrosio had to wait until the
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
. Despite this, d'Ambrosio was faster than Glock for the whole weekend. Glock's pit crew noticed a mechanical fault and set to correct it. However, the repair proved so drawn out that Glock ended up not racing. D'Ambrosio finished 20th. In June 2011, the team announced that they had ended their relationship with technical partner Wirth and his company, Wirth Research, who designed their 2010 and 2011 cars. This came after a lengthy internal review led by former
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
engineering director
Pat Symonds Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds (born 11 June 1953) is a British motor racing engineer. He was the Chief Technical Officer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, from 2013 until 2016 having previously worked at the Benetton, Renault and Virgin Formula ...
found that the team's CFD-only approach had not yielded the expected results. They soon entered a partnership with
McLaren Applied Technologies McLaren Applied Limited is a British technology company that works in conjunction with companies such as GSK, NHS and more. Its electronic division, McLaren Electronics, manufactures parts such as engine temperature and pressure sensors for ...
ahead of the season. In
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
the two cars qualified 20th and 22nd on the grid, with Glock ahead of d'Ambrosio. Glock commented to his engineers on the radio that they were making it "difficult for him". Glock later tried to cover up his comments by saying they were meant in a joking way. Glock announced the following day that he would be staying with the team until . The two cars finished the race in the same order, but in 17th and 18th places. The MVR-02s sandwiched the HRTs in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, having qualified in 21st and 24th places. Glock finished the race of mixed weather conditions 17th with d'Ambrosio 19th. Despite out-qualifying and out-racing HRT, the
Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
was quite disappointing for the MVR-02. Qualifying on the penultimate row, d'Ambrosio suffered a gearbox failure on lap 1, and although Glock managed one of the team's best results of the year with a 15th-place finish, this was last of the finishing cars. At the first ever
Indian Grand Prix The Indian Grand Prix was a Formula One race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which was held at the Buddh International Circuit in Sector 25 along Yamuna Expressway in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh State ...
, the cars set the two slowest times in qualifying, with d'Ambrosio the faster of the two teammates inside the 107% rule time, and Glock nearly two seconds outside of it. Glock was allowed to start the race because he set competitive times in practice. The two HRT cars were given penalties, so the cars started on the penultimate row instead. The race was short-lived for Glock, who retired after just two laps after being run into by
Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and the ...
. D'Ambrosio finished 16th, ahead of the two HRTs and Jarno Trulli. In November 2011, Virgin applied to the Formula One commission to formally change their constructor name for 2012 from Virgin to Marussia, to reflect their new ownership. Permission was granted before being formally ratified at a meeting of the FIA
World Motor Sport Council The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor spor ...
. On 31 December 2011, Marussia Virgin Racing announced they were now called Marussia F1 Team. Virgin announced that they would be staying with the team, its logos would feature on the 2012 car. By 29 September 2011, Marussia already had a 60% scale model of their 2012 car ready for use in the
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
wind tunnel. The team received its first parts for the car in December 2011.


Sponsorship

Virgin purchased 20% of the team, as part of sponsorship arrangement. The official FIA entry list for 2010 announced on 30 November 2009 showed that Manor GP had been entered as Virgin Racing. The team's partners for 2010 include tyre supplier
Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...
, IT services company
UST Global UST, formerly known as UST GLOBAL, is a provider of digital technology and transformation, information technology and services, headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, United States. Stephen Ross founded UST in 1998 in Laguna Hills. The compa ...
, environmental technology company Carbon Green, shampoo brand Clear, information technology firm
CSC CSC, Csc or CSc may refer to: Awards * Conspicuous Service Cross (disambiguation) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (New York) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (United Kingdom) Science and industry * Cancer ...
, foreign exchange traders FxPro, clothing company
Kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
, the Oxygen investment group and Russian sports car manufacturer
Marussia Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...
. On 13 January 2010, reports emerged revealing that Virgin had paid an extra £1.5 million to
Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
to have the CA2010 unit rebranded as a Marussia, though both Virgin Racing and Cosworth have denied the story. On 14 December 2009,
Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank w ...
announced that it had invested £10 million in the team, reversing the recent trend of financial institutions such as
ING Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
and
RBS RBS may refer to: Organisations Banking * The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group ** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group Education * Regent's Business School * Rotterdam Business School ...
withdrawing sponsorship. On 7 May 2010, Virgin Racing announced that it had reached a sponsorship deal with
Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...
.


Partnerships

Since the team was formed, it had been in a partnership with Russian car manufacturer
Marussia Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...
and
QNet Qnet Ltd, formerly known as QuestNet and GoldQuest, is a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company owned by the QI Group. QNet was founded in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. The company's products include energy, weight m ...
since 2010. On 11 November 2010, Marussia acquired a controlling stake in the team and guaranteed the team's future until 2014. Marussia engineering director
Nikolai Fomenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (russian: Николай Владимирович Фоменко, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering direc ...
has stated that the team would race with a Russian licence in , becoming the second Russian team in the sport after Midland. Director
Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...
announced that it was a major financial boost for the team and that it will allow it to promote Formula One in Russia. The team also announced that their
computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...
(CFD) facility would be upgraded, to become the third largest such facility in the world. Having previously driven for the team during Friday practice sessions at selected events in ,
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E. He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in t ...
replaced Lucas di Grassi in the team's second seat alongside Timo Glock for the season. Following a disappointing start to the season, the team ended its partnership with Wirth Research. The team retained
Pat Symonds Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds (born 11 June 1953) is a British motor racing engineer. He was the Chief Technical Officer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, from 2013 until 2016 having previously worked at the Benetton, Renault and Virgin Formula ...
as a technical consultant, though he could not be employed directly until his ban expired over his role in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix race fixing at the end of the season. The team has abandoned using CFD as its sole R&D tool and signed an agreement with
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
to use their technical facilities, simulators and wind tunnel.


Complete Formula One results

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
) (results in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ;Notes: * – The driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.


References

{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Formula One constructors Formula One entrants British auto racing teams Russian auto racing teams British racecar constructors Companies based in South Yorkshire
Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
Marussia Motors