Virgin – one of three ‘new-boys’ to make their Formula 1 debut in 2010 – had the potential to be one of the most potent, and fun-loving, privateer teams since the similarly free-spirited Jordan Grand Prix arrived in 1991.
But, in Virgin’s first year, some fundamental design errors with their car’s fuel tank, a general lack of performance and little of the high-jinks you’d expect from a team backed by gregarious multi-millionaire Richard Branson meant the outfit struggled to make an impression in the wake of Lotus.
Maybe that was down to the sharp shock of being dunked in the pirhana pond of Formula 1. The team certainly has winning credentials, thanks to the trackside leadership of Manor Motorsport’s John Booth and the design creds of Nick Wirth, a man who has long shunned the drafting board and wind tunnel in favour of a totally digital design ethos.
It was hard to know from Virgin’s debut season whether that totally virtual philosophy could beat old-school thinking – while Wirth’s digital thinking may have been a success in sportscars with the Acura LMP1, naysayers suggest Formula 1 is too complex for such a refined approach. But, with Timo Glock still behind the wheel for 2011, the Virgin team has a second deserved opportunity to show its chops.
Timo Glock Jerome D’Ambrosio