Marussia News

[Anna]

Team Info

Base: Dinnington, UK
Team Principle: John Booth
Chassis: Virgin MVR-02
Engine: Cosworth
1st Driver: #24 Timo Glock
2nd Driver: #25 Jerome D'Ambrosio
3rd Driver: Sakon Yamamoto
Website: www.marussiavirginracing.com/
Twitter: MarussiaVirgin
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Racing

Statistics

Year Entered: 2010
1st Grand Prix: 2010 Bahrain GP
Races: 33
Wins: 0
Best Race Pos: 14th (2010 Malaysian GP, 2010 Japanese GP, 2011 Australian GP, 2011 Canadian GP & 2011 Italian GP)
Pole Position: 0
Best Grid Pos: 16th (2010 Malaysian GP)
Fastest Laps: 0
Points: 0
Drivers Championships: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Highest Championship Pos: 12th (2010)
Current Championship Pos: 12th (0 Points)

Recent Championship Positions

2010: 12th (0 Points, 0 Wins)

Driver History

Timo Glock (2010-Present)
Lucas Di Grassi (2010)
Jerome D'Ambrosio (2011-Present)

Engine History

Cosworth (2010-Present)

Notable Achievements
2010: VR-01 is the 1st F1 car designed entirely of CFD technology

[Anna]

Italy 2011 - GP Preview - Virgin Cosworth


Team quotes

Monday 5 September 2011 - 12h31, by Olivier Ferret
John Booth, Team Principal: “From the legendary Spa-Francorchamps we move on to another historic and prestigious track, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. It’s another classic Grand Prix of real racing which we all look forward to and it’s a special track with a wonderful atmosphere and where all the teams receive some support from the Tifosi.

“Monza is the fastest circuit of the year, with four long straights and fast corners that enable the cars to reach high speeds. Drivers are on full throttle for most of the lap, making it a very demanding track for the engine. So here the emphasis is on engine power and aerodynamic efficiency, which require the cars to be set up with a special low-downforce aerodynamic profile to minimise drag. This can make the car a bit difficult to handle, particularly on the brakes for the first and second chicanes. The famous Lesmos, Ascari and Parabolica turns are all about balance: if the driver has the right balance then he has the confidence to carry speed through the corner and into the next straight.

“So we face the final part of the season with confidence and ready for the flyaways which we have already started packing for. After coming back from the summer break and achieving the ninth double finish of the season in Spa, we clearly know the way to continue and we just have to demonstrate our excellent reliability until the end of the season.”

Timo Glock: “Monza is a fantastic track situated in the heart of the town, just outside Milan. The track is generally flat, but has gradual gradient from the second Lesmos to the Variante Ascari and the grip here is very low due to the aerodynamic profile needed. Understeer is also more of an issue here than at other tracks, however, we do experience oversteer in the second sector.

“I always enjoy driving at this fantastic track as it’s the fastest on the Formula One calendar so it’s always a real challenge. The Variante Ascari is probably one of my favourite parts of the track as well as the Parabolica, where the real challenge is to brake as late as possible.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio: “My home Grand Prix has come and gone but I will never forget what a fantastic weekend it was. I want to say thank you to all the Belgian fans for their support, it was a very special weekend and it’s always great to be at home.

“I now can’t wait to drive a Formula One car at high speed in Monza. Speed is important, but braking stability is also vital, as well as the ability to ride the kerbs. The atmosphere here is also very special, with a lot of emotional Italian fans that will cheer us on from the grandstands.”

[Anna]

Marussia Virgin Racing Cosworth


The first two Free Practice sessions for Marussia Virgin Racing’s last European race of the season, the Italian Grand Prix, took place today at the legendary Autodromo Di Monza.

The team brought some new development to this high-speed track, so this morning Timo Glock didn’t do much performance running as the focus was on completing installation laps to check the car and collect valuable on-track data. Jérôme D’Ambrosio was one of the first on track for his installation lap. It was a frustrating start to the weekend though as Jérôme experienced an issue with the engine after 22 laps, while a sensor problem in the exhaust system confined Timo to the garage after completing only 12 laps.

The team worked hard in-between sessions to have both cars ready in time for FP2 and in the afternoon Timo was able to continue focusing on the upgrade while Jérôme evaluated the behaviour of the Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Both Timo and Jérôme were able to complete plenty more laps than in the morning - 25 and 34 respectively.

Timo Glock: "Not one of our best Fridays. I think we struggled quite a lot in FP1 with some technical and sensor problems and we couldn’t really complete the programme this morning. I was just hanging around for 45 minutes in the pits and I couldn’t run, so that left a lot of work to be done in the afternoon. In FP2 we put the car quite quickly in a good direction and I felt quite comfortable. It’s a bit difficult against the top guys here - they are quicker and the top speed difference can be quite big, so we have to look into that for tomorrow and try and make the car better and quicker. It’s still early to talk about the upgrade as we have to study the data, but I hope for a smooth Saturday."

Jérôme d’Ambrosio: "It has been a smooth Friday apart from the issue with the engine. Today wasn’t so much about me but more about the other car and the upgrade, which doesn’t look too bad. Now we have to study all the new data and wait until tomorrow, but for the moment it’s encouraging. In general my day today was very useful, getting ready for the race on Sunday. Tomorrow I hope we can continue to work like we did today."

John Booth, Team Principal: "The morning session was more than a little frustrating! Due to the unique demands of Monza on downforce level and our revised rear aero package, both cars had essential data to collect in P1. Although the issue with Jérôme’s engine lost him some track time, fortunately he had collected much of the data that we needed on the various options for the low-downforce package. With Timo, a sensor problem on the new exhaust meant that essential logging runs took a little longer than they should have. Over the break, both sets of crews did a fantastic job to change Jérôme’s engine and also resolve many of the early teething problems we had on Timo’s car to allow both drivers to run a full session in P2. Overall, we’re fairly pleased with the data collected in FP2 and we are happy with the performance and reliability of the revised package. We will now apply it to both cars overnight and look forward to continue working with the upgrade in FP3."

[Anna]

Marussia Virgin Racing


In today’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the last European race of the season, Marussia Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock finished in 15th place. His team-mate Jérôme D’Ambrosio was forced to retire after only 1 lap after experiencing an issue with the gearbox during the formation lap.

It was a chaotic start to the race as a multi-car incident in Turn 1 meant the Safety Car had to be deployed for 4 laps. Timo got off to a good start and avoided the mayhem, running in 14th position.

At the restart Timo drove a steady race and after two pit-stops, the first on lap 20 and the second on lap 38, he brought the car home in 15th place, which provides the team with plenty of data with which to confirm the initial signs that the latest upgrade has been a step forward.

Timo Glock - P15: “The race today was okay, even though the car was a bit difficult to drive, which is a little disappointing after yesterday’s qualifying. Over the weekend we have definitely seen a step forward. The car felt better, but we have to look at why the car wasn’t so good in race trim and see how we can develop the package for Singapore.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio - DNF: “A really disappointing end to the weekend. I was really looking forward to the race and then during the formation lap I realised that I had no second gear. I started the race but the car was undriveable, so I had to come back into the garage and retire. It’s a real shame because today’s race looked like a close one but we just have to move on and get ready for the next race, as the initial signs from the upgrade have been positive.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “Timo had an absolutely outstanding start and picked his way through the chaos in the first corner to end the lap in 14th position. From this point on, unfortunately we didn’t quite have the pace to stay with Heikki, however Trulli’s early stop meant that at least we were racing him. We perhaps could have pitted a little bit earlier on the first stop, but overall we didn’t quite have the pace to stay in front. Nonetheless, the very fact that we are back racing with Team Lotus shows the improvement we have made for this weekend. With Jérôme, it’s very unfortunate that the gearbox failed on the formation lap. We had no indication of any issues up to this point, so we will review this back at our technical base in order to understand how this happened. We have a very busy week ahead, with half of the team moving on to an aero test in Vairano, Italy, on Tuesday and the other half will be back at base to finalise our preparations for the final flyaways. The team and the drivers are very much looking forward to heading to Singapore where, if our simulations are correct, this upgrade should yield greater gains.”

[Anna]

Singapore 2011 - GP Preview - Virgin Cosworth


Team quotes

Friday 16 September 2011 - 18h20, by Olivier Ferret
John Booth, Team Principal: “It has been a busy end to the European season, as well as a logistical challenge. As well as preparing for Singapore, part of the team stayed on in Italy after the Grand Prix for our third straight-line test of the year. We completed more aerodynamic correlation work and continued to optimise the upgrade – all of which was extremely beneficial.

“We head to Singapore with a great deal of momentum after an upturn in performance and it’s always encouraging to know that there is more improvement to come.

“Singapore is unique as the only night race on the calendar and it’s a race we really look forward to every year. The circuit characteristics are reminiscent of Monaco. The short straights and many first and second-gear corners require a very high level of downforce to give good braking stability and traction. It is a hard circuit on the brakes as there are so many braking zones and so few straights to cool them down again. It really requires the drivers to focus during the whole lap as any mistake can be crucial - but that’s what street circuits are all about.”

Timo Glock: “It’s great to be back in Singapore where I finished in second position in 2009. The Singapore Grand Prix is clearly one of the highlights of the year and my favourite track on the calendar. It really is an amazing experience and I just can’t wait to get in the car and drive through the streets of Singapore at night again. It’s great fun!

“The Marina Bay Street Circuit is very challenging. Just the fact that it is a street circuit already makes it very demanding, but if we add the fact that it’s a night race it just adds to the excitement. Car set-up is tricky, as with any other street circuit, so Friday will be a busy day. It’s an anti-clockwise stop-start layout which demands a high level of downforce and even though the average speed isn’t the highest, it’s really enjoyable. I am looking forward to the final leg of the season.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio: “I have very good memories from Singapore – this time last year the team gave me the chance to jump into the car on Friday for the first time. It was a very special moment - a key moment in my career. One year later I return to Singapore as a Formula One driver and having learned an incredible amount in a very short space of time.

“It’s a very special track and great fun to drive at night. Visibility is not an issue thanks to the amount of light projectors illuminating the circuit, but it’s certainly not the same as driving in daylight. It’s a very demanding and bumpy track, a bit like Monaco or any other street circuit. One of the biggest challenges will be the high temperatures and humidity, which make this race one of the most physically demanding weekends of the season. Luckily we stay on European timing for the race weekend, staying awake during the night and sleeping most of the day, so we don’t have to worry about jet lag. I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”

[Anna]

Abu Dhabi 2011 - GP Preview - Virgin Cosworth


Team quotes

Friday 4 November 2011 - 20h15, by Olivier Ferret
John Booth, Team Principal: “We head to Abu Dhabi looking forward to the last two races of the 2011 calendar. It’s going to be an interesting and busy couple of weeks ahead as straight after the race we will remain at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Young Driver Test before heading to Brazil for the season finale.

“One of the most demanding aspects of the weekend is that the race and qualifying are held at sundown so the track is cooling rapidly. This means that the car balance and tyre grip levels are changing throughout the stints and one of the challenges of the weekend will be to keep adjusting wing angles and tyre pressures to keep everything consistent. As with Turkey, Singapore, Korea and Brazil, the Yas Marina Circuit also runs in an anti-clockwise direction, giving the drivers the additional physical challenge to their neck muscles, even though they do extra training to compensate for that.

“Having not had the best of luck in India, we hope to get back to our usual two-car finish again in Abu Dhabi as every little bit counts in terms of carrying information through to the 2012 car development programme.”

Timo Glock: “The season is coming to an end but there are still two quite spectacular races ahead of us. We now head to another Hermann Tilke designed track, the Yas Marina Circuit, which I enjoy a lot. I have to say that this circuit reminds me of different F1 tracks: the temperature is very similar to Bahrain, the track surface is like Hungary or Korea and in terms of lateral forces it is very close to Valencia. It features a very long straight between turns 7 and 8. The only fast corners are turns 2 and 3, which are taken at full throttle, so given the fact that many of the turns are low speed, the set-up is similar to how we would run at another medium-downforce track like Interlagos. I hope we can seal the season with two positive results.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio: “I’m really looking forward to the race weekend ahead in Abu Dhabi. I have good memories of this track as this is where I tested with the team a year ago before getting the drive for this season. A lot has happened since then and I’m glad to be returning again.

“The Yas Marina Circuit is a fantastic facility and has some interesting features like the pitlane - a tight tunnel that takes you under turn 1 and rejoins the circuit on the inside of the second corner; the marina, or the section around the colour-changing Yas Hotel. It’s a very attractive circuit where we race in the fading light, so in a way it also reminds me a bit of Singapore, another of my favourite tracks. I hope to continue achieving positive results at the last two races of the season.”

[Anna]

2011 end of term report – Virgin Cosworth


0 point, 12th in the constructors’ championship

Friday 2 December 2011 - 17h21, by Sandrine Bouchard
Virgin Cosworth was hoping for improvements in its second season in Formula One but failed to match its expectations. It ended the season in 12th place, behind the other new teams – Lotus and HRT. This disappointing campaign – plagued by insufficient competitiveness – has done no good for this young team.

Season review:

On the back of a deal with Marussia Motors – which saw the Russian company acquire a 40% share of the team – Virgin tackled the 2011 season with optimism.

Its new car – the MVR-02 – was launched in London early in February. However, it showed no noticeable improvement performance-wise compared to its predecessor and Timo Glock was prompt to say it was due to a lack of work in the wind tunnel. Indeed, the Virgin was solely developed with CFD, under the guidance of Nick Wirth.

The failure to deliver sealed the Briton’s fate. In June, the team decided to part ways with Wirth Research. In doing so, it stalled the development of its car and was often beaten by HRT.

Virgin’s best results in 2011 were the two 14th places scored by Jérôme d’Ambrosio (Australia and Canada).

Conclusion:

Virgin’s failure to improve was one of the biggest disappointments of the season. The team was unable to improve from last and struggled with its CFD-developed car. On the positive side, however, it enjoyed better reliability.

Expectations:

2012 will be an important year for the team, who will race under Russian license and will change its name. It won’t be known as Virgin anymore but as Marussia Cosworth, although Virgin will remain one of its main sponsors.

More important for the team will be the technical changes implemented. It signed a technical partnership with McLaren and will have access to some facilities of the British team – such as the wind tunnel and the simulator.

Driver-wise, Timo Glock will stay on for the third season in a row but will be partnered by a new teammate. The Belgian Jérôme d’Ambrosio will be replaced by the French Charles Pic.

Highs :
End of the CFD-only approach
Improved reliability
Technical partnership with McLaren

Lows:
Bad performances. Caught by HRT during the season
No development in the second part of the season

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:

Olivier Ferret : 5/20
D.Thys : 8/20
Sandrine Bouchard : 7/20
Jean-Michel Setbon : 6/20
Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 5/20
Total score : 36/100

[r1ch91]

Virgin Racing team principal John Booth is upbeat about the progress his outfit can make in 2012
By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, December 6th 2011, 20:12 GMT

Virgin Racing team principal John Booth is hopeful that his outfit will finally be able to make a move up the grid in 2012, on the back of the technical overhaul it undertook this year.

As well as signing a partnership deal with McLaren, which includes use of the team's wind tunnel and simulator facilities, the outfit is now being guided by experienced engineer Pat Symonds.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, Booth said that the involvement of Symonds and McLaren were key to allowing him to believe that the outfit could make good gains in 2012.

"Obviously our goal is to move further up the grid," he said. "We fulfilled part of our expectation this year, when we were much more reliable with the operational side of the team.

"That area improved a tremendous amount, and it was plain to see that we did not move up the grid as we hoped and expected. So for 2012 that is our challenge.

"The first parts of the new car are coming through. The design is headed up by Pat Symonds and other areas are in partnership with McLaren. So we are excited and hopeful we will move forward. I am very confident."

Booth said the team, which famously launched with a car that had been created wholly in CFD, had already been into McLaren's wind tunnel facilities twice with its 2012 challenger.

Speaking about new recruit Charles Pic, Booth conceded that the early part of the season would be a challenge for the Frenchman because of the limited track running he will get in the build-up to the campaign.

"We are very hopeful for the future with Charles," he said. "He did a wonderful job in Abu Dhabi [at the young driver test] and we pushed him pretty hard there.

"We had a few problems with the car, so he had to show a lot of patience and determination - but his race simulation was fantastic and his feedback was first class.

"That is one day in F1 and he has a lifetime of F1 in front of him. But it will be particularly difficult for him in 2012 because there are only three tests before the season, so that is six days for Charles and six for Timo [Glock].

"When Charles comes to the grid, he will have had a total of seven days testing: so he has to be prepared to make the most of that running."

that's 5 and marrusia can't do worse than this year

[Anna]

2012 Marussia car not revolutionary


High quality rather than innovation

Tuesday 24 January 2012 - 07h25, by GMM
Marussia’s 2012 car is "not revolutionary", according to a German-language report.

The former Virgin team will not give its new single seater its official track debut until Barcelona — the second winter test of the forthcoming 2012 pre-season.

That news raised expectations that the car, headed technically by the highly rated former Renault man Pat Symonds, could be a radical departure from the cars that finished the 2010 and 2011 seasons dead last.

Writing in the German-language Speed Week, Peter Hesseler cited Symonds in saying that the 2012 Marussia "will have little in common" with its Virgin predecessor.

But Symonds reportedly thinks the team’s spot at the very bottom of the constructors’ standings means the priority is a new car with "high quality" rather than innovation.

The goal for 2012, therefore, is to move into the midfield.

International media reports, meanwhile, say the former Renault team - now Lotus - has got its 2012 single seater through the FIA’s mandatory crash tests.

The news means the car is now ready to make its official track debut in Kimi Raikkonen’s hands at Jerez early next month.

[Anna]

Marussia delays new car until final test

24 January 2012

Marussia will not introduce its new car until the final pre-season test in Barcelona, GPUpdate.net has been told. Furthermore, the squad has revealed that its plans have changed and that it will no longer be attending the first winter gathering in Jerez.


John Booth, Team Principal of Marussia Racing
This year’s car is an all-new project, as 2012 marks the first time that the Marussia (formerly Virgin) contender is not designed solely with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technology; instead, the team is now using a wind tunnel and running in a technical partnership with McLaren.

“We have taken the decision today that we will not attend the first test in Jerez, taking place from 7-10 February,” Team Principal John Booth told GPUpdate.net. “We had been looking to take part in that test with the 2011 MVR-02 for the purpose of providing Charles (Pic) with some valuable running to assist with the preparation for his debut season. This was with a view to introducing the new car, the MR01, at Barcelona two weeks later.

“As our Technical Consultant Pat Symonds has stated publicly, the MR01 will be almost entirely 'new', with very little carryover from 2011. The new car also has some interesting and complex mechanical concepts and it is taking time for us to get to grips with these.

“Unfortunately our programme has slipped and there seems little point in fielding the new car before we can optimise the run plan for it. For that reason we have decided to commence our on-track testing by attending the second test in Barcelona with the MVR-02. We then aim to introduce the MR01 at the third test in Barcelona on 1 March.”


Booth stresses that, under the current circumstances, the revised schedule is most practical.

“Whilst this is not ideal, and not the timescale we had intended to work to, we will at least get some important running with the new car ahead of Australia and hopefully gain more constructive track time than we might otherwise have achieved, had we rushed the car out for the second test,” he concluded.

Alongside the aforementioned Pic will be Timo Glock, for his third consecutive F1 campaign with the team. Also confirmed on Tuesday was the news that 2011 Marussia driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio has become the reserve pilot of LRGP.