Full name | Virgin Racing (2010) Marussia Virgin Racing (2011) |
---|---|
Base | Dinnington, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom |
Noted staff |
John Booth Richard Branson Nikolai Fomenko Graeme Lowdon Pat Symonds Alex Tai Etienne de Villiers Nick Wirth |
Noted drivers |
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Lucas di Grassi Timo Glock |
Next name | Marussia F1 Team |
Formula One World Championship career | |
First entry | 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix |
Races entered | 38 |
Engines | Cosworth |
Constructors' Championships |
0 |
Drivers' Championships |
0 |
Race victories | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Points | 0 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Final entry | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Virgin Racing subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group which competed in Formula One in 2010 and 2011. 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, was the first in Formula One to be developed using only computational fluid dynamics, and was driven by Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi. At the end of the season, Marussia Motors bought a stake in the team and became the main sponsor, with the team known as Marussia Virgin Racing and racing under a Russian licence for 2011. The partnership with Wirth ended midway though 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 the base in Dinnington, as well as setting up the technical base in Banbury for the construction of the racing cars.
The team was formed as Manor Grand Prix as a tie-up between Manor Motorsport and Wirth Research. Initially, Virgin's Alex Tai was the Team Principal, while Graeme Lowdon was the team's Director of Racing. Manor Motorsport boss John Booth was the Sporting Director, while former Simtek team owner Nick Wirth was the technical director. 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.