2011 end of term report – Virgin Cosworth

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