Glock still unhappy with Virgin pace

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Lucas di Grassi, Timo Glock, Virgin Racing

It would seem that all may not be completely right in the world for Timo Glock, who is expecting a considerable improvement in Virgin Racing’s form in the near future.

The German – despite apparent interest from rival teams for 2010 – signed what is believed to be a multi-season contract with the Manor Motorsport owned squad.

The team has had an inauspicious debut season so far, marred by appalling reliability and the embarrassing revelation that its original fuel tank wasn’t nearly big enough to see it through to the finish of most races!

Further delays to development have been the result of having to redesign and accommodate the larger fuel tank.

These changes came as part of a considerably overhauled VR-01 chassis assigned to Timo for his use during the Spanish GP, with the Cosworth-powered car featuring several aero updates, including a ‘shark fin’ engine cover. However, the newer model proved little quicker than its predecessor, the original VR-01 being driven that weekend by Timo’s team-mate, Lucas di Grassi.

The German was asked if he was regretting having signed a multi-year contract with Virgin Racing, and responded: “If the situation never changed, eventually you would have those sorts of thoughts.

"But at the moment I’m not thinking about that, and neither am I walking around looking for somewhere else (to drive). We have to wait for a few more races and then see," Glock told Motorsport Total.

He admitted that the revised car did not perform to expectations at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“On Friday it was a disaster because I was even slower than the old car. What’s going on, I don’t know.

"At least we have sorted out the tank. The fuel supply [issue] for qualifying is significantly improved, but the aero updates have not worked in the way we wanted."

The team’s Technical Director, Nick Wirth, has gone on a limb by famously developing the VR-01 without any wind tunnel time, preferring instead to rely on the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

When asked if the lack of wind tunnel development was potentially a factor in the car’s poor performance, Timo replied: "Yes I don’t know."

One of the presenters of the F1 telecast on Australia’s OneHD, Cameron MacLean, was given pause to comment on Virgin’s lack of pace in Spain, and likened their relative speed to that of a GP2 car!

[Original image via AUTOSPORT]