Virgin narrowly qualify and race at the back

2011 Australian GP team review

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Virgin only narrowly managed to get both cars into the first race of the year.

Jerome d’Ambrosio was the last qualifier, 0.4s inside the 107% time.

However Glock was quite close to the pace of the Lotuses in the race.

Timo GlockJerome d’Ambrosio
Qualifying position2122
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)1’29.858 (-0.964)1’30.822
Race position14
Laps49/5854/58
Pit stops22

Virgin drivers race lap times:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455565758
Timo Glock114.969100.09998.3898.14397.63797.67198.68397.1496.81297.15396.60696.79397.1396.72796.49496.96896.568116.357708.17115.2199.2698.57496.62796.597.36196.19895.97995.80198.131105.904100.068100.024100.01597.69597.41898.24896.85896.10998.12196.51598.87496.731101.455101.09697.73296.26599.85595.78999.724
Jerome dAmbrosio114.64199.96198.51698.05597.68297.70198.01698.78997.76497.94297.73198.561104.068120.421108.305102.319100.95197.41997.6798.628101.47999.22797.83997.96899.76298.29898.65497.6697.26398.61697.61197.49699.417100.25898.44697.8899.22121.916108.09996.66396.53995.43296.64694.52397.91894.81794.66798.58295.17494.95696.48895.22496.10798.533

Timo Glock

After failing to lap within 107% of the fastest time in both of Friday’s session, Glock voiced his concern the team might not qualify at all.

The team made progress overnight and Glock eventually qualified within 0.6 seconds of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus. Glock said afterwards: “fighting for a time within 107% of the leaders is not what we’re here for”.

Glock kept up with Jarno Trulli in the race until a wheel problem in his pit stop caused a long stay in the pits. He rejoined the track

Jerome d'Ambrosio, Virgin, Melbourne, 2011

Jerome d’Ambrosio

Narrowly qualified for his F1 debut, but only lost around five seconds to Glock over the first 12 laps before his team mate hit trouble. He brought the car home:

“I’m really happy to have finished my first Formula One Grand Prix. I started really well and I felt comfortable in the car, even though I think that I could have gone a bit faster at the end of the race.

“But the most important thing is that we completed the race and this will give me plenty of experience which will be useful for the next races.”

2011 Australian Grand Prix


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    Keith Collantine
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    16 comments on “Virgin narrowly qualify and race at the back”

    1. Virgin were odd this weekend. It was all doom and gloom, with dark predictions of being unable to qualify, and then they made the grid and they went into radio silence. Glock was two-tenths inside 107% of Vettel’s FP3 time, but then he made it onto the grid by over a second. Something clearly changed in there, but they acted as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

      I suspect most of it had to do with the program they ran across the weekend. I doubt they did a qualifying simulation, but everyone just took it for granted that they did.

      1. That’s because the Virgins ran on maximum torque and power in Q1, while Red Bull were perhaps about a second off their ultimate pace at that time.

        1. Yeah, imagine how far off the 107% the back markers would be if the top teams pushed in Q1!

      2. I think Virgin surprised themselves, hence they were dumbfounded when they found themselves in the race after all. Hopefully the news will become more positive as the season unfolds.

      3. I think I saw some tweets or radio messages saying they did something on the rear suspension and the ride height at the end of FP3 after Glock complained about not being able to find more time.

    2. I was glad that D’Ambrosio managed to keep himself out of trouble and he has every right to be a proud man. I wasn’t expecting them to put up any competition to anyone, including Lotus.

      1. I think he can be satisfied by his debut. No bloopers or stupid moves. And the car kept together, altogether a fine start for him.

        Glock was seeing a bit much of the pit and tyre changes. Afterwards he tweeted a picture, how they were even changing a tyre on his plane before take-off!

        1. Did they change it in 3.5s? ;)

    3. poor Glock. I love their CFD-only approach, so I wish they would improve cars.

      1. I doubt anything positive will ever come from CFD only, every team uses both wind tunnel & CFD that’s why Red Bull who does that is so far ahead. If they want to improve they have to improve their thinking.

    4. I’d like to see Virgin have good reliability throughout this year capitalizing on retirements to get themselves up the standings. By the looks of Lotus they are well of the pace they expected so they could well get 10th this year.

      1. They’re certainly doing far better than this time last year. They have a fuel tank that has fuel to finish the race, and their cars seem to be more reliable despite sticking with the x-trac gearbox.

    5. CFD is not the problem the team has. They just lack a competent car designer and aerodynamicist. I believe they should just turn off that CFD fluke and try design a nice mechanical package. i don’t even remember seeing a Virgin rigged with sensor and other caliberating equipments during any test. So how exactly can they verify any CFD data.

    6. With McLaren showing you can upgrade efficiently a car on data only, I think there is potential for Virgin’s approach. Maybe a talent problem in the designing department?

      1. I see I’m more or less saying the same thing as Oliver, I shouldn’t let a F1F window open for hours before writing my comment!

      2. The difference is that McLaren fitted their car with tons of aero sensors throughout testing, to get baseline data. Only then can they use CFD in an effective way… My guess would be that despite their massive CFD infrastructure, investment, and reliance, the minimal CFD that the top teams are doing has been better executed than at Virgin.

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