Virgin Racing are the first of the new F1 teams to launch their 2010 car.
See below for more pictures and information about the VR-01.
Designer Nick Wirth has created the VR-01 entirely using Computational Fluid Dynamics computer modelling. This is not a new technology for F1 – but relying on it instead of a wind tunnel to create a new car is a novel approach.
Wirth believes CFD is the best way for teams to develop F1 cars under F1’s new resource restrictions:
Today is a very proud day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing, however on this occasion, where the car is the star, I want to pay tribute to all the amazing people at Wirth Research who deserve so much of the credit for the VR-01. Putting together an F1 team, assembling an engineering group and designing a new car from scratch is an epic task in the timeframe we have been working to.
I have been fortunate to have worked with the very best designers in F1 and I am well aware of exactly what it takes to be successful in this sport. When you see what the existing teams have achieved using the conventional but proven design approach, it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of scepticism about our all-CFD approach. But we are competing in a sport that is undergoing significant change having come face to face with today’s harsh economic realities. Under resource restriction, convention will become too costly and necessity really will be the mother of invention. I have absolute belief in the digital design process and the opportunity to put the all-CFD approach to the test at the highest level – to demonstrate that this could be the way for the future of F1 – is very, very exciting.
Nick Wirth
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The team, originally named Manor Motorsport, are using Cosworth’s CA2010 V8 engines this year.
Team principal John Booth said:
Not only do we have a great bunch of people at Virgin Racing, we also have a great-looking car. We are delighted with our fantastic new livery which provides a fitting integration of our racing brand with our important commercial partnerships. All in all, we have a lot to look forward to as we progress towards our racing debut in Bahrain next month.
John Booth
He also explained why the car was not ready in time for the test at Valencia this week:
The first stage in our on-track evaluation programme is our two-day shakedown at Silverstone on Thursday and Friday this week, where we will conduct systematic testing and confidence-building of all car parts and on-car systems. It was always intended that we would miss the first all-team test in Valencia this week and very early on we targeted the second Jerez test in two weeks’ time for our public testing debut. It is a testament to our methodical approach and the sheer hard work of the team that we are heading to Spain a week earlier than planned to take part in the first Jerez test next week.
John Booth
Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson added:
I’m sure we will be measured by how fast the car is on the track in Jerez next week, but I hope that doesn’t overshadow the far bigger achievement of pulling an entire racing team together and taking a brave step that defies convention. In many ways this is an exploration, but given the absolute self-belief we have seen, I can’t help but feel very excited about what we can go on to achieve in the years ahead.
For now though I’m looking forward to seeing the VR-01 on track in testing in the coming weeks as we prepare for Virgin Racing’s very first grand prix.
Richard Branson
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VR-01 dimensions
Length: 5,500mm
Height: 950mm
Width: 1,800mm
Wheelbase: 3,200mm
Virgin VR-01 pictures
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:41
Poor old Virgin. I can only get better from here.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:42
Sorry, *it* can only get better from here.
Dammit, why do I always have to make spelling mistakes that change the meaning of what I post when I’m trying to say something profound?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 10:43
Welcome to my world.
K
3rd February 2010, 13:16
lol
But come on, “poor old Virgin”? Are you being ironic?
Tiomkin
3rd February 2010, 13:39
@PM
Its your subconscious mind surfacing, I hope you feel better soon LOL
K
3rd February 2010, 14:33
lol
Karan
3rd February 2010, 11:16
Hahah oh dude critical error :P
damonsmedley
3rd February 2010, 12:06
Does anyone else think the nose looks kind of like the that of the 2001 Jordan? It is a very different looking car to the other 2010-spec cars; it will be interesting to see if any of the other new teams look similar. That is a cool livery by the way!
damonsmedley
3rd February 2010, 12:15
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Jordan/jodran_ej11_manu-01_007.jpg
Damon
3rd February 2010, 13:06
Yup, and it also somewhat reminds me of the 2001 Minardi:
http://www.grandprix.com/jpeg/phc/pbel01/alonso2-lg.jpg
K
3rd February 2010, 13:19
mmmmm I can see where you’re coming from but I don’t think so. I reckon that Minardi inspired the MP4-18 nose.
Damon
3rd February 2010, 14:12
Heh, no :-) The mp4-18 nose went on a long curve, whereas the VR-01 and Minardi noses are straight flat.
CounterStrike
3rd February 2010, 18:02
Where is Madonna? Thought they’d invited her to sing her famous song.
Damon
4th February 2010, 14:17
“Like a Virgin
Driven for the very first time!”
MigueLP
3rd February 2010, 22:04
that engine will blow their chances if they have chances
Invoke
3rd February 2010, 10:42
Looking forward to the livery on this one, hoping for a jet-black base colour.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 10:43
That’s what Lucas di Grassi said it was going to be.
Invoke
3rd February 2010, 10:46
awesome, I’m pleased they didnt go for another red/white ‘safe bet’ livery
AP
3rd February 2010, 13:00
car looks fantasitic, and livery is very nice too!
Noticed a real RBR feel to the rear of the car with the body fading to very low, also raised edges on side of nose.
Car looks clean and simple…I think it should go ok.
Now I am just hanging out for Red Bull to release their 2010 challenger. From what I understand it won’t be a carbon copy of what the toro rosso looks like either. yer there will be bits that interchange but RBR have a bullet up there sleeves….!
Jay Menon
5th February 2010, 1:05
This car look brilliant!
In fact, I dont think we’ve seem a fugly car yet this season!
pocket
3rd February 2010, 10:42
Virtual disaster!
Scribe
3rd February 2010, 10:43
The fact that we can’t see the car that was supposed to be ready 43 minutes ago is strangley indicative of all the new teams this year.
As well as it;s “innovative novel” design process.
Beri
3rd February 2010, 10:44
Lets see how CFD holds itself to the good old windtunnel. Im more looking forward to that and how the car looks then the PR blabla that they already pulled of the closet out now.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:44
If Fernando Alonso was driving for Virgin, would it matter if they could get their stream up 0.6 seconds faster?
Mouse_Nightshirt
3rd February 2010, 11:15
Honestly, it never gets old :D
Bewildered
3rd February 2010, 12:08
No, but you will, if you call customer services :)
Dingle Dell
3rd February 2010, 10:44
Virgin Racing is waiting for the proper time to launch in order not to clash with Goddess of Virginity… ye holy one
come on come on come on… launch it!
Bullfrog
3rd February 2010, 10:45
I like the use of “in excess of” for fuel tank size and engine weight…
Untitled258
3rd February 2010, 10:47
If it appears, i think it may look somewhat like the Midland of 2006. With the black/red/white livery.
paxter
3rd February 2010, 10:47
Common no more people pics… show the damn car already.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:48
God some people are a) impatient and b) intolerant.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 10:47
From Lucas di Grassi on Twitter (translated):
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:48
I’m liking him already.
Spud
3rd February 2010, 11:19
He seems cool doesn’t he!?!
steph90
3rd February 2010, 11:31
Yeah di Grassi sounds like a nice guy.
RogerCamp
3rd February 2010, 21:52
Yes, he is. I’m a brazilian and I’m following his career. I’ve not been a fan of any brazilian pilot since Senna. I’m a Kimi fan. As he’s not driving F1 this year, I’m definately going to support Lucas, he’s a very cool guy, realy good driver and deserves a chance like that.
I love the looks of the car and livery by the way.
CounterStrike
4th February 2010, 8:37
I am really curious to know why most Brazilians refer to “Driver” as “Pilot” ? Even the google translation of some of the Brazilian F1 site does the same.
pocket
3rd February 2010, 10:49
You would have thought they’d have tested all the feeds etc before it all went tits up?!
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:52
Whtsto say they didn’t? I used to do the soundcheck for the auditorium at my school, and we went through the procedure a dozen times ahead of graduation to make sure it worked. It did. But when zero hour came around … well, it didn’t work the one time we needed it to.
These things happen. You just have to be patient.
sw6569
3rd February 2010, 10:50
Insert Virgin joke about not being ready here.
It’ll be really interesting to see how this team goes. More so than any other, I’m really interested to see how good CFD etc is at predicting accurately on track performance. I also like the driver pairing!
NomadIndian
3rd February 2010, 11:44
Virgin takes her time before first night out.
Keeps thousands waiting before offering a peep.
Yeah I know, very weak.
lee williams
3rd February 2010, 10:52
hi first post . not very good with links ,on youtube scuadraF1 has some images of what it thinks vr01 will look like
ivz
3rd February 2010, 10:52
I tell you what, if they are slow on the track you know that the jokes are going to come back to this! lol :-)
wdf2
3rd February 2010, 10:53
I like the driver pairing too – especially Glock. But, my god, what a disaster. They don’t even have a single person providing Twitter updates or a TweetPic. There’s no excuse for the lack of photos online . . . somewhere!
Arne
3rd February 2010, 10:53
They can create a car by CFD, but they can’t set up a simple live-stream… I hope they did a better job at the car then .
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:53
Hey, spare a thought: Virgin aren’t the only website having problems. Autosport has gone unresponsive for the past fifteen minutes as well.
Beri
3rd February 2010, 10:55
As well as the Dutch part of GPUpdate.net earlier this week.
I see a conspiracy here..
wdf2
3rd February 2010, 10:57
You’re thinking Max is behind it?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 11:01
Thankfully F1 Fanatic’s new server is holding up! Hope none of you are getting the dreaded Error 500s any more…
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:02
So far so good Keith. Havent had that in about a week.
Mouse_Nightshirt
3rd February 2010, 11:17
I only started getting them in the last week O.o
Invoke
3rd February 2010, 11:04
Just as you posted that Keith, I had an ‘unable to connect to database’ error, probably just a glitch though as I haven’t had one before
Cyclops
3rd February 2010, 11:14
I am, sometimes it gets as much as 5 or 6 pushes of the refresh button to get the site working.
Cyclops
3rd February 2010, 11:15
Oh, and the “Error establishing a database connection” appears quite often
Lutz
3rd February 2010, 13:30
getting that also!
Invoke
3rd February 2010, 10:58
Perhaps Virgin Media are throttling them for excessive bandwidth use!
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 10:59
Livery is red and black and described as “distinctive”:
http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/sport/4887137.Virgin_Racing_launch_F1_car/
Scribe
3rd February 2010, 11:11
Of course its distinctive.
Toyota described they’re livery as “distinctive”
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:15
Yeah, but this isn’t Virgin describing it.
And in a way, Toyota was distinctive. You could pick them out as they went past. I challenge you to be able to do that between the Mercedes and McLaren, or between the Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
We Want Turbos
3rd February 2010, 10:59
They’re not going to post pictures and ruin the big fanfare of the lauch as nobody will watch the launch.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:01
Nobody’s watching the launch as it is. And going by the article I linked to above, it’s already over. It’s just the footage that they’re struggling with.
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:01
They have HAD the launch!!
sw6569
3rd February 2010, 11:03
Launch is finished! The pictures are on the website, but no car ones :(
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:04
Where on the website?
Robbert
3rd February 2010, 11:05
No, those pictures are from the team launch in december, but not yet the car launch.
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:05
Those where pictures of the announcement last year december.
sw6569
3rd February 2010, 11:05
whoops, just realised i’m wrong! They are from the launch in december
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:05
why do i have the feeling you’ve gone to the ‘team launch’ – aka, the announcement of the team in Nov/Dec. that’s all i can find on the website
PJA
3rd February 2010, 11:06
And yet pictures of the car are probably the only thing most people want to see at the moment.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:14
Yeah, but Virgin don’t want them leaking and spoiling the surprise.
We Want Turbos
3rd February 2010, 11:05
The the Virgin twiiter page they say they want to get the launch on, it wont be live im presuming they dont want media leeking photos untill after it has been shown
pocket
3rd February 2010, 11:06
If an F1 car is launched and no one sees it, does it exist? Or something similar…
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:08
You have got that one from Jon Noble’s Twitter page.
He should sue you for violating his copyright ;-)
pocket
3rd February 2010, 11:18
shhhhh! ;)
Flutterfly
3rd February 2010, 11:07
Just got in and thought i’d missed it but sounds like I haven’t. Is this the correct website I should be looking at?….http://www.virginracing.com/
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:09
Thats the correct page. Just wait untill the vid and pics are uploaded there.
Peter
3rd February 2010, 11:09
yes Autosport went virtual too ;)
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:10
10 more minutes I’ll give them.
I’m starting to stop caring about them anymore….
Dingle Dell
3rd February 2010, 11:11
same here… i’ve waited for an hour…
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:12
Like they would care ;-)?
richard
3rd February 2010, 11:12
How terrific the launch is will have nothing to do with how fast the car is. McLaren showed that last year. Not a great start I agree but get over it!
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:12
I’m just tired and i want to sleep. i’ve got to go to cricket in the morning. please be swift richard.
Xighor
3rd February 2010, 11:40
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81228
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:14
They really should have just joined the rest of them on monday. then any photographer there could have uploaded photos and there would be far fewer frustrated fans. i’m kinda hoping there car is a flop now so next year they’ll use the right resources and get testing earlier!!!
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:18
On a completely different matter, I’ve just noticed Schumacher is using a carbon fibre BLACK crash helmet.
New design on the horizon????
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:20
No, just new types of helmets by Schuberth.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:20
No, Massa and Kubica were using them yesterday. It seems to be a new model of helmet from Schuberth, and they’re looking for feedback on it.
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:22
I noticed RK using it yesterday. I didnt even realise he used Schuberth.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:26
He doesn’t – but they asked him to test it, anyway. Don’t know why.
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:23
maybe in response to massa hungary?
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 11:23
Kubica and Massa had them ass well. Kubica testing some new Bell-helmet type and Schumacher is testing a new type from Schubert.
Ben
3rd February 2010, 11:35
Bell have a wicked looking carbon fibre helmet too, they provide it unpainted so you can see the weave and everything. Looks mad. All the Bell F1 drivers use it, but obviously they all paint it and ruin the effect :(
Christian
3rd February 2010, 11:26
Calm down chaps. Honestly, people always seem to think the world owes them these days. The team have worked hard on this, not you, they’ll show it when they are ready.
Just enjoy it when it arrives and relax.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 11:31
Agreed. I’ve pulled a few comments from here because frankly we don’t need the bickering.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:35
Sorry about that. It’s just that that attitude of “Give me what I want right now or else” just rubs me the wrong way. And I’m argumentative.
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:39
I’ll remember to bite my tongue in the future
Dave
3rd February 2010, 11:28
Maybe its an invisible car. Very advanced.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:37
I think I saw that in a James Bond film once.
ajokay
3rd February 2010, 11:40
It would certainly be aerodynamic.
Beri
3rd February 2010, 11:30
It seems that Di Grassi is quiet on his Twitterpage now.
steph90
3rd February 2010, 11:36
I’m still looking forward to them. I think their livery will be stunning. Their car isn’t going to be as slow as their launch :P these things happen though with technology like this site sued to be slow with traffic, facebook always breaks, the Ferrari stream wasn’t brilliant. It’s just one of those things. I’m sure they aren’t just sitting down drinking tea and reading the paper. They’ll be as frustrated by this as many fans are, if not more so as this is meant to be their big moment afterall. The day they’ve been planning for ages.
thestig84
3rd February 2010, 11:36
What a waste of time! Ive been waiting for ages…why didnt they just slap a few on twitter!? Going to loose interest of people soon!
GeeMac
3rd February 2010, 11:37
Are they planning on racing the car entirely in the “digital realm”?
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:37
Autosport promising pictures in mere moments.
John H
3rd February 2010, 11:39
There it is!
Dingle Dell
3rd February 2010, 11:40
FINALLY!!!
thank you Keith!
steph90
3rd February 2010, 11:40
I really like the look of the car. Maybe slightly too much red for me but definately my favourite livery so far I think.
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:41
yay photo!!!!!!!!
TommyB
3rd February 2010, 12:28
Why do the cars keep getting released in the green striped tyres, they looks horrible. Why are the even green anyway?
…Oh yeah because painting something green suddenly makes it save the planet and environmentally friendly.
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:41
Oooooh. Spyker orange!
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:41
https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2284ddd3.jpg
That … is … ridiculous.
Ridiculously AWESOME, that is!
ajokay
3rd February 2010, 11:47
Now there is a nice looking car shape and livery! That nose I think is my new favourite. The faint background design (is it the Manor rose?) looks very smart.
GeeMac
3rd February 2010, 12:00
Agreed. Great looking car, one of the best looking so far.
damonsmedley
3rd February 2010, 12:09
Nose similar to that of the 2001 Jordan anyone else?
TommyB
3rd February 2010, 12:26
I agree looks absolutely stunning. One of the best cars on the grid.
That nose is completely different to every thing else. Looks like an Indy Car!
Spud
3rd February 2010, 21:11
I have to say, it looks very well.
Good luck to them.
ivz
3rd February 2010, 11:41
Wow, and there it is! Great work Keith!
Maybe they have done this on purpose? Great way to get everyone talking about it hey?
Bullfrog
3rd February 2010, 11:41
Worth the wait, that looks fantastic
Tom
3rd February 2010, 11:42
ferrari/redbull design i detect
TeviotMoose
3rd February 2010, 11:56
I was thinking more Mercedes – look at the wheels and rear-wing…
Merc are the only other team (so far) to have that cut-out quadrant at the back of the rear-wing.
Ned Flanders
3rd February 2010, 11:42
So… they’ve just stole the Midland livery from 2006…
Gerdoner
3rd February 2010, 11:43
Looks good :)
ivz
3rd February 2010, 11:43
I was hoping for more black than red. But it does look good!
steph90
3rd February 2010, 11:45
Any shots of the front wing? There seems to be a red pattern I think?
kaushal
3rd February 2010, 11:46
Waited for two hours for these pics..huh
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 11:46
I would like it to have a little less red. Still this car has a great livery and it has at least some sponsors on it (more than Sauber, Renault and Toro Rosso have!)
Jarred Walmsley
3rd February 2010, 22:06
Torro Rosso don’t really need any sponsers apart from Red Bull as they would give them most if not all of their budget, plus they have some non livery sponsers i’m sure.
GeeMac
3rd February 2010, 11:46
That looks mega!
JoeE
3rd February 2010, 11:48
it looks nice but that front wing looks very bare
Dave M
3rd February 2010, 11:48
Hang on, that’s not a Tyrrell ’97 style single front wing pillar is it? Or maybe just two very close together? I can’t tell from that shot.
Grace
3rd February 2010, 11:56
I was thinking that. The 025 had it, but it looked a whole lot chunkier than the VR wing. Perhaps the carbon fibre weave is stronger now to support the strain of the whole wing.
Perhaps different photos will help.
Ned Flanders
3rd February 2010, 11:58
You might be right, but it’s hard to tell. Come on Branson, release some more photos!
Ace
3rd February 2010, 11:48
Another victim of Bridgestone’s green stripes. *sigh*
Still, that’s a great looking machine.
Heckie
3rd February 2010, 11:48
nice – nose looks interesting – looks like a single support?
sato113
3rd February 2010, 12:41
anyone else noticed the Manor GP logo on the nose/wing connector?…
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:49
Very simplistic front win they’ve got going there.
SiY
3rd February 2010, 11:49
Stupid question perhaps, have I missed something? Who’s the third driver?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 11:52
Alvaro Parente and Luiz Razia: 2010 F1 drivers and teams
LewisC
3rd February 2010, 11:50
That looks GOOD.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 11:50
Looks like they’ve picked up the FXPro sponsorship from BMW – and what’s the sponsor under Alvaro Parente’s armpit?
SiY
3rd February 2010, 11:51
Ah, Parente, thanks. The sponsor is http://www.virginracing.com/partners/oxigen/
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 11:52
A ‘green investment company’, interesting. The kind of sponsor Honda should have been picking up three years ago…
Xighor
3rd February 2010, 11:52
http://www.virginracing.com/partners/oxigen/
ajokay
3rd February 2010, 12:14
Under his armpit? Right Guard? Maybe Lynx, perhaps? ;)
Penelope Pitstop
3rd February 2010, 11:54
The car looks great. But is it just me, or have all the drivers’ photos from the various launches been really unflattering? Poor Glock, he looks like a hobbit!
SiY
3rd February 2010, 11:55
Almost as good-looking as the Renault line-up…
Penelope Pitstop
3rd February 2010, 12:11
*snickers* I wasn’t going to say anything, but yeah…it’s like an owl and an ostrich over at Renault.
wdf2
3rd February 2010, 12:11
Glock got a haircut for the launch, makes him look like a schoolboy. The bushy tough guy look on the vr web site is better.
Maciek
3rd February 2010, 11:56
Definitely old-school looking, though that’s not necessarily a good thing. Front wing – I imagine it’s so bare for the moment since they’re still hard at work on the details.
Maciek
3rd February 2010, 11:59
The livery is kind of ok – the choice of red and black is good, but the white stripe in between kind of spoils the whole thing… a bit.
Ben
3rd February 2010, 11:57
No. The front wing does have two supports.
If you really closely, you can see that the inside of the far support has a white pattern on it (a gunsight maybe?) which gets abruptly cut off where the near support overlaps in front.
I’m sure there’s two there, just hard to see as they look close together and are black.
Megatetsu
3rd February 2010, 12:02
Your right, I can see it clearly when I zoom in and brighten with photoshop
Megatetsu
3rd February 2010, 12:06
http://f.imagehost.org/0281/2284ddd3.jpg
I hope we get more pictures soon
RandomChimp
3rd February 2010, 12:02
“(a gunsight maybe?)”
I think that’s a Manor rose
Tim
3rd February 2010, 12:31
It is the Manor rose. Glad to see the team has not forgotten its roots.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 12:41
Nice spot – glad they’ve got that on the car.
kuteev
3rd February 2010, 11:58
http://pics.livejournal.com/kuteev/pic/0002y7cc :-)
Scribe
3rd February 2010, 13:06
ScarbsF1 is the legendary 2010 technical twitterer, definately give all his pics so far a look.
The car looks fairly good except for the incredibly simplistic front wing. I’m sure they’ll be updates for that but the front wing, especially in todays era is after the diffuser the single most important racing element.
Look at the BGP01, part of it’s sucsess came from having a front wing four or five steps ahead of the competition.
Xighor
3rd February 2010, 11:59
VR Twitter says: “More pictures to follow in a short while…delay due to sponsor contract obligations”. What could this mean?
wdf2
3rd February 2010, 11:59
Is there just the one photo available? I’ve seen it on five different sites now.
I agree, I was also hoping for more black, but this livery is leagues better most.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 12:41
That’s all they’ve put out so far.
Prisoner Monkeys
3rd February 2010, 11:59
I think Virgin might be trying to pull a fast one on us here: it’s a simple front wing, and Parente seems very carefully-positioned in front of the front wing there. I wouldn’t be surprised if the car looks very different in those departments come Bahrain …
GeeMac
3rd February 2010, 12:36
That’s the only logical conclusion that you can reach when you see the VR-01’s wing alongside the very complex desgins that Sauber and Toro Rosso have come our with…
NomadIndian
3rd February 2010, 12:00
They have included floral free-hand sort of designs in the livery! Don’t think I like it but distinctive for sure.
Also could have done with a lot less of the Red.
But overall, some thing fresh!
Ned Flanders
3rd February 2010, 12:03
http://thef1blog.files.wordpress.com/2006/02/mf1side.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/MF1_Silverstone_2006.jpg
See what I mean when I say it looks like the old Midland/ MF1?
AP
3rd February 2010, 12:20
BS it’s red and black and thats the similarities.
LOL
ajokay
3rd February 2010, 12:29
I’d forgotten they’d even existed.
K
3rd February 2010, 13:21
I thought that.
TJ
3rd February 2010, 12:06
that’s..uh..one very nice livery :D
DanThorn
3rd February 2010, 12:07
Pretty nice, great livery and it looks quite aggressive.
Now, if I pretend that Branson is in no way involved perhaps I can support them! Will definately be supporting Di Grassi anyhow.
Stealthman
3rd February 2010, 12:08
Both the livery and the car are the best-looking so far for me. :D
Beri
3rd February 2010, 12:13
Oeeeeeeeeehwaaaaa.. What a nice livery. And what an awesome forms the car has.
MarkC
3rd February 2010, 12:15
1995 McLaren MP4-10 was entirely computer designed, and featured a needle nose (this one looks quite sharp too). Perhaps a feature of computer designed cars? (I hope the other feature of the MP4-10 – too narrow for Mansell to get in – isn’t also part of this car)
Love the look, love the livery, hope it does well!
Links for those interested in MP4-10:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/on-the-fast-track-with-mclaren-1575111.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_MP4/10
Tim
3rd February 2010, 12:36
The MP4/10 may have been the first entire CAD/CAM design but it did at least see the inside of a windtunnel.
The VR-01 has had no windtunnel time, instead the team has used CFD to come up with the aerodynamic package. Most F1 teams use CFD but as well as conventional windtunnel work. The Virgin car is the first F1 car to be designed using CFD only.
MarkC
3rd February 2010, 12:48
Exactly! Gonna be interesting to see how it fairs next to conventional wisdom. On a related note: USF1 are promising a radical car to, and their own in house (now transverse) gear box (http://www.usf1formula1.com/2010/01/transverse-gearbox-by-flood1.html)
LewisC
3rd February 2010, 13:19
As I understand it, CFD doesn’t say “make it this shape” – it’s not like you turn the computer on and it says ‘here’s your car’.
You give it a shape and then it evaluates how well that works, possibly suggesting areas where it’s sub-optimal.
A computer is quite likely to say that a fatter, flatter frontal area isn’t ideal – it’s the designer’s decision how far they take that ‘recommendation’ though.
MattP
3rd February 2010, 14:37
Computers and CFD have improved quite a lot since 1995…
Tim
3rd February 2010, 15:03
Absolutely, there’s still an enormous role for the design team – but instead of testing out new designs in a windtunnel they get tested on a computer instead. And Virgin have done that without any windtunnel data of the VR-01 to verify what the CFD is telling them.
MarkC
3rd February 2010, 15:15
exactly, it’s going to be interesting to see the outcome of that!
Bigbadderboom
3rd February 2010, 12:16
Certainly it’s an attractive car/livery combination, but am I alone in thinking there is something primitive about the design?, visually it is very far behind Mclaren, Mercedes and Ferraris offerings so far. Not sure that you can design a competitive car car using computational dynamics, the data they use is always slightly out of date as real world aspects need real aero input which can only be obtained in a wind tunnel. I hope I’m wrong but I think VR may find themselves embarrasingly off the pace.
AJ Ball
3rd February 2010, 12:16
Looks like Justin Wilson’s Indycar.
http://www.motorsport.com/photos/indycar/2009/hot/indycar-2009-hot-lb-0012.jpg
Penelope Pitstop
3rd February 2010, 12:19
I thought I’d seen it somewhere before!
Bigbadderboom
3rd February 2010, 12:22
Good shout AJ, just hope it’s quicker!!!!!
Penelope Pitstop
3rd February 2010, 12:29
Definitely! Wilson drives for Dale Coyne, who has been in the sport 20+ years, but just recorded their first win last summer!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 12:42
Actually Wilson’s just announced a move to D&R!
AP
3rd February 2010, 12:25
here we go…every red and black car in history will look the same now…
http://www.racinggraphics.com/gallerydata/images/h-mini-sprint-race-car-graphics.jpg
http://www.malaysiangp.com.my/files/u1/images/news/Nissan_GT_R_GT500.jpg
http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/JohnBrooks/Nissan%20R390/04.jpg
Vince
3rd February 2010, 16:17
Yes it sort of does look like the Nissan!
Arrows 98
3rd February 2010, 14:07
i was gonna say it looked like an irl car…
PJA
3rd February 2010, 12:16
First impressions from what we can see of the car is that I like the nose but the front wing looks rather basic, maybe it is just for the launch.
As for the livery it is okay but not an instant favourite for me, it may grow on me when I see more pictures and see the car in action. It was rumoured to be a black/red scheme but they seem to have used the shade of orange/red that McLaren use, I was expecting more of a traditional Ferrari red, also I am not sure if it is a matt or gloss black finish.
pashkokiev
3rd February 2010, 12:27
I was expecting more of a more white color!!!
PS Ferrari the best! In this year it have NANDO! a Nando krasavchik!
DanThorn
3rd February 2010, 12:28
Probably gloss, matt paint creates unnecessary drag. During the Second Worls War, Mosquito night fighters were finished in a matt black paint and were 30mph slower as a result. Using my (admittedly small) knowledge of aero, an F1 car travels at half the speed of the plane and would therefore lose 15mph over an identical car with a gloss finish (Though I’m sure the word ‘exponential’ would happily disprove my theory!)
ajokay
3rd February 2010, 12:32
Matte paint on cars does look awesome though. I followed a new Nissan GT-R in a matte black finish off the motorway a few months back. It looked beautiful.
Ned Flanders
3rd February 2010, 13:33
Sounds like a case of motorway stalking!
pashkokiev
3rd February 2010, 12:34
air resistance is not important, important is the clamping force in my opinion
pashkokiev
3rd February 2010, 12:23
the main thing is the diffuser!!!! CFD and this does not help)))))) luck to you Mr. Branson “To hell with everything, take it and do it!”
iceshiel
3rd February 2010, 12:25
The front wing looks very VERY bare.
Nemo
3rd February 2010, 12:29
Looks very.. American
John H
3rd February 2010, 13:32
?
TheGreatCornholio
3rd February 2010, 12:31
I almost don’t care if that nose is useless, it looks great! A real throw back to older F1 cars and so different to the rest of the cars this year. Lovin the colour scheme too! Lookin forward to seeing them pop their cherry next week.;)
pashkokiev
3rd February 2010, 12:37
Yes though watercolor steal, if only rode quickly ))))))
sato113
3rd February 2010, 12:37
wow. :O amazing livery. probably my fave so far. !!!
Alex Bkk
3rd February 2010, 12:38
It looks dreadful…I’m thinking the “art” of painting a race car has been forgotten. You want a black car, and some red and white? Look at a Honda Scoopy in those colors, or a S type Mini…and I’m talking about a scooter and a production car!
Sometime back someone on this forum did a “Gulf” livery on a F1 car in photo shop…Virgin desperately needs you.
Cheers, Alex
dsob
3rd February 2010, 12:39
Insert comment about virgin not putting out as promised.
And I’ve missed lunch! Eh? Launch, is it? Great heavens, Branson built his spaceship already ???
All kidding aside, when Branson DOES get the spaceship built, one can only hope the launch goes better than this one.
Still, black & red is always good together. I’m intensely interested to see what the car does on the track. Can’t wait for them to get to Jerez and show what a total CFD-designed car can do.
pashkokiev
3rd February 2010, 12:45
Lunch is sacred. Branson fellow, but the mere desire not to make this car go fast, if there are no secret solutions, like Adrian Newey
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 12:44
There’s a new angle on the car on the Virgin Racing homepage: http://www.virginracing.com/
Beri
3rd February 2010, 12:48
Nice catch. Whats your opinion about the car?
Imo it looks quite groundbraking. Where other, conventional windtunnel teams, are using flips and flaps to create more downforce. Here the team has developed a clean car without overdone high noses or hipponoses like Renault last season.
We want turbos
3rd February 2010, 12:56
I thought they had completly ignored what happened in 2010, however looking from the front looks more like it! Although as has been said very plain f wing maybe hiding something?
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 12:49
That is a really nice looking car.
The nose has taken something from the RB5 and the sidepod openings are as small as McLaren’s are.
I like the flowery pattern on the wing and sides.
MarkC
3rd February 2010, 12:55
reminds me of mp4/22 nose plus V and kink
Scarbs: http://twitpic.com/1163mg
the-muffin-man
3rd February 2010, 12:52
Nice to see a 2010 car with some sponsorship on it!!!
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 12:56
Here are more pictures of the car
http://twitpic.com/photos/ScarbsF1
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 12:58
now that they have the first pictures out, their website is renewed with pictures etc.
http://www.virginracing.com/
did anybody name the cars?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 13:07
Virgin have put the video of the launch up: http://www.virginracing.com/cars/#/video
Toro Omrah
3rd February 2010, 13:18
This one is going to be a dark horse in the championship they will be like death & his scythe to the new teams, cosworth cars and back markers & i reckon the cosworth engine will surprise to.
Am i the only one that thinks the Sauber C29 looks like a predator? the bmw chassis from 08 was nearly there they dropped the ball a little in 09 but i think this one has got it to mix it up and cause grief amongst the big boys (not saying a brawn story)
Bring on the new new talent good luck to all new teams and rookie drivers i hope they smash it up against the older crop and cause panic and disorder amongst the developed ranks this is going to be a killer season!
GeeMac
3rd February 2010, 13:20
In all my years of watching F1 I can safely say that I have never heard someone describe a car as “death scything through the pack”! ;-)
Toro Omrah
3rd February 2010, 13:26
Can i nominate myself for comment of the day Keith?
“death scything through the pack” cheers GeeMac
CFD all the way
K
3rd February 2010, 13:26
I don’t like the livery, colour is ok just the general design. The car doesn’t look bad though. I wonder if in their shakedown they’ll be trying to do stuff they would have ideally done in a wind tunnel before they made the final car.
Toro Omrah
3rd February 2010, 13:27
They will be “death scything through the pack” didnt you hear?
Fer no.65
3rd February 2010, 13:39
OMG that’s a great looking caaaaaaaaaar!
John H
3rd February 2010, 13:41
That video was good. Hope Glock does well this year – nice bloke.
SoLiD
3rd February 2010, 13:51
Just a great and refreshing paint job on the Virgin Car.
Looks like it will be the most promising new team on the grid!
BS
3rd February 2010, 13:56
Man that’s a badass looking car. o_O
charles fox
3rd February 2010, 13:59
I willing to bet that the VR-01 races/tests with a much more complex front wing, as complex as sauber probably, or more. his front end on the Acura prototypes was significantly more fiddly, even had the needle nose. i’m sure this’ll have a few novel features, whether it actually means a competitive car i do not know…
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/AcuraARX-02-1.html
( i do realise the Acura mentality included wide, rear sized front tyres, as opposed to F1 going the other way, but clearly such a simple wing is going to be way off in F1 2010)
Jonty
3rd February 2010, 14:40
I’ve had a problem getting on to this site a few times lately but it dosn’t mean I’m going to slag it off!
Good luck to Virgin, wind tunnels have led some (quite major) teams down some dead ends lately so lets see how they do.
The Cosworth engine is probably the biggest ‘IF’
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 14:59
It looks a bit more orange in the daylight: http://twitpic.com/116n27
dsob
3rd February 2010, 23:35
Indeed, yes, it is disappointingly far more orange than red. Ah, well, I still like it. Can’t remember the last time an F1 car had graphics on it simply because it looked good. The rather Celtic-looking pattern on the front wing carries through on the fin and rear wing struts, and I think looks quite good. First time in years that just looking at an F1 car has brought a real smile to my face. If it races as good as it looks, the rest of the teams are in big trouble.
djdaveyp
3rd February 2010, 15:05
That Virgin Is really sexy!!
Who gets to break it in first then?
sato113
3rd February 2010, 15:11
when’s the shakedown test then?
wasiF1
3rd February 2010, 15:14
It will be in Silverstone on 4th & 5th Feb.
wdf2
3rd February 2010, 15:12
Having seen all of the photos on the site, and the video, I’ll forgive their unforgivable faux pas this morning. (Not even someone on Twitter?)
I think the livery is great (not the best ever, but certainly one of the most interesting in years); the front wing is of course a placeholder — but I hope they keep the tatoo.
Strange that they don’t have downloadable images for PC wallpaper/screensavers. And when does the fan shop open? My son would love one of those black shirts.
wasiF1
3rd February 2010, 15:12
The car looks impressive.What is Lotus thinking?
scunnyman
3rd February 2010, 15:18
There’s a picture of the team in their dark coloured jackets on Joe Saward’s site and the look like they are in a gay club lol
BasCB
3rd February 2010, 15:28
That is actually a picture from their team presentation last year
Icthyes
3rd February 2010, 15:25
Looks pretty slick. I think Virgin will be a fun team to have on the grid, like a Force India/Red Bull mix.
Deurmat
3rd February 2010, 15:36
Keith, can you make an article over the car lengths? Maybe interessting too see which car is the longest and wich one the shortest…
unique_yikes
3rd February 2010, 15:40
A few comparision shots
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3278/r30f10v2.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5797/vr01f10v2.jpg
Ylan Marcel
3rd February 2010, 15:58
It’s like a Fórmula Indy car! Very Beautiful!!!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd February 2010, 16:03
Added a few more, larger photos.
antonyob
3rd February 2010, 16:19
Whats the spread on how long it takes before, on Martin Brundle grid walk, he stands next to one of Bransons new cars and states categorically that “this is 1 of only 2 virgins on the grid”
antonyob
3rd February 2010, 16:35
hmm perhaps kubica as well. I havent thought this through !
nemo
3rd February 2010, 16:37
no no kubica is probably fighting them off..
its always the ugly ones who have it all haha
antonyob
3rd February 2010, 16:38
theres no need to get personal…about Bernie
nemo
3rd February 2010, 16:40
haha.. bernie ‘heffner’ ecclestone
trepanator
3rd February 2010, 16:41
Why there is only one photo? The other images are renders!
They have money for a wind tunnel neither for some photos?
sato113
3rd February 2010, 17:06
yeah, no direct front shots yet?
F1Yankee
3rd February 2010, 17:07
this site is really going crazy. where did all these people come from?
iceshiel
3rd February 2010, 17:11
I guess it’s getting more popular.
antonyob
3rd February 2010, 17:09
englandshire !
three4three
3rd February 2010, 19:16
Just got in having not been online all day. And wow! That is a gorgeous car right there, and loving the rose and the faded design. Best livery so far IMO. Liking the clean crisp shape of the car too, hope it goes fast.
Anyone know what Glock and di Grassi’s helmets will look like?
BrokenBaculum
3rd February 2010, 19:20
Check their website:
http://www.virginracing.com and go to ‘Drivers’. Click on each driver and find the photos, and you will see the helmets.
Timo’s is mainly gold with white and red flashes and Lucas’ is green with white and blue.
three4three
3rd February 2010, 19:37
Thanks, I was being a bit lazy!
I was just trying to picture how they’d go with the car… I think Timo’s will look fantastic with that livery, not so sure about di Grassi’s but at least it’s distinctive.
Prisoner Monkeys
4th February 2010, 1:42
Glock’s looks great, he’d now got one of the best on the grid. I saw a concept of di Grassi’s the other day and it was terrible; his old one was far better. I’m glad to see that it’s changed from that concept – it’s quite similar, but it no longer looks like it has been based on leftover wallpaper from the 1970s.
polo
3rd February 2010, 19:38
look at this compare:
VR-01 official lenght: 5500mm
F10 the don’t say anything about lenght but Ferrari is loong…
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1030/compare3.jpg
i think about Sauber C29 they have same engine but C29 is half meter shorter then F10?!
Rob R.
3rd February 2010, 19:55
Yuck. Another car that looks great in the studio, but horrible in the daylight…..
Prisoner Monkeys
4th February 2010, 1:35
That’s just the colour. Red phoographs very poorly under natural lighting conditions.
rob ijbema
3rd February 2010, 19:59
looking good
especially the tattoos
Hallard
3rd February 2010, 21:22
Damn…that looks…surprisingly nice!
Bentschke
3rd February 2010, 21:53
I think its great that Virgin have got thier act together to launch thier car before the first race! The other two new teams are still to anounce their second drivers. This gives VR a great platform to outperform the other ‘newbies’ as they will get quite a lot of invaluable data from thier testing that the other 2 teams are going to be missing out on. While they may have ‘sped up’ development to do this – I think it will be well worth thier while in the long run as they have some invaluable data to play with and continue development.
wificats
3rd February 2010, 23:44
The nose is definitely just a dev/ launch version. Nick Wirth says that “at the moment we don’t have the full aero warpaint on”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8496344.stm
Gusto
4th February 2010, 1:59
Computocar….. I hope it kicks ass, As we already have computers designed by computers with no Human interaction, we dont really understand were these quantum computer wiring diagrams come from, when we incorperate them the rise of the machine will begin. Once we solve the quantum effect of 2D tunneling of electrons in a 4D environment we will think…..Ill have a doughnut with my coffee.
Prisoner Monkeys
4th February 2010, 2:17
Has anybody seen the Name the Virgin F1 Car competition on Twitter?
I’ve already submitted two name combinations: The Endless Road (Glock) and Velvet Nightmare (di Grassi), or – and this one is way better, I think – names based on stars; Procyon (Glock) and Hyades (di Grassi).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th February 2010, 8:55
Mine was “Pendolino 2”.
Prisoner Monkeys
4th February 2010, 11:03
“Procyon” and “Hyades” are stars.
“Pendolino” is a model of Italian train.
Is that meant to be a crack at the expense of Virgin Trains, or is there some hidden meaning I’m missing?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th February 2010, 11:05
Yes – Virgin’s high speed service launched a couple of years ago is called Pendolino, possibly the same model you’re referring to.
Gusto
4th February 2010, 2:21
Once CERN confirms its a 10 dimensional Universe it will be a whole new ball game.
Gusto
4th February 2010, 2:34
Hyades is a Open Star Cluster near Aldebaron in Taurus……sorry coudnt resist, I blame Sir Moore
Gusto
4th February 2010, 2:49
Procyon is known as the pronouncer or lesser dog, it is the brighest star in Canis Minor and precedes Sirius in the rising sky, preceding Alpha Canis Major or Sirius. Very inportant in Egyptian times as a timer for the flooding of the nile.
Prisoner Monkeys
4th February 2010, 3:33
The meaning of the actual word doesn’t matter – it’s just the fact that they’re named for stars. You’re welcome to submit your own name suggestions; you just need a Twitter account.
Gusto
4th February 2010, 4:10
Funny enough i entered all my details etc, then it said account already in use, so if you see me on twitter it aint me.
Woffin
4th February 2010, 11:24
I was going to name them ‘Silverton’ and ‘Bruce’ after the BBC newsreaders but couldn’t be bothered making a twitter account lol.
BasCB
4th February 2010, 17:38
I just named the cars by e-mail (to the adress mentioned on the website – namethecar@virginracing.com)
Glock: Dark ICE (ICE as for the german high speed trains)
Di Grassi: New Dawn – not very original, but hwo nows, he might like it.
LAK
4th February 2010, 5:27
The car looks great! Definitely one of the best. That picture in the daylight looks more orange than red :/ Like the red more..
Macca
4th February 2010, 10:15
That livery is pretty damn close to the mock-ups I did on the forum.
mike
4th February 2010, 14:41
does anyone know where i can find testing times for silverstone today?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th February 2010, 15:35
Here’s the car getting ready for its first test run: http://twitpic.com/11cdp8
Chaz
4th February 2010, 17:59
No wind tunnel tests means they probably saved a small fortune. Now I want to see how it all translates to the track…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th February 2010, 22:48
Some pictures from the car’s first test: Virgin VR-01’s track debut (Pictures)
Scorpio
13th March 2010, 9:56
So THIS is where Virgin customers money went! And I thought it was to improve their B/Band Service.
Well, as long as the SPEED stays constant and they dont get 15% of the speed they should they should (hopefully) do well for their first season. Especially with a good old Ford ‘Cossy’ lump in it.
The Livery looks awesome. Thankfully, like someone else commented on they didn’t go for the good old White n Red.