Pit stops spoil race (Virgin race review)

Hopes were high on Saturday after Timo Glock out-qualified the Lotuses but pit stop problems in the race frustrated Virgin.

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Timo Glock

Glock was best of the new teams in qualifying and, as ever Nick Wirth cheered the result as a vindication of his project:

Geeks of the world – rejoice! After the disappointment of not demonstrating Virgin Racing’s performance progress in Silverstone and Hockenheim, we have finally managed to have a relatively smooth weekend with the revised VR-01 and have regained our place at the top of the new teams. […]

Timo and his crew made a big step forward with the car overnight and we knew after his first run we were in good shape. His second run was another good step and he did a great job to give the team our best qualifying result since Shanghai.

From the outset, Virgin Racing has dared to be different and I want to thank all the team, our partners, sponsors and fans for keeping the faith this year in our unique digital development process. In the meantime, we’ll focus on a strong race performance from both cars tomorrow.
Nick Wirth

However he fell behind both Lotuses and his team mate at the start. That meant his pit stop during the safety car period was compromised.

He lost more time letting the leaders by and ultimately had to give best to the Lotuses.

Compare Timo Glock’s form against his team mate in 2010

Lucas di Grassi

Quick in final practice but damaged his car’s nose at the start of qualifying, leaving him behind the two Lotuses and his team mate.

He split the Lotuses at the start but a problem with his left-rear tyre during his pit stop meant he had to drive slowly around a lap and then pit again. He fell to last place but was able to overtake Sakon Yamamoto before the end of the race.

In clean air his lap times compared favourably with Glock’s.

Compare Lucas di Grassi’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Hungarian Grand Prix