Virgin narrowly qualify and race at the back

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

1. 

   Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
   28th March 2011, 12:49

   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. 

      Himmat S.
      28th March 2011, 14:08

      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. 

         US_Peter (@us_peter)
         28th March 2011, 20:55

         Yeah, imagine how far off the 107% the back markers would be if the top teams pushed in Q1!
   2. 

      Alianora La Canta
      28th March 2011, 14:19

      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. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      28th March 2011, 15:15

      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. 

   AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
   28th March 2011, 13:34

   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. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      28th March 2011, 15:17

      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. 

         AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
         28th March 2011, 18:38

         Did they change it in 3.5s? ;)
3. 

   Eggry (@eggry)
   28th March 2011, 13:47

   poor Glock. I love their CFD-only approach, so I wish they would improve cars.
   1. 

      wasiF1 (@wasif1)
      29th March 2011, 3:33

      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. 

   RIISE (@riise)
   28th March 2011, 14:53

   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. 

      US_Peter (@us_peter)
      28th March 2011, 20:57

      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. 

   Oliver
   28th March 2011, 15:22

   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. 

   Tango
   28th March 2011, 16:21

   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. 

      Tango
      28th March 2011, 16:37

      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. 

      US_Peter (@us_peter)
      28th March 2011, 21:01

      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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