Virgin: Glock can’t keep Lotuses behind

2011 European GP team review

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The Virgins were able to overhaul the HRTs but didn’t have the pace to challenge the Lotuses.

Timo Glock Jerome D’Ambrosio
Qualifying position 21 23
Qualifying time comparison (Q1) 1’42.553 (-1.182) 1’43.735
Race position 21 22
Laps 55/57 55/57
Pit stops 2 2

Virgin drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Timo Glock 122.674 110.982 111.002 111.259 110.916 110.199 110.439 109.813 109.882 109.736 109.386 109.39 109.717 109.354 109.917 110.429 124.783 114.84 108.396 112.111 109.823 109.275 107.726 109.039 107.787 108.941 107.616 107.46 107.317 108.703 107.578 107.321 107.677 107.782 107.729 107.444 107.389 108.193 109.379 107.337 108.75 124.048 115.369 113.249 107.381 106.906 106.759 106.705 106.628 107.99 106.842 107.962 109.066 109.485 108.109
Jerome dAmbrosio 125.662 111.354 111.061 111.021 111.3 110.329 109.983 109.876 109.946 109.718 109.598 109.84 110.018 110.797 111.851 111.083 110.242 126.628 116.162 109.143 108.526 108.858 108.368 109.331 108.041 108.797 107.676 108.379 108.063 108.649 108.514 108.538 110.225 108.718 109.166 109.697 127.174 114.477 108.599 107.277 108.104 108.45 109 107.584 107.524 109.121 107.698 108.585 107.771 108.568 107.164 107.443 107.721 107.433 107.799
Timo Glock, Virgin, Valencia, 2011

Timo Glock

Opportunistic driving on the first lap allowed Glock to pass both Lotuses despite not getting ahead of them off the line – he squeezed past around the tight corners as they crossed the bridge for the first time. He even picked off Jaime Alguersuari around the outside of turn ten.

But his advantage was short-lived: “I had a very good opening lap and I overtook both the Lotus cars and a Toro Rosso, although he got right back past me straight away.

“Once the DRS was enabled I couldn’t keep Heikki [Kovalainen] and Jarno [Trulli] behind me and after that I just ran my own race.”

The DRS zone was enabled on lap three, he fell to 21st on lap four, and that’s where he finished, 16 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

Timo Glock 2011 form guide

Jerome d’Ambrosio

Qualified behind Vitantonio Liuzzi but broke free of the HRT, which pitted once more than he did.

Struggled to the end of the race without a drinks bottle, losing three kilos of fluid according to the team.

Jerome d’Ambrosio 2011 form guide

2011 European Grand Prix

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    Image © Virgin Racing

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    Keith Collantine
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    11 comments on “Virgin: Glock can’t keep Lotuses behind”

    1. Poor D’Ambrosio. Must have felt like a replay of Dallas ’84 to him. Good job for holding on and finishing non the less.

      And I would really love to get my hands on the footage of that first lap by Glock. Shame the car is that far below par.

      1. And this is one of the toughest (physically) races of the year!

    2. I wonder if there’s anything they could at the pit stops to get him drinks. Maybe someone giving him a bottle in his lap and putting the straw in his helmet, with him throwing the bottle away at the end of the pitlane?

      Didn’t Alonso faint after the Bahrain GP two years ago, he had nothing to drink as well.

      1. Yeah, this strikes me as an area where F1 can be improved.

        1. It’s definitely a safety issue.

    3. Glock is having a great season. He’s driving the socks off that thing. I wish someone would give him a top drive – when I see Heidfeld and Petrov at Renault I do wonder why.

      1. agreed John, good point

    4. Gutted for D’Ambrosio, he did well to make it to the end.

    5. That’s mental – no drinks? Jeepers.

      Glock should be in a better car, I agree with that statement. Epic start.

    6. May Glock can replace Barrichello at Williams?

    7. One of Timo’s great drives and a fine example of why DRS is such a bad thing – even lower down the grid. There is no way one of these lower teams is going to score a point using the lost art of defensive driving anymore.

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