Virgin Racing VR-01 Cosworth

[raymondu999]

I wonder if they'll ever revise those deceptively simple front/rear wings. And the front endplates too.

[mith]

Wirth stated today, that they will have aero updates for Bahrain.

[outer_bongolia]

I wonder if they'll ever revise those deceptively simple front/rear wings. And the front endplates too.

I couldn't agree with you more. The car is so well sculpted, but the front wing is just like a few pieces of plywood laying on top of each other (though the artwork is immaculate!). Kind of exactly the opposite of Lotus, where may be the busiest front wing is attached to something shaped like a wooden box.

I also find it interesting that the wing designs are pretty much exactly the same as what they had since the first unveiling. I mean CFD is good, but you still need to improve on things a little.

Still, gotta love the beauty of the car...

[marcush.]

what do you prefer ? a piece of cfd art forming the proper ground for a serious development programm ,or a box you try to fix elaborate gimicks to to in a hope to find some potential?

seriously ,they have not shown anything in terms of difusser or front wing or rear wing yet .
whereas I see no scope for big steps in at least the front wing of the lotus ....speaking about development potential ..Wirth has done his homework and
can start to add performance development parts and should not need a big update everything skin .
Lotus will need a whole shebang rework of the car asap ,and they admited so already.

Unfortunatelly both Teams will have to rely on luck for the next months given the miles they clocked up they just will not know what pops up next.
See Sauber ...no problems till the klast day and voila ,shifting trouble on the last day....

[outer_bongolia]

what do you prefer ? a piece of cfd art forming the proper ground for a serious development programm ,or a box you try to fix elaborate gimicks to to in a hope to find some potential?

CFD art with elaborate gimmicks (a la Macca) would be my choice.

Joking aside, this is a brand new team and they put the least amount of mileage due to all the problems they have been having. I am sure they were planning a much different development/testing program.

I would say they will be a couple seconds off the pace during the first few races. With Wirth's experience, they could start playing for mid-field by the end of the season. I would love to see a couple of top ten finishes by the end of the year from this car.

[marcush.]

what do you prefer ? a piece of cfd art forming the proper ground for a serious development programm ,or a box you try to fix elaborate gimicks to to in a hope to find some potential?

CFD art with elaborate gimmicks (a la Macca) would be my choice.

Joking aside, this is a brand new team and they put the least amount of mileage due to all the problems they have been having. I am sure they were planning a much different development/testing program.

I would say they will be a couple seconds off the pace during the first few races. With Wirth's experience, they could start playing for mid-field by the end of the season. I would love to see a couple of top ten finishes by the end of the year from this car.

as much as I admire Wirth with his past in F1 and his work in LMP ,I think we are asking too much if we think they could realistically challenge for a top 10 finish
on merit this season (rain or special circumstances aside) .They will struggle to get closer than 2 seconds per lap to the williams times ,simply because they will
not have the money to keep up in this season .so i guess they will reduce the gap significantly but sometime in the season there is a wall they will not be able to cross as long as the budget cap is not in place to all parties.
and they are aware of this .

[Timomies]

Have to remember that they have very good driver in wet weather . I'm hoping for lots and lots of rain so they could score some points

[raceman]

Still, gotta love the beauty of the car...

+1

[autogyro]

I have a feeling that the simple elegant purpose of Virgins first car may give us a surprise this year.
Reminds me of the first Jordan.

[marcush.]

I have a feeling that the simple elegant purpose of Virgins first car may give us a surprise this year.
Reminds me of the first Jordan.

Glock is a true racer and I got the impression he is thriving in this context.
di Grassi on the other hand is not so impressive ,read an interview with him lately about his impressions so far and i have to say he seemed to be quite confused and unable to give impressions that made sense ..but then he drove the car..

[outer_bongolia]

I have a feeling that the simple elegant purpose of Virgins first car may give us a surprise this year.
Reminds me of the first Jordan.

Glock is a true racer and I got the impression he is thriving in this context.
di Grassi on the other hand is not so impressive ,read an interview with him lately about his impressions so far and i have to say he seemed to be quite confused and unable to give impressions that made sense ..but then he drove the car..

Give di Grassi some time, though... Though not the youngest, he is still a rookie. I hope he will be able to provide some feedback to Virgin.

[Fil]

Di Grassi has done less than 200 laps in an F1 car this year in preseason.. as a rookie, surely this would have to be a worry for his chances of a successful year.

[ESPImperium]

Di Grassi has done less than 200 laps in an F1 car this year in preseason.. as a rookie, surely this would have to be a worry for his chances of a successful year. :?

Yes, but he has done renault R29 in Post Season Testing last year. And the laps he has done in previous years Renaults. He will be OK. Maybes not fully OK, but he will be good enough to pass off early season, developing later on.

[marcush.]

c´mon everyone with all his senses can learn to drive a car around in circles at decent speed given he will have thousands of miles to practise.
How many laps had Kobayashi under his belt when he was brought in last year?
Blew away Jaime A,Fisico,Badoer,Liuzzi instantly din´t he ? that is .
there is no time to learn the ropes ,Bourdais is multiple champ and did not deliver ,got kicked out ,Piquet ,etc etc. they would not even bother if he had not a considerable bag going with the deal.

[Fil]

Yes, but he has done renault R29 in Post Season Testing last year. And the laps he has done in previous years Renaults. He will be OK. Maybes not fully OK, but he will be good enough to pass off early season, developing later on.

I sure hope so, for his sake. Piquet lacked testing, and he never recovered his confidence from the catchup he was forced to do during race weekends when performance was necessary. Same with Badoer & Alguesuari & Grosjean.

Kobayashi, to his credit, was an exception.

c´mon everyone with all his senses can learn to drive a car around in circles at decent speed given he will have thousands of miles to practise.

Isn't that my point? He doesn't have thousands of miles of practice.. less than 200 laps, in a new car with a new team with new regulations.. and he's a new driver.
yes he can drive, but is he fully equipped with the knowledge & understanding of his car, his team, their processes etc.

like you said, there is no time to learn the ropes once the season starts. so when is he to learn them now that preseason has been under-utilised?
i hope his fate has not been sealed due to Virgin's poor reliability.