After a very challenging start to its maiden F1 season, Virgin Racing is now making real progress. And there seems to be more to come

Virgin racing endured a tough start to life as a Formula 1 team. The tripartite venture between race team Manor Grand Prix, car design specialist Wirth Research and bearded publicity-magnet Richard Branson has had its fair share of detractors – and not without good reason.

Reliability, now vastly improved, was woeful. In 20 starts, a Virgin has only been classified as a finisher nine times – four of those in the last six attempts. The embarrassment of having to make significant chassis revisions to accommodate extra fuel, stretching the wheelbase by 185mm and earning the VR-01 the nickname "the limousine" hasn't helped matters.

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