Symonds: Making Marussia an F1 force

It's not just the name on the door that has changed for the Marussia Formula 1 team - there's a whole new technical package and concept in place. Team consultant Pat Symonds explained it all to Simon Strang

As far as Pat Symonds is concerned, it all began for Marussia F1 on July 4 2011. That's when the reset button was pressed on Virgin's decreasingly-competitive Formula 1 team.

It was the day Virgin announced its technical tie-up with McLaren, and its purchase of Wirth Racing Technologies and its facilities in Banbury – which have since become the team's new home.