Formula One car development blog

Monza special front wing on Virgin VR-01

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Virgin Racing have still not given up on development of their 2010 car, and as a result they brought a new rear and front wing to the high speed circuit. While the rear wing is still simple and has less drag through its reduced panel surface, the front wing is a major change.

At least it is for Virgin, one of the new teams. It is well known that Wirth Research and Virgin aim to do cost effective development and only change what gives the most benefit. The front wing endplates are th... Read more

Virgin test shark fin on updated car

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Virgin Racing have brought a number of updates on its only modified car, the one of Timo Glock. Due to the delays in air traffic in recent weeks, the team were unable to complete the second extended wheelbase chassis in time, which is why Lucas Di Grassi will race it for the first time at Turkey.

Glock however tried a new shark fin cover on Friday morning, but eventually opted against it for the race. Also note, as marked by the arrow, that the rear wing features an additional slot ... Read more

Virgin struggles to fix fuel tank size issue

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Virgin Racing have designed their car completely with CFD technology, and hence didn't rely on any wind tunnel data, nor did it have testing data at the time of its design process. Based on engine data provided by Cosworth, Wirth engineering decided on a tank size just enough to do a race. The team have however found that when the engine is carefully tuned for performance, it consumes more fuel, putting the team in trouble with its fuel tank size.

Although the team is still working ... Read more