Sunday Review: Marussia Virgin: Solid Teamwork
Marussia Virgin had only one fear at the beginning of this weekend: the 107% rule. But both its drivers qualified well and had a good race, even though only Timo Glock made it to the finish.
After a narrow qualification in Australia, both Marussia Virgin drivers repeated their performance in Malaysia, finishing within the 107%. However, it seems that their main rival, Team Lotus, is too fast for them.
Timo Glock 16th
« I had a good start and I was ahead of Trulli and his Lotus in the first corner, and everything was going well. The car was performing well and we were able to manage the tires, so we adopted a two-stop strategy. My engineer did a good job in helping me get through the traffic and the race was straightforward. Great work by the pit crew for a very good stop that helped me catch up to Trulli. Apart from the improvements we need to make in terms of performance, everything is working well, so we are looking forward to the step forward our development program can bring us after China, in time for Europe. »
Jérôme d’Ambrosio Retirement
« I am quite satisfied with this weekend. I won’t remember the fact that I stopped less than fifteen laps from the end, but my goal was to improve compared to Melbourne, on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was definitely better, and the race as well. I was able to maintain a good pace, especially in the second and third stints, so I have to say I am quite pleased with that. But this is just the beginning, and I have to continue working and improving all the time. I made a step in the right direction, so that’s good. »
John Booth
« We are obviously disappointed not to have been able to get both cars to the finish today, but we are very satisfied with the team’s strong performance in the race. Both our drivers drove well, and we were slightly better in terms of pace, but what worked well for us was the way we were able to manage tire degradation. We saw it earlier in the weekend, and it allowed us to be in a position to make only two stops for each car. The pit crew faced some tough challenges today, with a few late calls or consecutive stops, and they responded very well in difficult conditions like those in Sepang. At the end of the race, Jerome hit the curb quite hard, which caused a power cut, and the car stopped out of the race. Apart from that, he should feel very happy to have done a great job for his only second race »
