Sir Richard Branson confirms his love for F1

Sir Richard Branson, the head of Virgin, insists that the team’s future is secure, even though Bernie Ecclestone has just stated that one of the new teams will not be able to finish the year. “I am surprised by what Bernie said. He might know something about the other new teams,” said Branson.

The first season of Virgin is complicated with reliability issues and a pace approximately five seconds slower than the usual teams. But the team will chart its course until the end of the season and I hope the same for the seasons to come, he added.

Virgin’s progress was hampered by hydraulic, gearbox, and engine issues, as well as the embarrassing revelation that the team couldn’t finish some races at full speed because their fuel tanks were too small, which has since been rectified.

The two Team cars did not finish the race in Monaco, however, in Spain, Di Grassi and Glock crossed the finish line, thus showing the way for improvement to the whole team. It should be noted that the only time a Virgin was able to reach the end of the race was in Malaysia (the 3rd race of the season) with Di Grassi.

Branson expressed optimism regarding Virgin Racing’s ability to close the gap with traditional teams: « We need to bridge this gap. It’s a lot, but it’s expected of a new team. There will be technical problems, but teams that spend 300 million on their cars also face technical issues. »

“If the team continues the progress they have managed to achieve so far, we will be happy and we will continue to support them. And there is no reason for it not to go that way,” he adds.

Let us recall that last season Branson supported the double world champion team Brawn GP. At the beginning of this season, he preferred to sign an exclusive three-year contract with Manor Motorsport, thus rebranding these new single-seaters.

The tycoon says he intends to continue supporting the team as long as it continues to attract new sponsors to share the costs: « We plan to stay with them as long as they can secure other sponsors. »

The financial crisis is still present, lurking in the paddock, with small structures being the first targeted. For Virgin, the idea is to make progress over these three years. Branson is a man of challenge; will he have the patience if success takes time to come, especially after experiencing an exceptional season with the late Brawn GP?