Virgin part ways with Nick Wirth’s company after disappointing performance in 2011 – Formula 1 news
Formula 1 Marussia Virgin team chief executive officer Andy Webb has announced that their partnership with Nick Wirth’s company has ended after the collaboration failed to show any development in their 2011 Formula 1 car.
Webb added that the company was supposed to make Virgin team fighting with the Lotus team but 2011 Formula 1 season has shown that Virgin’s 2011 car, MVR-02 is clearly not a fast and reliable car.
Webb stated, “It is readily apparent that the team must take major steps in order to accelerate its rate of improvement. Looking ahead, we will now be pursuing an alternative technical path and look forward to announcing our plans in more detail over the
coming weeks.”
Webb added that the decision to part ways with the company was done after a poor start to the season and in collaboration with Wirth himself.
Stepping into the 2011 season, Virgin team’s most shares were bought by the Russian car manufacturer company, Marussia. Now the Virgin team are eying a podium place when the Formula 1 world hits the track in Russia in the 2014 Formula 1 season.
Webb stated that the company has clearly failed to deliver what they were supposed to- make Virgin competitive enough to challenge the likes of Lotus and Williams. Also, the team had a goal to land in Q2 successfully in the 2011 season which they have also
failed to achieve in the first six races of the campaign.
“I believe that the steps we are taking in terms of our technical leadership and operational excellence will provide us with the robust foundation required to go on and achieve our performance objectives in the years ahead. These are bold but positive steps
that will enable us to move forward with confidence,” added Webb.
Virgin team are reported to start the wind tunnel test on their cars for the next season which will surely boost their performance in the coming years. Webb added that Virgin will concentrate on the aerodynamic capability of their car and will hopefully
improve in right direction.
Webb added that Marussia have taken some huge steps which will boost the performance of the car which everyone in the company wants to see.
Virgin team debuted in the 2010 season and since then they have been unable to even score a single championship point. Last year they were the 12th team on the constructors’ table but in the 2011 season, they have surely improved their performance
courtesy the huge investment from Marussia.
For now, the 2011 Formula 1 season continues and the best that Virgin can do is to at least finish every race in order to gather some useful data for future development.
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