• Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Tough first outing for Virgin

ESPNF1 Staff
March 15, 2010 « Lotus boss 'over the moon' | »
Lucas di Grassi retired on lap 18 © Sutton Images
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New Formula One team Virgin Racing endured a baptism of fire in its maiden grand prix outing, with neither driver making it beyond lap 18 in Bahrain.

Lucas di Grassi retired on the third lap after losing hydraulic pressure and team-mate Timo Glock was running well until a high gearbox temperature forced him to pull over on lap 18.

"I got a great start and the car was feeling pretty good," said di Grassi. "I think we could have had a good race with the car that we had but then just a few laps into the race I had to pull over in turn 9 and my race was over before it had really begun.

"There's no point being downhearted. We'll be back in Melbourne with some new developments and a fix for the problems we experienced here."

Although disappointed neither car made it to the finish, technical director Nick Wirth remained positive about the races ahead.

"We leave our first grand prix disappointed we did not manage to get either car to the finish," he said. "At least we haven't had a repeat of any of our winter testing problems. Most importantly, we now know that our faith in the all-CFD design approach was justified, as we have demonstrated that we have built a competitive Formula One car. That is one reward we can take away from this weekend."

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