• Turkish Grand Prix

Virgin pins hopes on 'significant' upgrade

Virgin is hoping an upgrade package will result in a performance boost over the next few races © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Virgin is hoping its upgrades for the Turkish Grand Prix will provide a significant step forward, although only Timo Glock's car will benefit from the full effect of the package.

After a disappointing start to its second championship campaign, team boss John Booth said Virgin had taken "a new direction" in order to boost the car's performance.

"By our own admission it's been a difficult start to the year, but we actually started doing something about that when we realised back in testing that we had not met our targets," Booth said. "We've been working hard behind the scenes since the middle of February and this weekend sees the culmination of all those efforts when we will be able to see just how much we can progress now.

"The extent of our upgrade package for the start of the European season is significant to say the least. Aerodynamically it's a new direction for us and we're hopeful that it will help us start to turn the corner, although with such a major step it may take us some time to tune it to the racetrack."

Booth revealed that Jerome d'Ambrosio would have to wait until the next round in Spain to get his hands on the fully updated MVR-02.

"Jerome will not have the benefit of the full upgrade package until Spain but he will get a taste of some of the elements this weekend," Booth said. "We are of course mindful of the fact that everyone should have taken a step forward ready for Europe, so we will have to see how we've fared versus the rest of the field."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.