03-Jul-09: Virgin Switch Sponsorship to Manor

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It’s the 3rd July 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

There have been rumours floating around for a while now that Virgin would switch their sponsorship from Brawn GP to Manor Grand Prix, and it looks like this might be closer to fact than rumour. The Guardian have published a leaked email from Alan Donnelly, the FIA representative, who says the deal is done and dusted. It’s unclear why Donnelly is involved at all, with Autosport reporting that FOTA have written to the FIA to question his neutrality, and the FIA suggesting he is simply helping the new teams as part of their bid to improve the sport. No one from Virgin or Manor will comment on the potential sponsorship deal though.

Elsewhere today, organisers of the Valencia street circuit have confirmed that they will be reducing the number of grandstand seats available, down by over 30,000 from last year’s 112,000. Ticket sales have not been very good, and organisers blame both the economy and also the ongoing arguments between the FIA and FOTA.

That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.