Di Grassi Heading for Virgin Racing

Lucas di Grassi celebrates a successful outing with the Renault demonstration team. The Brazilian has been confirmed alongside Timo Glock at the new Virgin Racing team – formerly Manor Grand Prix. di Grassi is adamant that he is moving in to Formula 1 to race and has no interest in the politics.

Credit:Renault F1

15-Dec-09: Manor Become Virgin Racing with Added di Grassi

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It’s the 15th December 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

After Lotus’ announcement yesterday, it was time for Manor Grand Prix to take centre stage – officially confirming that they are now called Virgin Racing. With Timo Glock already on board, the team also announced Lucas di Grassi as their second driver. The Brazilian said: “It feels great to be here, it’s a dream come true for me after two years of being a test driver, and from that and from GP2 I feel I’m ready and am very confident in this team. We’re here to race, not to do politics or mess around. We’re here to race.” Easy to say, isn’t it?

The team are very optimistic, though, Richard Branson spoke at their event today in London and said: “This team will be the lowest budget team in F1… but money is not everything and we are determined to prove that through engineering prowess, great drivers and great affinity with the public, we can do well.”

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

26-Nov-09: Lotus and Manor Join FOTA

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Today is the 26th November 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

Lotus and Manor Grand Prix have been welcomed to FOTA, according to reports from Autosport. Once again all the entered teams for 2010 are signed up to the organisation, and it was all done nice and unanimously. Although FOTA have been quiet over recent months, they are working on further cost cutting measures – potentially in the form of a group launch rather than the individual events we see in the few months before the season starts. They are also discussing the empty slot on the grid, and what is going to happen with Toyota’s exit and BMW’s potential entry – although I’m not sure that’s their decision.

Anyway, in other news, we have more names for the young driver test – IRL driver and Brit Mike Conway will have a go in the Mercedes GP car, joined by Marcus Ericsson, the Japanese Formula 3 Champion.

That’s everything for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

17-Nov-09: Glock Signs with Manor Grand Prix for 2010

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This is F1 Minute, today is the 17th November 2009.

Timo Glock has confirmed his immediate future in Formula 1 by signing with the new Manor Grand Prix team. Glock says: “Every driver has the same overall objective – to win the world championship one day – but the way I want to succeed is to be part of the process of building a team and to play a key role in developing the car. This is why the opportunity with Manor Grand Prix is so exciting for me.” And presumably why staying with Toyota if they hadn’t left, wasn’t exciting for him.

Anyway, elsewhere, Luca di Montezemolo has suggested that he is unlikely to continue with his role as president of FOTA past this year. Talking to Autosprint, he said; “I took up the president role because I felt it was good to have teams competing on the track and talking out of it like sports professionals. This is what we did. However, I have another job and I can’t do everything.”

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