Steady, if unspectacular, progress being made by Virgin

Fifteen minutes from the chequered flag at the British Grand Prix and all is silent in the Marussia Virgin Racing garage.

The only noise is of the engines roaring past on the start-finish straight beyond the pitwall.

The only interest is on the screens hanging from the ceiling and decorating the walls; showing the action unfolding and the data developing.

Mechanics, six to eight for each driver, sit arms folded, their job done.

Well almost. If Timo Glock gets a puncture or Jerome D’Ambrosio is involved in an altercation; they will have to spring back to life.

But the fuel is in for the rest of the race and the improving reliability of the Yorkshire team, in their second season on the grid, appears to have continued at their home grand prix. The engineers and mechanics have worked tirelessly all weekend and in the days leading up to the race. Now it is in the drivers’ hands.

The last pit-stop they performed was executed smoothly.

While Red Bull and McLaren were making a hash of the tyre changes of Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button respectively, Virgin were at least showing they are the equal of, or maybe just for today, the measure of their richer, more successful, illustrious rivals.

The last pit stop by D’Ambrosio was a lesson in slick execution.

A call rings round the garage that a stop is imminent 40 seconds before it happens.

The mechanics switch from a watching brief to an active role in about four seconds.

Suits are zipped up, ear protectors re-positioned and helmets placed on heads.

D’Ambrosio slaloms into a corridor of overalls.

Each mechanic has his or her job. No multi-tasking, one role per pair of hands; from hydraulic drill holder to stop-start board holder – the glorified lollipop lady.

Only the school run doesn’t demand the anchors being pressed so intensely from 75mph.

As Belgian D’Ambrosio pulls in the team get to work; quietly, quickly, efficiently.

Virgin employ mechanics and technicians from Worksop to Wakefield. The Yorkshire roots remain strong no matter how possible the prospect of the Dinnington team moving closer to their other base at Banbury, Oxfordshire, in the next two years.

Seconds later the board goes up and D’Ambrosio guns the throttle and disappears out of the pit, his mechanics retreating back to their vantage points under the screens as he goes.

“The engineers coped well,” reflects team principal John Booth after the race.

“Our performance was helped with some good pit-stop work by the mechanics, including some late calls and both drivers stopping on the same lap.”

Though they finish in the familiar territory of well down the field, Booth is happy to have had both cars finish his home grand prix.

He points to Glock managing the 17th-fastest lap of the race as a sign that belatedly, inch-by-inch, they are closing the pace gap. Reliability is no longer the major headache it was in their rookie year.

“Last year I was forever watching the screens for temperature readings and all sorts of data,” he says. “Now I can focus on the track a little more.”

The news in the build-up to their home grand prix that the technical partnership with McLaren has shifted their focus onto next year’s car, means the remainder of this season is all about patience.

The Virgin mechanics may look on as their Ferrari colleagues race up the pitlane to enjoy Fernando Alonso’s victory but such celebrations remain a distant dream for the Yorkshire team – their goals, for now, are much more modest and attainable.

“We want to get a 12th position this year that would hopefully put us into 10th place in the constructors’ championship,” says Booth, who has one eye on a top-10 place and the prospect of winning the three-year race with Lotus and HRT to $25m in prize money.

“If we can achieve a 12th this year that would be absolutely fantastic.”

Until then, Virgin and their silent engineers will content themselves with another two-car finish and steady, if unspectacular, progress.