Virgin break new ground as Di Grassi takes Sepang chequered flag

The Brazilian driver, himself in only his third grand prix, finished 14th in Sepang for Yorkshire's Formula 1 rookies just nine days after the revelation that the team had not built a fuel tank big enough to finish a race.

But John Booth, the Dinnington outfit's team principal, assured the Yorkshire Post on Friday that he had a strategy in place that would defy the pitlane sniggers and see the cars reach the chequered flag, and he was proved right as Di Grassi safely negotiated the VR-01 car around the Sepang circuit.

Finishing a grand prix may only be a modest ambition and a pre-requisite in the sport, yet for a new team with the smallest budget on the grid it represents a significant yardstick in their Formula 1 story.

It was also vindication for Nick Wirth, whose controversial computer simulation design of the car has had its critics.

Virgin's technical director also shouldered the blame for the fuel tank design gaffe but thanks to Booth's strategy which sacrificed a little performance to maximise the fuel load, Wirth was able to celebrate in Malaysia yesterday.

"Finally getting one of our cars to see the chequered flag is a great reward for everyone at Virgin Racing and Wirth Research and I want to thank all of our partners, sponsors and supporters for their patience and understanding during the last few months," said Wirth, after Sebastian Vettel led home a Red Bull one-two at the front.

"The race was quite stressful on the pit wall as we left the grid assuming that it was going to rain. It took a little while for us to be really sure that it wasn't and then, being mindful of our fuel tank limitations, it was really just a case of the team and Lucas deploying our well-practised fuel-saving techniques to excellent effect.

"This weekend has been a clear step forward and comes as a result of diligent hard work from a great many people and I dedicate this result to them. We've come in for heavy criticism for our radical low-cost design approach and relative inexperience in F1, which makes our performance throughout the weekend all the more satisfying.

"Finishing our first grand prix as the leading new team will give us lots of information and we've got some clear direction on issues to address for Shanghai (April 18), which will allow us to perform better all round, without distracting us too much from the bigger Barcelona (May 9) upgrade.

"We are now looking forward to building on this platform."

Di Grassi has had to play second fiddle to Timo Glock in the first two races as the experienced German got more performance out of the car.

It appeared that would continue in Sepang after Glock reached the second session of qualifying for the first time in a Virgin car, thanks mainly to the misjudgment of the monsoon conditions by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the Ferraris and Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in the McLarens.

Hamilton fought his way up to a sixth-place finish, an improvement almost matched by Di Grassi who started in 24th and last but battled through the field to finish 14th after gaining five places on the opening lap.

The 25-year-old even overcame a lengthy pit stop to fix a damaged front wing after an 11th-lap altercation with Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen.

"We had very good early pace and continued to be strong, despite losing my front wing end-plate when Heikki tried to overtake me," said Di Grassi who drove for Booth's Manor Motorsport in Formula 3.

"We had a good pit stop and we were still looking very strong in the second part of the race.

"We were well ahead of the other new teams, which meant that we could afford to ease off a little to make sure nothing got in the way of our result today," he said. "It has been a long wait and we've had some tough times in the past few months, but we know that we're making progress and we can go on to achieve better things.

"Today showed that we are truly competitive and it's a great feeling that our fight has really started now.

"It was a very tough race – physically and mentally – but I'm so happy to bring the Virgin Racing car home to the finish."

Glock was forced out of the race on only the second lap when he collided with the Lotus of Jarno Trulli as he attempted to overtake him.

Report: Page 8.