Virgin in hands off warning as rivals eye Glock

With the talented German appearing to grow increasingly frustrated with the rookies' inability to close the gap on Formula 1's midfield, a number of those teams they are chasing are circling.

Renault are the name most frequently linked with a move for Glock, particularly after it was the famous French marque who publically courted the 28-year-old following his release from Toyota last season.

However, Dinnington-based Virgin lured him with a more attractive package with Glock revealing he relished the challenge of helping a team build from the ground up.

The reality, though, has been of a season battling at the back of the grid and at Silverstone recently, Glock cut a frustrated figure.

Hence the growing interest from Renault, but with Glock contracted until the end of the 2012 season, Virgin's team principal Booth is adament the German will be in the car in 2011.

"It's that time of year for pitlane gossip," Booth told the Yorkshire Post from Hungary. "Timo has a contract for three years and, as far as I am concerned, he will fulfil that."

Should the Renault deal for Glock materialise, it is also rumoured that Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov would be headed in the other direction.

Petrov has failed to shine in his debut season despite being in a relatively competitive car and if he is offloaded by Renault he would make an attractive proposition for Virgin given the millions in funding he would bring to the team due to his close links with car-maker Lada.

But with Glock and Lucas Di Grassi under contract for next season, Booth insists planning for 2011 – which has already begun at the team's Dinnington plant – incorporates both their current drivers.

Virgin arrived in Hungary for this weekend's 12th round of the season with yet more minor performance upgrades to the car as they look to continue closing the gap on first Lotus then the teams in the middle of the pack.

Glock has revealed since his 18th-place finish at Hockenheim that the team are looking at the exhaust-blown diffuser that Red Bull patented at the start of the season, which has helped the Milton Keynes-based team dominate qualifying.

But while Virgin's technical director, Nick Wirth, admitted their performance package was continuing, he did not reveal the extent of their upgrades.

"Our development geeks have come up with yet more upgrades for the Hungaroring and I know that both drivers and their crews are very motivated right now, so we look forward to another weekend of solid progress," said Wirth.

"Hungary is a track where we expect to continue our strong recent progress. We're determined to avoid the type of problems that stopped us qualifying well in Hockenheim, and the nature of the circuit should enable us to have a strong showing compared to our new-team rivals."

Booth added: "What we are hoping for now is a strong performance at the Hungaroring as a just reward for the incredible hard work that has gone into our debut season so far by everyone in the team."

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa has said he will walk away from Formula 1 the day he becomes a No 2 driver.

Just four days after the team orders controversy that dogged the German Grand Prix, Massa was again in the spotlight on his return to the Hungaroring where last year he almost lost his life.

Via coded messages from race engineer Rob Smedley, Massa was forced to hand victory to Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim after leading for the majority of the opening 49 laps of the 67-lap race. Ferrari were found guilty of a breach of the rules that prohibits teams orders and were fined $100,000.

Ferrari's decision has effectively ensured Massa will have to play second fiddle to Alonso for the remainder of the season. But a defiant Massa said: "The time I say I am a No 2 driver I will not race any more, and I am not a No 2. I will fight for the victory here, whatever the conditions."

Asked what would happen if he found himself in the same situation as last Sunday, he replied: "I will win."---Massa claims he has assurances from Ferrari, stating: "I've spoken to everybody inside the team. I'm not just here to race, I'm here to win, and that's my point."