Virgin set to up the pace with improved car design

The Yorkshire rookies are to mark their debut at the British Grand Prix with a first major performance ugrade which they believe will give them the edge over their main rivals Lotus.

John Booth and his team of engineers at Dinnington have assembled an improved downforce package that includes new front and rear wings, a new floor and a new diffuser.

Having spent much of their Formula 1 existence fighting reliability fires, this positive step in their attempts to close the gap on a congested middle of the grid is a significant yardstick in their development.

Drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi have been consistently three to four seconds a lap down on the leading teams in Formula 1, but after enduring what team principal Booth described as a 'terrible' start to the season, the focus at last is on closing the gap.

They reach the midpoint of their maiden season without a constructors' point but with increased reliability producing more frequent finishes, Booth believes his hard-working team have turned the corner.

Speaking at Virgin's plush headquarters at Dinnington, which just four months ago was a building site, Booth said: "Silverstone is the best race of the year, the grandstands are packed and the spectators are knowledgable, and it's a big weekend for us.

"We had to take our eye off performance earlier in the season and concentrate on reliability, but we head to Silverstone with our first major performance upgrade.

"We had a smaller one for Valencia (last race) and that helped us in qualifying, but this is a major aerodynamic upgrade for this weekend and beyond.

"We've put in a new front wing, a new rear wing, and a new floor and a new diffuser, which doesn't sound too exciting but that will generate most of the downforce, and 90 per cent of a car's pace comes from its downforce.

"We're hoping that it makes us four to five tenths of a second, per lap, faster. And if we can make that up in our home race that would be great."

A home race without any major travel allows Booth and his 45-strong team at Dinnington their first opportunity to take stock of how far they have come since being accepted as one of four new teams on the Formula 1 grid last June.

To the untrained eye progress has been slow; however, their achievement is summed up by the new state-of-the-art facility housed opposite the old Manor Motorsport operation that provided the embryonic core of the team before Sir Richard Branson came on board.

What four months ago, on the eve of their debut grand prix in Bahrain, was a shell, is now a fully operational Formula 1 workshop.

"This has been the first chance to sit down and have a look at where we are, because we didn't have the energy or the time to do so beforehand," said Booth, whose team have overcome a host of major problems in their first season, most notably the design of a fuel tank that was too small to finish a race.

"Our start was terrible, but the last four races have been pretty good. We are functioning much better as a team.

"We are not just an embarrassment at the back of the grid now, we feel as though we've arrived in Formula 1 and that's a great feeling.

"The team have been fantastic, and the team spirit is unbelievable. I thought by Malaysia (Round 3) we might have had people leaving and finding new jobs, I didn't know how long they could go on like that for.

"But they've not let anything affect them and have done a fantastic job. And with Lucas getting home in Malaysia, you wouldn't believe how much a relief that was."

If Malaysia was a turning point in the never-ending battle against reliabilty, the European Grand Prix nine days ago represented a watershed for their forward progression.

"We raced hard for the flag in Valencia," said Booth. "There was no limping home to preserve fuel or tryes – that was a major step for us. We raced hard all the way and finished the race very well. We are improving every race – we just need to make that ramp steeper."