The VR-01 is Virgin’s new revolutionary car for their debut season and it is the first ever to be made wholly by computational fluid dynamics and without any recourse to a wind tunnel.

Timo Glock this week spoke with the Formula One official website telling them this could be “the future of designing F1 cars.”

It may not be the fastest on circuit, but it is certainly something for the future.

With less testing without the use of wind tunnels, it doesn’t only save money but it also fights against those who believe F1 is killing the environment. Glock added:

“It is amazing to see that we’ve been able to put a car on the track that has been entirely created by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).

“I want to see how far we can go with CFD to make bigger steps forward.”

The brain behind the VR-01 is Virgin technical chief Nick Wirth, former chief designer for the old Benetton team, who is brave to use this for the debut season of a new team. Especially when you look at his history. He was in charge of the ill-fated Simtek team who experienced their darkest hour under Wirth.

In April 1994, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix when the front wing of his car unexpectedly fell off causing him to crash at almost 200 mph.

Ratzenberger suffered a fractured skull and died in the cockpit.

Horror must have been all over Wirth’s face when the VR-01’s front wing fell off in its very first test at Jerez. Even Glock was shocked. He said:

“That was a bit of a shock, it had nothing to do with the fact that it was designed by CFD.

“But, believe me, when it happened it was a surprise. I hadn’t touched any kerbs or anything.”

Fortunately for everyone this time no one was hurt and it was easily fixed.

Even though it has had it set backs, criticised for the lack of testing and has never been done before, Glock remains up-beat despite the fact that he expects his outings on Saturday to be a short one.

“Being realistic I know that Saturday afternoon will be short for me.

“We are realistic and not dreaming about getting into Q2 or Q3. We will be off the pace, but I don’t have any problem with that fact, as I knew when I signed what to expect in the first year.”

As you can see Virgin has a long way to go before they can become one of the superpowers in the world of Formula One. The best they can hope for this season is a point now and then, but what they do have is a foundation for the future. A revolutionary car with young drivers, who could be with the team for many years to come, both wanting success can only benefit them.

Therefore this could hopefully lead to one day, just maybe, some time in the not-so-near future, producing a Virgin Racing world champion.

Join me and Victoria on Formula1FanCast.com’s Fantasy League Formula 1 2010. Our league is called Formula1Fancast.com and the league pin is 722. Try and beat us if you can, but be warned we’re good!

Related posts: