Finally Virgin Racing have something to shout about as both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi reach the chequered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix. This was not only the first time the team has had a two-car finish, but they were the only new team to do this in Barcelona.

This means Glock has finally got his first finish of the season, despite being quicker than his team-mate at every Grand Prix so far. He was driving Virgin’s new revised car, which showed some improvements, but wasn’t a fall from grace for the team.

They are still struggling at the back with no signs of them getting a point this season. You might say that reliability problems have been fixed, but Di Grassi also managed to finish last weekend in the old car after ‘volcanic delays’ meant his revised car was not ready.

Still the young Brazilian got his car to the end, although he did get involved with the battle at the front as he held up Vettel which allowed Hamilton to take his place. Fortunately this didn’t affect the final result as the Englishman crashed out on the penultimate lap.

Di Grassi continued to struggle to get pace during the race, but showed improvements in qualifying only finishing 0.1 seconds behind his tem-mate despite being in the old car. This is his second finish of the year and progress is slowing coming from him, but more is needed if he is going to compete with Glock.

The German has now got his first finish and this could spark life back into him. Last year with Toyota he managed a 2^nd place finish, so he can drive with the best of them. But on Sunday he could only enjoy a race-long battle with the Lotus of Jarno Trulli, the pair trading fastest lap times in the battle to secure best new team.

For the rest of the season, I don’t see the team affecting the mid-runners even if they do drastic improvements. The car just doesn’t drive well enough and the power is not there.

We all knew this season was going to be a struggle, with this weekend being a rare success for them. Best they can hope for in future is just more finishes and if the car becomes reliable and with the help of some wet weather, Virgin might be able to sneak a point. But on a dry weekend like in Barcelona, they will always be struggling at the back with the other new teams.

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