When Timo Glock out-qualified both of the Lotus cars on Saturday, hopes were high for another strong performance on race day, but once again the team fails to fulfil their potential.

Starting on the dirty side, Timo failed to get away cleanly, losing the ground he gained over his rivals the day before.

Lucas di Grassi had a better start and threatened to get ahead of his team-mate, but the Brazilian suffered more bad luck in his rookie year in Formula One.

During his pit stop, his crew had problems fitting his left rear tyre and he was forced to drive slowly on his out-lap while his team investigated. He had to pit again which compromised his race, but he was still able to finish ahead of the Hispania car of Sakon Yamamoto.

Timo continued to circulate in formation, but behind both Kovalainen and Trulli, who he struggled to get near to due to the number of blue flags that held him back.

Therefore Glock disappointingly finished in 16^th, with Lucas two places behind. The team were obviously thrilled to have a two car finish, but there was that feeling that a lot more was expected. This was a first for Virgin.

The VR-01 showed some real speed, as they demonstrated in qualifying and during the race. But they just seem to fall short when it matters, or if you’re Di Grassi, you just run out of luck.

At least his run of retirements has come to an end at two; let’s hope he doesn’t start another run at Belgium in three weeks. But can we really blame him for his bad luck?

Glock can take some positives away from this weekend; he showed big improvements in qualifying and a 16^th place finish is actually his best finish of the year. Now he looks forward to his summer break and believes there is more to come from an always improving team. He said:

“We finished the race with both cars and had an otherwise strong weekend and I think everyone is ready to enjoy the summer break now.

“Thanks to everyone in the team for all their hard work so far and I’m sure we can look forward to some good results in the rest of the season. I’m having a week’s holiday and the rest of the break will be taken up with training, so that we all come back ready for action again in Spa.”

The rest of the season is crucial for all the new teams, especially after comments from Bernie Eccelstone criticised some teams claiming they were ‘out of their depth’. But he fails to notice that Formula One needs these teams, maybe not to boost ratings or to bring in more sponsorship deals to help build his already multi-million empire.

But to build a foundation for the future of more young drivers and teams who are willing to put in the work and make up the numbers at the back. But one day, maybe just one day, they will develop a future World Champion that will carry the Eccelstone brand.

Virgin will hope they can develop this talent, and develop their car enough to at least gain a point in the 2010 season. But if not, they will be back, bigger and better, maybe not to win a title, but enough to keep Bernie quiet for another year.

Related posts: