Wirth Research, a company led by the technical director of Virgin Racing, Nick Wirth, is set to pay the estimated 1 million pounds sterling bill for redesigning the VR-01 F1 car.
As it is already known Virgin Racing was given a green light by the FIA to change its homologated chassis, because the fuel tank was found to be between 15-20 litres too small to support a full race distance. The revised car will be ready to debut in Spain having a completely new chassis and bodywork.
Virgin chief executive Graeme Lowdon said the problem was a "supplier issue"; a phrase repeated by Sir Richard Branson in Melbourne, when he revealed that his reaction to the news about the fuel tank had been "f*** me". He added: "It will be the supplier whose issue it is who has agreed to redesign it, so it won't actually cost the team anything."
It was assumed that the supplier referred to was the external fuel-tank maker, as rumours during Australian Grand Prix suggesting the desired capacity had been mistakenly recorded as litres instead of kilograms. Virgin's technical director Nick Wirth who is engaged through his separate Oxfordshire-based engineering group, admitted that it is the responsibility of his company Wirth Research to pay for the VR-01 redesign.
Branson tried to put a positive spin on the situation in Melbourne. "It will actually give the car some practice time," he said. "Over the next five races we will learn more and more about the car."
