Marussia F1 Team, née Virgin, was one of the three new Formula 1 teams that were accepted to compete in the 2010 FIA F1 World Championship. Despite running some promising races, the small outfit has failed to score a single point in three years.
In 2010, Manor Motorsport joined F1 as Virgin. The car was designed from CFD technology by Nick Wirth, but it proved to be unreliable while being penalised by an undersized fuel tank.
Still mated to the underpowered Cosworth engine the following year, the car was a tiny bit faster due to a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies.
In 2012, the team took on the name of major shareholders and Russian sportscar makers Marussia. The MR01-Cosworths were one of the very few F1 cars not fitted with a KERS, which complicated the life veteran, Timo Glock, and rookie, Charles Pic.
Timo Glock
Best place in qualifications: 18th (once, Japan)
Best race result: 12th (once, Singapore)
Retired 1 time
Charles Pic
Best place in qualifications: 19th (twice)
Best race result: 12th (Brazil)
Retired 5 times
Under the guidance of technical director, Pat Symond, the Marussias made a small amount of progress throughout the season, and both drivers managed to collect a twelfth-place finish.
Glock seems to have lost quite a bit of motivation after years of fighting in the queue of the pack. He is still fast, but driving such a slow car is undoudtedly demoralizing, especially for someone who's driven for Toyota in the past!
Despite his lack of F1 experience, rookie Pic caused quite a stir. He arrived with a reputation of a paying driver (with money from Groupe Lagardère), but he proved to be fast in qualifying and ran several inspired races, even beating his teammate Glock on occasion.
The three smaller teams on the grid all face the same problem of running two cars for a full season on a shoestring budget. They have huge difficulties attracting major sponsors due to their lack of results -- it's a catch-22.
Next season will be Marussia's last year with the Cosworth CA 2012 V8 engine. For the moment, there's no news about what turbo unit they'll use in 2014.
In 2010, Manor Motorsport joined F1 as Virgin. The car was designed from CFD technology by Nick Wirth, but it proved to be unreliable while being penalised by an undersized fuel tank.
Still mated to the underpowered Cosworth engine the following year, the car was a tiny bit faster due to a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies.
 |
| Photo: Marussia F1 Team |
In 2012, the team took on the name of major shareholders and Russian sportscar makers Marussia. The MR01-Cosworths were one of the very few F1 cars not fitted with a KERS, which complicated the life veteran, Timo Glock, and rookie, Charles Pic.
Timo Glock
Best place in qualifications: 18th (once, Japan)
Best race result: 12th (once, Singapore)
Retired 1 time
Charles Pic
Best place in qualifications: 19th (twice)
Best race result: 12th (Brazil)
Retired 5 times
Under the guidance of technical director, Pat Symond, the Marussias made a small amount of progress throughout the season, and both drivers managed to collect a twelfth-place finish.
Glock seems to have lost quite a bit of motivation after years of fighting in the queue of the pack. He is still fast, but driving such a slow car is undoudtedly demoralizing, especially for someone who's driven for Toyota in the past!
 |
| Photo: Marussia F1 Team |
Despite his lack of F1 experience, rookie Pic caused quite a stir. He arrived with a reputation of a paying driver (with money from Groupe Lagardère), but he proved to be fast in qualifying and ran several inspired races, even beating his teammate Glock on occasion.
The three smaller teams on the grid all face the same problem of running two cars for a full season on a shoestring budget. They have huge difficulties attracting major sponsors due to their lack of results -- it's a catch-22.
Next season will be Marussia's last year with the Cosworth CA 2012 V8 engine. For the moment, there's no news about what turbo unit they'll use in 2014.