- 30 Nov 09, 18:19#172686
Manor to run under Virgin Racing title
By Matt Beer Monday, November 30th 2009, 17:56 GMT
The Manor Grand Prix team will run under the Virgin Racing name in 2010, according to the latest entry list issued by the FIA today.
Richard Branson's company entered Formula 1 as a sponsor of the Brawn team this year, but has long been linked with a larger role with Manor. The FIA document confirms that this will be the case, although an official announcement from Virgin is still awaited.
John Booth's squad will use chassis created by former Simtek and Benetton designer Nick Wirth's Wirth Research company, which designed the Acura LMP cars. Timo Glock has been signed as Virgin's first driver.
The other news confirmed by the FIA's entry list was that Red Bull Racing will continue with Renault engines. The team had been linked with a switch to Mercedes power earlier in the year.
But the entry list did not resolve the issue of the 13th entry. The Sauber team is hoping to get back into the field now that Toyota had pulled out of F1 - having previously committed to the new Concorde Agreement - but the FIA said it could not make an announcement about this situation yet.
"Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has indicated that it will not be in a position to do so," said a statement from the governing body. "An announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course."
Champion team Brawn GP remains listed under its 2009 name on the entry, but the FIA noted that it "has indicated its intention to change its team name to Mercedes Grand Prix prior to the start of the 2010 season" following its purchase by the Germany company.
Rising number one of Formula 1, Juan - Juan, one wonders should Juan only win one Formula 1 one year, would Juan have won that one in round one, Juan??
