Brazilian GP: Virgin Racing preview

The Virgin Racing team travel to South America for the first time this week, as the Formula One circus makes its annual trip to Brazil. The 4.309 km long Interlagos track is the shortest permanent circuit on the calendar, only Monaco is shorter, and ...

The Virgin Racing team travel to South America for the first time this week, as the Formula One circus makes its annual trip to Brazil. The 4.309 km long Interlagos track is the shortest permanent circuit on the calendar, only Monaco is shorter, and the combination of the twisty infield section and the long start/finish straight that leads into the Senna "S" always guarantees an exciting race. The circuit is also the highest at 800m above sea-level, but the passion of the locals more than makes up for any lack of atmospheric pressure.

Timo Glock, Race Driver #24
"Interlagos is a great circuit, fun to drive but also technically challenging. At the beginning of the lap you have one of the best overtaking points in Formula One, as we brake for the Senna "S", a great combination of corners where the track drops away from you. It's always a challenge to balance the car between getting maximum grip through the twisty infield, and minimizing drag for the straights. Some of the corners are quite bumpy too. It's important for us to show the progress we've made over the season and we'll be pushing very hard to demonstrate the speed of the car in the last two races of the season and hopefully we can get a good result here."

Lucas di Grassi, Race Driver #25
"It is a dream come true to race in a Grand Prix in your home country for the first time. It will be another very difficult race but I am motivated to perform in front of my fans. The key is to keep focused and try to push 100 per cent at all times."

John Booth, Team Principal
"It's impossible to believe we are almost at the end of the season, and that in just over a week's time we will have travelled to Abu Dhabi and Virgin Racing's first year in Formula One will be completed. The next two weekends present an immense logistical challenge as we have to dismantle everything here and rebuild it in Abu Dhabi in a very short time but we have grown from strength to strength throughout the season. At the last race in Korea we were at our best level of operational efficiency yet, so I have complete confidence. The whole team has done a fantastic job this year and I hope we get the opportunity to show our true form here. The Interlagos track should suit our car well, we've got a lot of good track data that we've used in the simulator and both Timo and Lucas are keen to do well. For Lucas especially it will be an amazing feeling, racing in a Formula One car in front of his home crowd. The weather remains uncertain; we seem to be saying that at every race this year, but come rain or shine we will be doing our utmost to deliver a strong performance and show we belong on the grid."