German GP: Virgin preview

This weekend (23-25 July), the Virgin Racing team head to Hockenheim for Round 11 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship - the German Grand Prix - which opens part two of the season and is the first of two back to back rounds before the compulsory summer shutdown.

With no fewer than six German drivers currently competing in the championship - Virgin Racing's very own Timo Glock amongst them - there will be plenty of home grown interest to entertain the fans and national TV audience this weekend.

Timo Glock, Race Driver #24

"As always, I'm really looking forward to my home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, which is around 30 minutes from my front door, so it really is a home race for me. It is especially good that this race comes just two weeks after the team's home debut at Silverstone, so this will be the second race in a row where we will have experienced a lot of support from the fans and this always helps to boost everyone just that little bit more. I raced here a lot in the junior formulae when I was starting out in my career and it has a lot of very special memories for me. With so many German drivers competing in F1 this year - six in total - the feeling we will get from the crowd will be incredible I'm sure. It goes without saying that I aim to achieve the best result possible and with the progress we have made in terms of the mechanical and aero upgrades to the car over the last two races I am feeling optimistic."

Lucas di Grassi, Race Driver #25

"Our team's home Grand Prix two weeks ago was shaping up to be a very positive weekend for us, so it's disappointing that we encountered the hydraulic problem which ended my race early on. As always though you have to look at the positive and up until that point we had every reason to feel optimistic about the step forward we have made with the car, which is significant. Obviously there is a lot more to come and we have to keep pushing, but to know we are heading in the right direction has given us all a lift for the second half of the season. I really like the Hockenheimring and have raced here many times before in other categories. It's a circuit that requires good braking stability and traction and is quite challenging. I am pretty confident in our car and expect us to be able to prove ourselves as the best of the new teams here again like I did in Valencia."

John Booth, Team Principal

"It's hard to believe it but this weekend marks the start of part two of our debut season. However, it is reassuring to be entering into that phase with the knowledge that we have a stronger car, which we intend to keep improving all the way to the end of the season. The next two races, being back to back, present a logistical challenge in terms of moving our trackside infrastructure from Germany to Hungary in the space of three days, but it's a process we are now pretty well-rehearsed at. The next race is an important one for Timo and we look forward to seeing him enjoy the much-deserved support of his many fans and supporting him by doing everything possible to ensure we have the best weekend possible."

Nick Wirth, Technical Director

"The successful delivery of the step in performance that we demonstrated in Silverstone has lifted everyone involved with Virgin Racing. Since then, the aero group has been working hard on developing the car, so we'll be adding a host of new aero parts to both of the cars again as we deploy yet more of our digitally-developed downforce. In particular, we were delighted at Timo's positive reaction to our Silverstone upgrade, and we all hope that this next step will make this a happy home race for him in front of the fantastic German fans. The track itself has different chassis requirements to those of Silverstone, but we're confidant of demonstrating more progress. The difference in dry tyre compounds will be a challenge to deal with, and also it looks like we may have the fun of wet conditions thrown in. So all in all, we have plenty to look forward to in our first German Grand Prix."

-source: virgin