And Branson knows that all too well, as he aims to not only join the two teams on the all-British outfit list, but also follow their success in the series. Although announcing one of the lowest budgets for their 2010 campaign – around 40M pounds sterling – Virgin Racing confirmed they are aiming at a great future in the series.
“This team will be the lowest budget team in F1. It will run under the £40 million a year that is set in F1, and all teams within two or three years are meant to get to that level,” said Branson, while once again underlining the importance of owning an all-British team in terms of attracting sponsorship from the UK.
“I think it is the only British F1 team left – so it is great to support another British team,” added the British billionaire, hinting that his outfit, as compared to Williams and McLaren, is the only 100 percent British team in the F1 roster.
McLaren Group currently owns only 60 percent of their F1 team (the other 40 percent they are about to acquire in the upcoming few years from Mercedes, gradually), while Frank Williams recently sold a small part of his team to Austrian investor Toto Wolff.
In addition to that, Virgin's car designer Nick Wirth also felt the need to hit back at Williams' counterpart Patrick Head latest comments regarding Virgin Racing. Head recently expressed doubts that the Manor organization would make it to the 2010 grid, and Wirth now responded.
“Patrick is used to falling because he has fallen from winning, which is probably why he is saying that,” Wirth was quoted as saying by PA Sport.
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