Richard Branson remains optimistic over the future of his Virgin Racing team, so much so that he has raised his long-term targets.
Virgin boss confident of challenging within five years
Richard Branson remains optimistic over the future of his Virgin Racing team, so much so that he has raised his long-term targets.
Inspired by the improvement the Red Bull team have shown since their formation six years ago, Branson believes Virgin could be challenging the best teams 'within three to five years'.
Despite Virgin's inauspicious start in Bahrain that saw Lucas Di Grassi retire on lap three and timo Glock quit on lap 18, Branson remains undeterred.
"One day, hopefully, Virgin will overtake Red Bull," he said. "You've got to start somewhere, and we have a couple of hundred people enjoying the challenge.
"If the rules are adhered to and everyone comes within a £40million budget we're working to this year, in a couple of years' time we will know how to run a team at that level.
"The other teams will have to come down to that, so things will start equalling out.
"Yes, they'll still have quite a few more years under their belt, but we've a lot of guys with a lot of experience here.
"So we're hoping three to five years (to be challenging), rather than five years. Who is to know? But you have to aim for it."
Active
Virgin's technical director Nick Wirth backed up his boss's projection, saying Branson's enthusiasm is having a contagious effect.
"When we were having our hydraulic problems (in pre-season testing) Richard was on the phone and was quite active," remarked Wirth.
"He was concerned we were having issues and wanted to know how we were fixing it, and got quite involved in that process.
"It's great to have someone, whose name is on the team, who is interested and passionate about it.
"It's wonderful for us to work together, taking the first steps towards our joint goals.
"People talk about how much McLaren sped up last year, and we think we can do some fairly impressive things, despite this rigid budget we're working to, and progress from there.
"We're really proud and excited about taking this forward."
