Virgin Racing the only F1 team fully British

Sir Richard Branson on Tuesday said he is proud to be involved with the last fully British team in formula one.

The London born billionaire, who began his new F1 foray with an opportunistic sponsorship of the Brawn team in 2009, has rebranded the new Manor outfit Virgin Racing ahead of its debut next March.

Comparing Virgin with other British teams including stalwarts Williams and McLaren, Branson told the Guardian that his Yorkshire based outfit is the “last 100 per cent-owned British team”. He also claimed that “if Virgin hadn’t got involved I don’t think (Manor) would have happened”.

Virgin’s car designer Nick Wirth has also proved he is not afraid to ruffle feathers by hitting back at Patrick Head’s claim that some of the new teams are heading for a fall. “Patrick is used to falling because he has fallen from winning, which is probably why he is saying that,” the former Simtek team owner is quoted as saying by PA Sport.

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