Virgin F1 designer to pay for car

Virgin's technical director Nick Wirth's Wirth Research company will pay to modify the team's cars to have large enough fuel tanks to finish races.

Wirth Research is working on new monocoques that are expected to be introduced once the European season kicks off in Barcelona. That means the team still has to race in Malaysia and China with the problem.

"The chassis supplier is us. Nothing to do with engine supplier or fuel supplier. What that means is that we are fixing it for the team. We are not charging the team," said Wirth. "It's our responsibility to provide cars that can finish a grand prix. It's down to us."

Virgin was also hindered by fuel pick-up issues at the Australian Grand Prix, something that meant the team had to go out in qualifying with a lot more fuel than usually required.

"It's not a team issue, it's us," With added. "We are not doing a very good job at the moment, particularly in qualifying, of picking up all the fuel."

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