Virgin get ready to rumble

And the former Rotherham butcher has been delighted with the team preparations, right up to setting off last week on the long haul from Dinnington to Melbourne.

This time last year, Virgin was practically making it up as they went along. Hose clips popping and frustrating mechanical failures were part and parcel of the first chunk of their maiden season, all the result of some hectic development work which made sure they were on track on time.

Now, the team has had a more structured build-up to the campaign which Booth says will hopefully show in results.

But don’t expect Virgin to be slugging it out with the Ferraris, Red Bulls and McLarens.

The team will again do well to secure points but, whereas last year they were a long way off the pace, this time around the margins will be a lot smaller.

That in itself could see them bag a point, but initially Virgin want to continue to make progress and make sure of regular Q2 qualification\_getting over the first knock-out hurdle in qualifying\_while hitting a strong vein of reliability.

“We fully expect the first few races to be challenging in terms of outright pace, but I’m comfortable that prioritising reliability and strategy will help our big picture and we’ll be in a much better place for the rest of the season,” said an optimistic Booth.