Virgin unveil new driver

As the dust settled on the final race of the season in Brazil, Virgin—currently finalising their move from Dinnington to Banbury—announced the recruitment of the 21-year-old.

Said team boss John Booth: “We naturally keep a close eye on the junior formulae and Charles is certainly someone we have been watching over the past few years.

“Winter testing will be upon us before we know it, so it is actually a relatively short space of time ahead with a lot for Charles to get used to, but he is an extremely determined young guy and he worked very well with the team last week. He has an extremely mature head on young shoulders, so I have no doubt that he will be working very hard over the winter to prepare for his debut season.”

The season ended badly for Virgin, also about to change their name to Marussia, when Glock’s rear wheel came off at Interlagos following his first pit stop.

Virgin were fined €5,000 by FIA race stewards for the incident, while D’Ambrosio finished 19th.