Jerome D'Ambrosio - Photo Credit: Marussia Virgin Racing
Virgin Racing were comprehensively beaten by HRT in qualifying for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in Delhi tomorrow.
Timo Glock and Jérôme D'Ambrosio were out-qualified by Daniel Ricciardo and Narain Karthikeyan on a very disappointing day for the team.
However, Virgin possibly did get the last laugh: both HRT drivers will serve five-place grid penalties and so D’Ambrosio will actually start ahead of the two in P21. Glock suffered a gearbox failure early in the session and failed to set a time within the 107% record. He is expected to be allowed to race, but will be starting from the back of the grid.
“A very disappointing qualifying for the team,” said the German. “We had a very good Friday yesterday, but today we have been very unlucky as fifth gear broke in qualifying and I could only do one flying lap. The first flying lap was already quite positive – the car felt okay and I didn't have any problems.
“We won't be starting where we wanted to be but I think we are quick enough to beat the HRTs and we kept a set of the Soft tyre back, so let's see what we can do tomorrow. Obviously, it's a real shame for me and my car crew, but that's racing.”
D’Ambrosio has not been having a great time either this weekend: “It wasn't a great qualifying for me and it has been a difficult weekend to be honest,” said the Belgian. “It feels like the car has been changing from one session to the next, which makes life pretty difficult because it's still a new track and there is the track evolution to manage as well.
“It was disappointing to find ourselves in a position behind HRT and as we've struggled they've been with us all weekend. It's a great track and I think it should produce some fantastic racing, so I hope we can improve our situation tomorrow. We saved an extra set of the Soft tyre, so that should help.”
