Virgin-Fuel tank too small.

[Chris Borg]

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-fuel-tank-too-small-for-virgin-to-finish-races/

Design flaw Indeed!!!!!!

[FW14B]

All you can really say is 'Oops'

[cosworth151]

"65 gallons? I thought you meant 65 liters!" 

So what happens between now and Barcelona? Allow them a fuel stop? Just expect them to not finish? Strap a couple of jerry cans to the car?

[david1275]

Could be worse, it could be one of Richard's 747's mid Atlantic. Now that is a problem.

[Jericoke]

That's just... wow.

Any other rules they haven't bothered checking?

Or did they misunderstand the Cosworth engine efficiency?

[Chris Borg]

Could be worse, it could be one of Richard's 747's mid Atlantic. Now that is a problem.

Good one David.

[John S]

All you can really say is 'Oops'

The other thing that springs to mind is 'What the F##K' 

I seem to remember the Virgin's car length is about 50cms more than some of the rest so how come they haven't got the space for a proper size tank? There is more to this methinks.

 

[FW14B]

As Cos says though, how can they race?  Surely they are running illegally now?  I do wonder what else is going on with the team.

[John S]

As Cos says though, how can they race?  Surely they are running illegally now?  I do wonder what else is going on with the team.

I don't think they running illegally, it's more they have taken the Colin Chapman approach to racing a bit too literaly. These extracts from Autosport give more clarity and suggest that they have tried to sail too close to the wind with their tank size.

Virgin Racing has been given permission to change the size of its fuel tank after finding that it cannot hold enough petrol to get it to the end of some races.

The team has discovered that the capacity of its tank does not allow it to fill up with enough fuel to comfortably get it through races where consumption is quite heavy.

This could prove to be a particular problem at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, with the Albert Park circuit being one of the most demanding in terms of fuel use.

Autosport.com, Today

[david1275]

I have heard it said this problem must have be foreseen!!

After all Virgins are not known for going the full distance. 

[Scott]

My wife, who barely tolerates my F1 passion (I threaten her that I'll become a hockey fan and she quietens down), just asked about the Virgin team because she read something about it in the Blick.  When I explained the situation to her, she couldn't believe it was possible for such a big money sport to have such a stupid mistake made.  She actually used the word 'moron'.  

[FW14B]

I do kind of feel sorry for the team, they have no luck and some bad planning.  Still, it is good they made the grid.  Things can surely only get better for them?

[Scott]

But should they have made the grid when they design a car that can't even theoretically complete a race??  Seriously, if anyone started a company (especially one with a $60m annual budget) making a new cup, but messed up the design so that it couldn't even hold water, what would anyone call them but morons?

[FW14B]

Well Scott, that's exactly what I asked earlier in this thread.  It is worrying how things turned out and I have to question their entry, but I am glad that they are not another USF1.

[John S]

As usual the wrong size tank saga perhaps is not a simple as it first appears, on BBC coverage of quali today Nick Wirth stated that the FIA had changed the goalposts on 3 separate occasions after Manor had started work on the car design, one of the reg changes came in after the chassis had passed crash testing. I can only presume that the other newbie teams started their design or development work much later and so the reg changes had no effect, why else has the FIA approved Virgins request without more fuss or a penalty?

The existing teams are obviously quite used to the FIA's constant machinations over the rules, those who built their cars early will have been watchful for updated regs. Still not good for Manor to be caught out, but for a team new to F1 it's a hard lesson to learn.