25 NOVEMBER 2011
After Brazil we'll be one team under one roof
The last stage of Marussia Virgin Racing’s relocation to Banbury in Oxfordshire, UK, will begin straight after the Brazilian Grand Prix. Banbury is only 110 miles from the team’s birthplace in Dinnington, South Yorkshire, but for the whole team it's a journey towards the next exciting phase of our development.
The move marks the next step towards Marussia Virgin Racing becoming a competitive force in Formula One. For the first time in our short history the whole team will be housed under one roof, which will bring major benefits as we look to gradually work our way up the grid.
As Team Principal John Booth explains: “It’s just 110 miles from one workshop to the other but it’s a massive move for the team - and everyone is excited about what it means for the future.
“For the first time the whole team will be under one roof, which will make communications so much easier. It is not just having the design team all together, but also R&D, all the test rigs, the hydraulic equipment - the list goes on. All those important areas will now be in close proximity, which will be a great benefit to the team.”
The move into our new headquarters has been on-going for the past few months.
The design team checked in first, followed by the marketing, PR and commercial departments a couple of months later.
The race team will complete their move once they return from well-earned holidays after the race in São Paulo.
John adds: “The design office was already there. It was the only part of the building that didn’t need a re-jig, so the design team put together by our technical consultant Pat Symonds has been there for six months now.
“The next part we completed was for the Marketing & PR team to move up from London, where they had previously been based. They’ve been there for a couple of months now and the rest of the work has involved getting the building ready for the race team when we return from Brazil.
“The official move date is January 1st, but after this race the cars will return, everything will be packed away, the race team will go on holiday, and will come back to work in January - but to Banbury, not Dinnington.
“It is a fantastic building and it’s really starting to feel like home. At the same time, we’re really starting to feel like one team.
For John it means a move away from his beloved Yorkshire.
But he says: “I’m not leaving Yorkshire for ever – I’ll certainly retire there one day. We’ve rented a house and my family move there the week after Brazil. We're all looking forward to it.
“I find it incredibly useful with the team being under one roof. You can get more done in five minutes face-to-face conversation than 50 emails. Having our engineers embedded there with the designers is an absolute must.
It is an exciting time for Marussia Virgin as our technical partnership with McLaren gets into full-swing and now we will be that much closer geographically.
So as the on-track action comes to a close this weekend, there really is a whole raft of activity taking place behind the scenes to ensure a brighter future for the team in our One Sweet Home.
Credit: Marussia Virgin Racing (www.marussiavirginracing.com)
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