The team's original car, the Virgin VR-01, was the first in Formula One to be developed using only computational fluid dynamics, and was driven by Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi.

The partnership with Wirth ended midway through 2011, and a new technical structure bringing car development in-house was set up for 2012.

Branson later stated an interest in Formula One, but claimed the sport needed to develop a more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image.

"[2] The team was meeting prospective sponsors for 2010 at the 2009 British Grand Prix weekend, at a time when Formula One faced a split amid commercial acrimony and the threat of breakaway championships.

With Mercedes-Benz purchasing Brawn GP at the end of the 2009 season, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix, with the team being renamed Virgin Racing.

Less than one month after the Virgin partnership was officially launched, Tai left his position and Booth took over as team principal, with Lowdon becoming the CEO.

Technical director Nick Wirth took the decision to use only CFD to develop the aerodynamics, with no reference to a wind tunnel.

Booth said, "My prediction is that wind tunnels will be a thing of the past and by the time Malaysia1 (Lotus Racing) get theirs built, they will be redundant.

The car passed its mandatory FIA crash tests, and completed its first track run at Silverstone on 4 February in the hands of Glock.

[11] The problem recurred, however, at the final pre-season testing session held in Barcelona, costing the team further track time and necessitating a further redesign of the relevant components ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Di Grassi could only manage a couple of installation laps whilst Glock was able to coax his car to a 2:03.680, about seven seconds behind the fastest time.

John Booth commented, "Everything connected with the hydraulics was such high pressure that the smallest impurity, crack or fault was a car stopper because it controls four or five major components," It had been reported by Auto, Motor und Sport that the VR-01's fuel tank was too small for the car to finish a race, and that the team applied to the FIA in order to obtain permission to modify the chassis to accommodate a larger tank.

The revised chassis, with a longer underbody, engine cover and other bodywork changes, was expected to be introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.

However, owing to the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland that had disrupted air travel across Europe, only one of the newly developed chassis was able to make it to Barcelona, to be used by Glock.

In practice, Virgin were given a penalty after the team failed to notify the FIA of changes to their gear ratios before the deadline.

In South Korea, di Grassi lost control of his car while trying to overtake the Hispania of Sakon Yamamoto and crashed into the barriers on the 26th lap.

[19] Glock drove back to his pit box where his mechanics examined his car for damage and decided to retire him from the race.

John Booth said that it was unfair to suggest Branson should put more money into the team, saying how "he was very brave joining a start-up operation that might have gone horribly wrong and he's been supportive throughout and brought us new backers".

[21] At the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, di Grassi commented "We had to do more than 50 laps with the same set of tyres, which seemed like a difficult task, but we managed it.

[7] On 16 December 2009, Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and the Lotus team accepted a "challenge" from Richard Branson.

Our passengers will be delighted to be served by a Knight of the Realm, but knowing Richard, the real challenge will be to prevent him from asking our guests 'coffee, tea or me?'

[citation needed] Director Nick Wirth announced that it was a major financial boost for the team and that it will allow it to promote Formula One in Russia.

The car did not use KERS; chief designer Wirth commented that the gains offered by the system did not justify the expense in developing it.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Virgin yet again qualified at the back of the grid, and d'Ambrosio retired due to electronic problems.

This came after a lengthy internal review led by former Renault engineering director Pat Symonds found that the team's CFD-only approach had not yielded the expected results.

[36] The official FIA entry list for 2010 announced on 30 November 2009 showed that Manor GP had been entered as Virgin Racing.

[40] On 14 December 2009, Lloyds Banking Group announced that it had invested £10 million in the team,[41] reversing the recent trend of financial institutions such as ING and RBS withdrawing sponsorship.

[26] Director Nick Wirth announced that it was a major financial boost for the team and that it will allow it to promote Formula One in Russia.

The team retained Pat Symonds as a technical consultant, though he could not be employed directly until his ban expired over his role in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix race fixing at the end of the 2013 season.

The team has abandoned using CFD as its sole R&D tool and signed an agreement with McLaren to use their technical facilities, simulators and wind tunnel.