Branson To Wait To Decide Virgin’s F1 Future

Sir Richard Branson has said that he will decide the future of his Virgin brand’s sponsorship activities in F1 after the final race of the season next month including reviewing whether it continues to support the championship winning Brawn GP team.

Virgin has this season sponsored Brawn, who won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in Brazil.

However it is widely believed within F1 that Virgin has already done a deal to become the title sponsor of the new Manor team in 2010.

Brawn is also reported to have already secured a title sponsorship deal for 2010 but would not reveal the identity of the company involved.

Branson joined forces with the Ross Brawn-led team just before March’s season opener in Australia.

However with Brawn’s Jenson Button winning the drivers’ championship, the team is likely to ask for more money.

Said Branson: ‘We will make a decision after Abu Dhabi, which is the final race of the season.

‘We were absolutely delighted to get involved with them when they didn’t have any money before the Melbourne race.

‘It enabled them to prove that they had a great car and great drivers and they’ve obviously gone on to fantastic things.
 
“It was the perfect relationship. Virgin loves to support an underdog but they are now one of the most expensive teams out there and certainly not underdogs any more.

‘But we will make an announcement in the next month but at the moment we just want to celebrate a magnificent season with the Brawn team, Jenson and Rubens Barrichello, who did fantastically also.

‘I don’t think in our wildest dreams we thought this would happen. I knew they had a good car, as I happened to know one of the test drivers.

‘But when I got on a plane to Melbourne with some Virgin stickers in my bag, having just shaken hands and given them some money, the last thing I expected was a first and second in the championship race.’

The Brawn team raced as Honda last season but secured their survival only at the beginning of March following Honda’s decision to quit F1 because of the global financial crisis.

As well as the partnership with Virgin, Brawn GP also attracted sponsorship on a race-by-race basis, breaking away from the tradition of season-long deals.

Their car ran for the first time only in March but quickly emerged as the fastest in F1.