With rival Lotus hoping for a more than one second improvement in Barcelona, Virgin’s Timo Glock believes his similarly heavily-revised VR-01 car will be faster by about seven tenths per lap this weekend.
Due to the volcano-induced travel chaos three weeks ago, his teammate Lucas di Grassi’s car does not feature the major package upgrade in Spain.
Glock’s car has a longer wheelbase, a bigger fuel tank, a fuel system that allows the car to run light on fuel in qualifying, a new front wing, floor and bargeboards.
"The fuel tank is the main one," the German told Auto Motor und Sport. "If it works, it gives us five or six tenths alone."
Glock added that the rest of the package will add a further one or two tenths.
"Our goal is to beat Lotus," he confirmed.