F1 team Virgin will race with a Russian license in 2011, it will be announced officially early next week.
The Russian sports car maker Marussia sponsored the new British team last year, and ahead of the 2011 season acquired shares and renamed the team Marussia Virgin.
The team, whose 2011 car will be launched on Monday at the BBC television centre in London, announced this week that Marussia chief Nikolay Fomenko has become engineering director.
Marussia’s UK managing director Andy Webb has become CEO, to be assisted by the highly experienced former Jordan and Force India marketing boss Ian Phillips, who is the team’s new chief operating officer.
The next announcement is that Virgin will race with a Russian license from 2011, meaning that the Russian tricolour would be flown above the podium in the event of a top-three finish.
"On Monday, February 7, we will officially announce that Marussia Virgin Racing is not just the first Russian team, but the first team with a Russian license," Fomenko is quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency.
"This means that for a victory the Russian anthem will be played," he explained.