The Virgin Racing team have been given permission to spend a million dollars on revamping the fuel tanks on both cars to ensure that they last the distance.

Sadly, this will not come into play in time for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix meaning that if they finish it will more than likely be at the back of the field as they will need to drop pace significantly if they have any hope of seeing the chequered flag.

“We applied to the FIA for permission to change the size of the fuel tank on the grounds of reliability,” confirmed Nick Wirth.

Just twelve months ago Branson arrived at the Albert Park circuit to smiling faces and a winning team as Brawn GP took the first win of the season, but now he will arrive at the other end of the grid in his official team’s second race.

It is thought that the new bigger fuel tank wont be ready for use until the first round of the European season at Barcelona.