Istanbul Park Circuit delivered a spectacular Turkish Grand Prix today, in which Virgin Racing emerged as the best of the new teams once again.

It was a race in which Virgin Racing defied all the odds after a new engine issue surfaced on Lucas’ car - this time with the engine oil system - with just an hour to spare before the race. The turnaround, including removing the engine from the back of the car, was an incredible feat of teamwork, delivering Lucas out on track from the pit lane seconds after the lights went green.

Timo lost a place on the opening lap to Senna following a poor start which compromised the early part of his race. He retook the position and his race was running relatively smoothly car until he experienced low hydraulic pressure with just five laps to spare.

This should have put an end to his race, but he battled on with just 5th gear at his disposal and a complete loss of hydraulic pressure, to cement a well-deserved two-car finish. Timo and Lucas ended the race in 18th and 19th positions respectively.

“It was a tough race for the team today so it was great for us to get both cars to the chequered flag and take some reward for all the hard work that has gone into this weekend. The start was disappointing for me because we stalled on the grid, which enabled Senna to pass me,” Timo said.

“I was stuck behind him for the first 18 laps and just couldn’t get close enough to overtake him but then I got him in turn 12. From that point on I could go quite a bit quicker and had a better race. We had a good pitstop and on the option tyre the car felt okay and we had reasonable speed.”

“Unfortunately, five laps from the end, I felt a drop in the power steering assist and the team advised me to stay in fifth gear in order to finish the race. But it’s good that we managed to keep the car going and end the day as the best new team.”