MONACO, May 24 (Reuters) - When John Booth looked back on Virgin Racing's debut last season, the team principal could only wonder what kind of madness had led him to get involved in Formula One.
Creating a grand prix team from scratch, with limited resources
and little time, was no light undertaking.
"We massively underestimated the task," the 56-year-old said in an interview ahead of Sunday's showcase Monaco Grand Prix. "Who the hell did we think we were, to build a Formula One team from scratch in six months? We must have been crazy, insane to even attempt it."
While many might continue to question his sanity, with the team battling around at the back in an uncompetitive car and points not even a distant mirage, the former butcher has no doubt his team can and will hack it in F1.
In fact, he is more determined than ever to succeed.
"My ambition was to try and achieve building a team in Formula One. But now I've got a taste for it, I want success in Formula One," Booth told Reuters.
"The trouble is I'm getting a bit long in the tooth now, I don't know how long I can wait. But I am desperate for success in Formula One now. Desperate. And I don't mean being a Red Bull.
"It's about progressing forward...I wouldn't want to leave Formula One now having only ever been at the back and not moving anywhere. I definitely want now to go forward with the team."
BUTCHERY BUSINESS
Booth, who started work aged 15 in his family's chain of butcher shops in his native Rotherham and went on to race in single-seaters in the 1980s, has an impressive track record in the junior series.
Formula One world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both raced for his Manor Motorsport operation on their way up the ladder.
Virgin had their share of embarrassments last year, notably when it was revealed that the car's tank could not hold enough fuel to get to the end of some races, but those early design problems were fixed.
This season will be a long, hard slog for German driver Timo Glock and Belgian rookie Jerome d'Ambrosio but they are at least getting to the finish and the team also have backing from Russian sportscar maker Marussia.
"Our initial aim was to improve reliability (this season)," said Booth. "That was the main focus over the winter, because we couldn't have continued as we were. To that extent, it was a very successful winter.
"What has been disappointing has been our pace...it's aero efficiency. We're nowhere with it. You go and watch the car on the circuit and it's balanced pretty good, it does all the things it's supposed to do," he added.
"It doesn't look particularly evil to drive or anything like that. It's just that we don't have enough downforce.
"We can improve (this season), but how much is a difficult question to answer. Certain aspects of the car are set in stone for the rest of the year.
"But at least we can go around and round now. Touch wood."
WIND TUNNEL
Virgin are the only team to design their car entirely with computers, rather than a mixture of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and the traditional wind tunnel, in a project led by Nick Wirth.
Critics said that was the wrong way to go and Booth appeared inclined to agree: "Looking at where we are on the grid, you'd say they have got a point wouldn't you?," he smiled.
"The efficiency of wind tunnels over the last three or four years, since there have been restrictions on running time, has improved tenfold," he added. "So there is a possibility we could consider a tunnel programme now, within our budget."
Booth's role is to motivate and guide, keeping morale up despite the road blocks along the way. The lessons learned back in the butchery business have not been forgotten.
"I wasn't quite 17 and I said to my old man 'that bloke who is managing that shop is useless. He's got to go'. So he said 'OK, fire him tomorrow then'," he recalled.
"I woke up at about five in the morning, couldn't sleep obviously, went to the shop and sat outside so the guy couldn't (get in).
"It was a great lesson in life... if you want something doing you have to go and do it yourself."
Creating a grand prix team from scratch, with limited resources
and little time, was no light undertaking.
"We massively underestimated the task," the 56-year-old said in an interview ahead of Sunday's showcase Monaco Grand Prix. "Who the hell did we think we were, to build a Formula One team from scratch in six months? We must have been crazy, insane to even attempt it."
While many might continue to question his sanity, with the team battling around at the back in an uncompetitive car and points not even a distant mirage, the former butcher has no doubt his team can and will hack it in F1.
In fact, he is more determined than ever to succeed.
"My ambition was to try and achieve building a team in Formula One. But now I've got a taste for it, I want success in Formula One," Booth told Reuters.
"The trouble is I'm getting a bit long in the tooth now, I don't know how long I can wait. But I am desperate for success in Formula One now. Desperate. And I don't mean being a Red Bull.
"It's about progressing forward...I wouldn't want to leave Formula One now having only ever been at the back and not moving anywhere. I definitely want now to go forward with the team."
BUTCHERY BUSINESS
Booth, who started work aged 15 in his family's chain of butcher shops in his native Rotherham and went on to race in single-seaters in the 1980s, has an impressive track record in the junior series.
Formula One world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton both raced for his Manor Motorsport operation on their way up the ladder.
Virgin had their share of embarrassments last year, notably when it was revealed that the car's tank could not hold enough fuel to get to the end of some races, but those early design problems were fixed.
This season will be a long, hard slog for German driver Timo Glock and Belgian rookie Jerome d'Ambrosio but they are at least getting to the finish and the team also have backing from Russian sportscar maker Marussia.
"Our initial aim was to improve reliability (this season)," said Booth. "That was the main focus over the winter, because we couldn't have continued as we were. To that extent, it was a very successful winter.
"What has been disappointing has been our pace...it's aero efficiency. We're nowhere with it. You go and watch the car on the circuit and it's balanced pretty good, it does all the things it's supposed to do," he added.
"It doesn't look particularly evil to drive or anything like that. It's just that we don't have enough downforce.
"We can improve (this season), but how much is a difficult question to answer. Certain aspects of the car are set in stone for the rest of the year.
"But at least we can go around and round now. Touch wood."
WIND TUNNEL
Virgin are the only team to design their car entirely with computers, rather than a mixture of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and the traditional wind tunnel, in a project led by Nick Wirth.
Critics said that was the wrong way to go and Booth appeared inclined to agree: "Looking at where we are on the grid, you'd say they have got a point wouldn't you?," he smiled.
"The efficiency of wind tunnels over the last three or four years, since there have been restrictions on running time, has improved tenfold," he added. "So there is a possibility we could consider a tunnel programme now, within our budget."
Booth's role is to motivate and guide, keeping morale up despite the road blocks along the way. The lessons learned back in the butchery business have not been forgotten.
"I wasn't quite 17 and I said to my old man 'that bloke who is managing that shop is useless. He's got to go'. So he said 'OK, fire him tomorrow then'," he recalled.
"I woke up at about five in the morning, couldn't sleep obviously, went to the shop and sat outside so the guy couldn't (get in).
"It was a great lesson in life... if you want something doing you have to go and do it yourself."
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