Realistic Branson hoping for some fun

Richard Branson is looking forward to having more 'fun' in Formula One with his new Virgin Racing this season.

The Virgin boss was bitten by the F1 bug in 2009 when he stepped in at the last minute to support Brawn GP, who went on to enjoy a memorable season that brought them a constructors' and a drivers' championship.

Rather than back an established team in 2010, Branson opted to start from scratch and pledge his financial support to Sheffield-based Manor Motorsport, who acquired the entry.

And he believes the team will fly the Virgin flag with success, holding the values that the billionaire entrepreneur holds dear.

"What I discovered last year was that there are a billion people who watch Formula One, and the majority are fanatical," remarked Branson.

"The Virgin brand is maybe one of the top 20 in the world, so for us to be involved is good for the brand, and Formula One is a sexy beast.

"We're going to try and make it look a bit sexier, but it's also fun, exciting, and those are attributes that apply to the Virgin brand.

"We also love supporting an underdog, and we like that underdog to have some pretty good qualities. Last year it was Brawn, this year it is us.

"We've found it a lot more exciting and fun to support a new team coming in than writing out a very large cheque for an already-established team."

However, the 59-year-old is realistic about his chances this season, and in the years ahead.

"We've been used to struggling in building businesses before," he added. "We like to be a winner in the end, although we're certainly not expecting to get as lucky as we did last year.

"But we have every chance of doing respectably well, and it will be the start of building something over the coming years.

"We're not expecting to win races this season so there isn't any massive pressure. The team will do the best job they can.

"Hopefully, race by race, they can claw their way up and maybe by the second season be in the top half rather than the bottom half, and then maybe top five in the third season."

Meanwhile, team boss John Booth is under no illusions about the difficulty of the team's task in getting Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi towards the front of the grid.

"When we first talked about it, it was a million to one chance, maybe two million to one," said the 56-year-old Yorkshireman.

"The more I thought about it the more terrified I became because the last thing you want to do is go out there and make a fool of yourself.

"But the calibre of people that came together, I started to realise it was achievable.

"Now we're here, although we're under no illusions as to how tough it's going to be."

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