Richard Branson also recently unveiled an underwater airplane. We know, awesome.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- Virgin Racing became the first of Formula One's new teams to unveil its car Wednesday with a completely digitally designed vehicle.

The VR-01, which was tested in computer simulation without the need for expensive wind tunnels, was presented ahead of fellow newcomers Lotus, USF1 and Campos.

Richard Branson's Virgin skipped the first all-team test this week in Valencia, Spain, but race drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi will participate in the second test later this month in Jerez.

Before the Cosworth-powered car's public testing debut, Virgin's on-track evaluation program will begin at Silverstone on Thursday and Friday.

"I'm sure we will be measured by how fast the car is on the track in Jerez next week," said Branson, chairman of the Virgin group. "But I hope that doesn't overshadow the far bigger achievement of pulling an entire racing team together and taking a brave step that defies convention."

Virgin, which acquired the naming rights of Manor GP, aims to operate with a budget of only 40 million pounds (C$67.6 million), which it claims to be the lowest on the 13-team grid.

"When you see what the existing teams have achieved using the conventional-but-proven design approach, it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of skepticism (about our approach)," Wirth said. "But we are competing in a sport that is undergoing significant change having come face to face with today's harsh economic realities.

"Under resource restriction, convention will become too costly and necessity really will be the mother of invention. I have absolute belief in the digital design process."

The English-based team is not setting high targets for its first season.

"We aren't going to try to run before we can walk," Wirth said. "The starting point is to try to run reliably, safely and efficiently and be the best of the new teams. Then we will start to bring performance to the car through a continuous development program in computer simulation.

"We fully expect to encounter issues along the way."