Mat Coch writes:

There was a collective sigh of relief after the first phase of qualifying when Virgin Racing learned it would be on the grid come Sunday afternoon. Though the team maintained a brave face during Friday's sessions there was concerns that should one of the leading teams decide to up the ante early on in qualifying it would struggle as a result.

Having assessed its own pace in comparison to Red Bull after the third practice session, John Booth admits Virgin Racing's prospects were pinned on the hope that the reigning constructors' champions would run on the harder, and therefore slower, Pirelli rubber during the first phase of qualifying.

"We were pretty confident in our assessment they wouldn't use soft tyres in Q1. Looking over the whole weekend they didn't need to," said Booth. "If they'd changed their strategy or decided to put soft tyres on then we would have been a bit squeaky."

After the final free practice session only Timo Glock was within 107% of the pace setters, Jerome D'Ambrosio unable to match his more experienced teammate's pace. Had the session been qualifying and not practice it would have seen the Belgian debutant sitting on the sidelines on Sunday afternoon.

In qualifying the situation wasn't quite so dire, and while the Virgin Racing duo did top the timesheets the performance didn't come as a surprise. "I think I overestimated the progress we would have made," Booth admits.

"Our target is to be in Q2 this year," he continues. "The challenge is actually much harder than I anticipated. I thought after one year we'd be able to put our experience to bear and start a second behind Force India or whoever was in that position at the time. The fact is we're 2.6/2.7 seconds from Q2, and it's going to take lots of closing."

Fundamental to the car's problems is a distinct lack of downforce, making the car difficult to drive. It's a problem the team has acknowledged. Having identified the problem during testing, it was only in Melbourne that the team has really begun to understand it. "We finished the test at Barcelona on a pretty low note. We weren't sure about the direction we need to go," admits Booth. "We actually achieved more in yesterday's test than we had in pretty much in the previous 4000km of running.

"We went in to today with a car we could drive, that the guys could drive for the first time," he continued. "Obviously we're still a long way down on pace, that's very disappointing."

An update package expected for the Turkish Grand Prix in May is hoped to bolster the team's performance, Glock for one is eager to get his hands on it. The team however needs more than a step upgrade, it needs a giant leap if it is to achieve its ambition and make it in to the second phase of qualifying.

Now in its second season, and with twelve month's worth of development time, the fact the team is struggling raises concerns over the its approach. Having famously abandoned the traditional design method in favour of the Nick Wirth led CFD approach the team is sticking with it in spite of a distinct lack of on track success.

"CFD is a tool. It's no different to a wind tunnel or whatever," contends Booth. "CFD's a proven tool and will be the future of all Formula One teams in years to come. Whether that's this year or five years I'm not sure but I'm sure that we're right."

As time goes by that may be the case, however this weekend the team is struggling at the wrong end of the grid. While the team had never planned or expected to become a front-runner over the winter the lack of progress will be disheartening. The unfortunate thing is we will have to wait until Turkey to learn more, though the team faces a challenging two races before then.