Virgin in no rush to confirm Manor deal

AUTOSPORT has learned that there are currently no firm plans for a press conference on the subject.

Virgin's involvement with the new Manor outfit has been rumoured for some time, and was effectively announced by the FIA when it released the 2010 Formula 1 entry list on Monday evening.

Rather than listing the team as Manor GP, as it had been originally entered, the team was listed as 'Virgin Racing' with the cars called 'Virgin Cosworth'.

As well as its sponsorship involvement and rebranding of the team, it is understood that Alex Tai, who heads special projects at Virgin, will take a senior role at the F1 team.

Virgin entered F1 with a high-profile sponsorship deal with Brawn GP this year. Although there were discussions about expanding its presence at the team, perhaps even to become title sponsors, in the end Virgin decided to do a deal with Manor GP instead.