Constructors’ Championship: 11th
Points: 0

Drivers:

Timo Glock
Points: 0
Best qualifying: 18th
Best race result: 12th

Charles Pic
Points: 0
Best qualifying: 18th
Best race result: 12th

Highlights

• The two 12th-place finishes by Glock in Singapore and Pic in Brazil.
• Almost fighting Caterham and maintaining 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship for much of the season.
• Umm… being the highest placed constructor using Cosworth power?

Marussia, née Virgin, is another team that entered the sport under the promises of a much stricter budget cap. That plan, however, was whipped into shape as soon as Max Mosley handed the presidency of the FIA over to Jean Todt.

Despite a disastrous year in 2011 – when Marussia was beaten by HRT to 11th in the standings – there was light at the end of the tunnel. The CFD-only approach was dropped and in 2011 it made an agreement with McLaren Applied Technologies. It doesn’t seem to have dramatically changed the team’s fortunes this year, though, and the light was starting to look like an oncoming train.

The real highlight for the team was the emergence of Frenchman Charles Pic as a driver. Pat Symonds, who has been working for Marussia in a consultancy role, is a big fan of the ex-GP2 race winner even if he pointed out that he was very green when he took over the race seat from Jérôme d’Ambrosio.

It was probably that inexperience that meant he backed off too much for a blue flag in the season finale. It let Petrov close right up and then eventually pass the Marussia – a move that clinched 10th place in the standings.

Glock, who I used to view as one of the most solid drivers in F1, didn’t shine this year. However, unlike racing for a midfield team it’s extremely hard to stand out when your races involve seeing a Caterham in the distance and occasionally an HRT in your mirrors. The fact that Pic was so strong with such limited running also didn’t help.

There’s justifiable hope on the horizon as the 2013 challenger will be the first Marussia/Virgin car to be designed from scratch using a wind tunnel as well as CFD – something that should have been done three years ago.