Mar.28 (GMM) Shortly before Saturday morning practice, Sir Richard Branson announced the Virgin brand’s “substantial sponsorship” of the Brawn team
The flamboyant British billionaire had cut short a skiing holiday to fly to Melbourne for the announcement
He admitted that the BGP001 car’s blank livery is to be mainly unchanged at Albert Park, but said the single seater is “unlikely to stay white” once the cars can be branded to reflect his investment
There will be some Virgin branding on the car for qualifying and the race, however
“We did this deal four hours before I got on a flight to come here, so unfortunately I was unable to get enough paint on-board,” he joked to reporters at the circuit after the announcement
Branson said the deal had cost Virgin less than it would have prior to the global recession
He also told reporters he hopes formula one will begin using fully clean fuels within 12 months