Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Racing Formula 1 team has become the first of the new entrants to unveil a car.
Called the VR-01, it breaks new ground by being designed, built and tested entirely on computer, bypassing the F1 convention of using wind tunnels.
The car will have its first run at Silverstone tomorrow.
Computer simulation is used by all F1 teams, but until today it has always been applied in tandem with data generated by scale models in expensive wind tunnels.
The VR-01 is the first entirely digital F1 car - and designer Nick Wirth is adamant that it points to the sport's future.
Wirth has met with success in American sports car racing using this cost-cutting, hi-tech method. But it is unproven in F1, where aerodynamics is more complicated because of the turbulent air generated by the cars' exposed wheels.
Drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi have been 'driving' the VR-01 on a simulator for two months, and Wirth is confident the car will feel instantly familiar to them when they take it on the track.
This week's two-day test at Silverstone will be carried out by Glock before Virgin Racing join the other teams at Jerez in Spain next week.
The car is powered by a Cosworth CA2010 engine, the famous Northampton-based company returning to F1 after a three-season absence.
