Richard Branson unveils his Virgin Formula 1 team

He has set up an airline, set ballooning and sailing records, and is behind a venture that will take payng customers into space - and now Sir Richard Branson has a team in Formula One.

His new Virgin Racing outfit was unveiled on Tuesday, finally confirming one of the worst kept secrets in F1.

The tycoon has signed a deal with Manor GP, one of four new teams on the grid next season, that will see it rebranded Virgin Racing. Timo Glock and newcomer Lucas di Grassi have been confirmed as the drivers.

Branson dabbled in the sport last year by backing Brawn GP, another team in its debut season, which went on to win the constructors and drivers championships. Now he is back for more and is hoping for another breakthrough year.

"Last year with Brawn, they started the season as a David and it ended it as a Goliath. So we searched around for another great team, another David team, we have one and we will see how it goes," said Branson.

Despite Branson's riches, the team will have the smallest budget of all 13 teams in next year's competition. Manor has been set up to operate on less than £40m a year - the spending limit that the sport was set to impose on all teams before a rebellion earlier in the year.

Uncharacteristically perhaps, Branson commented: "Money's not everything. They are determined to prove that via engineering prowess, great drivers and a great affinity with the public they can do well."

He boasted that the Virgin name was well suited to F1 as it had always "invested in and supported incredible engineering minds". The latest of those are Manor boss John Booth and technical director Nick Wirth.

Lead driver Timo Glock joins from Toyota, who are pulling out of the sport, his partner, Lucas di Grassi, spent the last two seasons in GP2, and as test and reserve driver with Renault. ·