The new Virgin VR-01 took to the Silverstone circuit for the first time on Thursday, as the car completed its initial test run.
Virgin became the first new F1 team to unveil its contender for the 2010 season on Wednesday, before German Timo Glock completed a shakedown a day later.
"After 10 challenging months, all the commitment and determination has finally paid off," said Nick Wirth, Virgin's technical director. "Today was all about those tentative first few steps but the program really gets under way tomorrow with a full day of on-track evaluation for both Timo and Lucas [di Grassi]."
Glock was also delighted after his first run in the new car. "It was a fantastic moment for myself and the whole team to see the VR-01 come alive. It's great to be back in a racing car," he said.
The team continues at Silverstone today before moving to Jerez next week to join the rest of the F1 squads.