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Timo Glock says he remains committed to the Virgin Racing team for the long term despite the squad's difficult start to life in Formula 1.

The German driver joined newcomer Virgin from Toyota for the team's first season in Formula 1.

The year, however, has not been easy for Glock, who has been plagued by reliability problems. His best result so far is a 16th place in Hungary.

Although Glock admits Virgin's maiden season in F1 has been very challenging, he insisted he remains fully committed to the team and has no plans to leave.

"Our debut season at Virgin Racing has been a big challenge but I always knew this would be the case when I joined the team," Glock said on his website.

"The start of the year in particular was quite difficult but since then we have really started to turn things around and since the middle of the season we have made very good progress with the development of the car.

"We can't deny there have been some frustrations along the way. It hasn't always been a straightforward run up to the race and we have made things harder for ourselves sometimes.

"But in terms of the big picture, for the last three or four races we have brought new developments to the car at every race, which have translated immediately from the simulator to the track and that has been very encouraging to see.

"Our digital approach means that we can also continue with the development of this year's car right up until the end of the season, as well as working on next year's car.

"I am fully behind Virgin Racing and very motivated because of the progress we have made so far and that we can continue to make in the last seven races of the season. I have always said that I want to be in a team and a car that is continually pushing forward.

"If development stopped or we didn't keep moving forward then like any driver I would become frustrated, but so far this is not the case. We are improving all the time now, but there are also bigger steps we have to take in the future.

"I have a long-term contract with Virgin Racing and I'm fully committed to the team moving forward. We have what it takes to fight to continue to achieve our objectives for this season and in the future."

AUTOSPORT understands Glock has one more year of his contract left to run, although some performance-related clauses would allow him to leave early.