It’s the week of the British Grand Prix, so Formula 1 is of particular interest to the residents of this green and pleasant land. Especially after the initial promise and ultimate disappointment of the World Cup and Wimbledon – because we’re kind of a big deal in motorsport.

But which team should have the support of the patriotic Briton? I’ve had a think about exactly that.

Most teams on the grid are based in the UK, so let’s immediately discount those rude enough to have no connection to this fair isle: Ferrari and Scuderia Toro Rosso (Italy), Sauber (Switzerland), and Hispania (Spain).

Then there are teams based in the UK, but entered under a different nationality – which also simply will not do. That’s Mercedes GP (Germany), Red Bull Racing (Austria), Renault (France), Force India (India), and Lotus (Malaysia).

We’re left with the three truly British teams on the grid: McLaren, Williams and Virgin Racing. But how truly British are they?

McLaren doesn’t quite cut it, I’m afraid. It was founded by Bruce McLaren, a New Zealander; and in addition to Ron Dennis – so British the Queen gave him a CBE, admittedly – its current shareholders include: the obviously not British Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company; and TAG Group, the Luxembourg company with Saudi Arabian Mansour Ojjeh at its head. Really not British enough.

Williams comes close. Sir Frank Williams must even more British than Ron Dennis, because the Queen gave him a CBE and knighted him. Until recently, Williams and Patrick Head retained complete ownership of the team. British, no question. But in November 2009, they sold a minority stake to Austrian Toto Wolff. Result: only quite British.

We come to Virgin Racing, then. The team is run by Sheffield’s Manor Motorsport. The car was designed by Wirth Research of Bicester. And Virgin itself is based in glittering West London. The only other shareholder, at least that I can find any reference to, is LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group – which, being part nationalised, is about as British as you can get.

There you have it: Virgin Racing is the most British Formula 1 team, and the British public even sort of tenuously owns part of it. Therefore it is the team to support this weekend. FACT.

All right, maybe I’m conveniently ignoring the fact that McLaren has two British World Champions as its drivers. So just a little bit of support might be directed towards Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton too. But mainly Virgin Racing, I’m sure. Logic dictates.