ZitatMcLaren becomes second F1 team to unveil its 2013 car, the MP4-28 By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, January 31st 2013, 11:16 GMT The McLaren team became the second Formula 1 squad to unveil its 2013 challenger with the public launch of the Mercedes-powered MP4-28 on Thursday morning.
McLaren finished the 2012 season in third place in the constructors' championship behind Red Bull and Ferrari, despite scoring as many victories as the world champion squad with seven.
Although the Woking-based squad had one of the quickest cars during most of the season, the MP4-27's reliability did not prove strong enough and both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were out of the championship fight in the latter part of the year.
For the first time since the 2007 season, McLaren will start a season without its star driver Hamilton, who left the team at the end of 2012 to drive for rival Mercedes.
The Briton has been replaced by Mexican Sergio Perez, who will partner Button as the former world champion enters his fourth season with McLaren.
The new MP4-28 will take to the track for the first time next week at Jerez.
"McLaren finished last year with the fastest car and the new MP4-28 looks like a good improvement on that.
"The steps forward start at the front with a higher nose and chassis, pretty close to the maximum allowed height, which gives more room for better airflow under the car than last year.
"They have followed Ferrari's 2012 lead in using pull-rod front suspension, which has a lower centre of gravity and the pull-rod manages the airflow off the front wing better than the more common push-rod.
"The sidepods have been moved backwards, giving better airflow, and the back has been focused on maximising that flow.
"The driveshaft and lower wishbone have been packaged in one element and the rear bodywork is heavily scooped out to make the most of the downforce-producing 'coke-bottle' area between the rear wheels.
"The idea is to separate that airflow from the exhaust gases, which McLaren have continued to treat in the way they did last year, rather than using Red Bull-style tunnels.
"McLaren are one of the few teams to have small-diameter exhaust exits, which gives faster airflow and therefore more downforce when they hit the aerodynamically shaped rear brake ducts.
"Overall, McLaren look to have made a good step forward."
and McLaren has a step on the nose! but they covered it
Zitat Adam Cooper â€@adamcooperf1 #F1 The new McLaren has a stepped nose -- we know because there's an unpainted one visible through the window of the composite shop!
Adam Cooper â€@adamcooperf1 #F1 However it's hidden of course by the 'vanity panel', in effect a hollow section at the top of the nose. Tap it and you can tell..
ZitatIn the first four parts of our series about how to make an F1 car, we have looked at the various stages of design. This week is the final instalment - pre-season testing.
ZitatMarussia to launch MR02 at first Jerez test Marussia have announced that their 2013 car, the Cosworth-powered MR02, will be revealed to the media at the start of next week’s first pre-season test session in Spain.
The car will be rolled out in the Jerez pit lane early on Tuesday morning, before making its track debut in the hands of British rookie Max Chilton, currently Marussia’s only confirmed driver for 2013.
The Russian-owned team say they will confirm the driver line-up for the remainder of their testing schedule at the launch.
Marussia, who joined the Formula One grid in 2010, finished 11th in the 2012 standings, narrowly missing out on 10th place to Caterham after being beaten by their rivals at the final round in Brazil.
The UK-based team were expected to retain lead driver Timo Glock for 2013, but they parted company by mutual consent earlier this month.
ZitatFerrari presents the F138 Formula 1 car in Maranello By Pablo Elizalde Friday, February 1st 2013, 09:45 GMT Ferrari F138
Ferrari has presented its F138, the car with which the Italian squad hopes to return to championship glory in the 2013 Formula 1 season.
The car, whose name is a combination of the current year and a tribute to the V8 engines that will be used for the last time this season, is the 59th grand prix single-seater produced by the Maranello-based squad.
The F138 has been developed in the Toyota windtunnel in Cologne following Ferrari's decision to shut down its own unit in order to upgrade it.
Ferrari described the F138 as an 'evolution' of the F2012, with pullrod suspension retained at the front and rear.
It has however made changes at the rear of the car to allow the exhaust layout to be changed. The air intake above the cockpit and the sidepod intakes have also been revised to boost the car's aerodynamics.
The car is the product of two distinct design groups: one group working on the F138, the other on the team's 2014 car.
Ferrari is seeking to hit the ground running with its new car after a dismal performance by its predecessor when it made its testing debut last year.
Despite that, the historic Italian outfit managed to stay in the championship fight until the end of the year, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso losing out to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the final race of the season in Brazil.
"The key objective that we must have is of immediately delivering a competitive car to our drivers," team boss Stefano Domenicali acknowledged.
"Unfortunately in recent years we have at the beginning of the winter unfortunately not been able to be right on top of what we are doing.
"We have tried to look at our organisation to be much more effective in the preparations over the coming week."
Two-time world champion Alonso will be partnered by Felipe Massa again this year after the Brazilian secured a one-year contract extension thanks to his resurgence in the second half of the season.
Massa will be tasked with driving the F138 for the first time next Tuesday at Jerez.
ZitatNew Force India VJM06 Formula 1 car unveiled at Silverstone By Pablo Elizalde Friday, February 1st 2013, 10:55 GMT Force India VJM06
Force India launched its 2013 car on Friday morning, becoming the fourth Formula 1 team to unveil its single-seater for the upcoming season.
The Silverstone-based squad finished the 2012 season seventh in the constructors' championship, but was one of the strongest teams towards the end of the year, with Nico Hulkenberg fighting for victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
"I've pushed the guys quite hard in areas that's outside their comfort zone," said technical director Andrew Green. "It is under the skin, you can't see it from here: rear suspension, front suspension, aerodynamics have all been pushed hard.
"I think the guys have done a really good job over the winter and the car is a step improvement from last year. The car should be a lot more consistent, should be a lot easier to drive. We're looking forward to Jerez to see whether it does what it says on the tin."
Hulkenberg has moved to Sauber for 2013, and Force India is yet to announce who will partner Scot Paul di Resta during the upcoming season.
Frenchman Jules Bianchi had been strongly linked with the drive, but the Frenchman was in Maranello during the launch of the new Ferrari F138.
The new VJM06 car will be powered by Mercedes engines for the fifth consecutive season and it will take to the track today at Silverstone before it starts testing at Jerez next week.
"I'm eager to feel what the car is all about. We're giving it a short test today to get a bit of an idea," said di Resta, who admitted it was hard to make predictions for 2013.
"I think it's difficult to set yourself targets, especially at this point. It's consistency and working the momentum to carry over from last year.
"That's the focus, to have a car that gets into Q3 and put ourselves into strong positions."
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