Lotus F1 Racing unveiled their 2010 challenger at a launch ceremony held at the Royal Horticultural Hall, London on Friday evening. The covers came off the car, named the T127, after an emotional introduction from team owner Tony Fernandes.
Credit: Lotus F1 Racing
Credit: Lotus F1 Racing
Mike Gascoyne on the Lotus Cosworth T127:
"The last few months have been some of the most challenging of my career, but it's been a challenge the whole team and I have thrived on since we first started work on the car up in Norfolk. I'm delighted that we’ve reached this point, and now we have a beautiful car that gives us a great base to work from for the season ahead and a fighting chance of going racing in the right way, with a winning mentality. The hard part starts now, and I know everyone in the team and I are up for whatever lies ahead."
Credit: Lotus F1 Racing
The new chassis was run briefly on Wednesday when Fairuz Fauzy tested it at Silverstone, and is set to take part in next week's F1 test in Jerez on 17 February. The T127 is powered by a Cosworth Engine and will use an Xtrac gearbox.
Whilst Mr C and I have settled for discussing the launches briefly in the podcast, and scoring them out of 10, new guest writer KerbRider has taken a more detailed look at the teams we've seen so far.
2010 has promised to be a great year for F1 since Sebby V took the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. The off season has now ensured this will be the case.
A lot of people have gotten excited over the game of musical chairs the drivers like to play every few years. Some even more so because a certain driver, I like to call Voldemort, decided he wanted to play again.
Although all these changes have been great to see, and have whet my appetite for what is promising to be a great season, the real excitement for me is launch season.
I love the smell of Duco in the morning!
The reason I love launch season is because I'm a 'details' man. I will study photos of the new cars for hours on end to see their subtleties and nuances, and speculate as to why they did this, or that, and then formulate how I think a particular design philosophy might work.
Different strokes for different folk I guess.
I'll start with the fundamentals of design philosophy, and I'll thank Mr Codling for his insightful article in this months F1 Racing. Cant wait to get the book.
The way I see it, the fundamental concept of designing a quick car is to have the air under the car moving a lot quicker than the air on top. This is basic aeronautics. What an F1 designer must try to achieve is to have four separate airflows to make a car work effectively. Underneath, above, and the two sides of the car.
The idea is to keep these "chunks" of air as independent of each other as possible. So in other words, we don’t want air flowing from the side of the car bleeding into the air flowing over or under the car. As there are four big black squares on a car, the philosophy is to minimise this "bleeding" as much as possible.
It all about compromise.
So on to the cars that have been launched to date.
Ferrari
Ferrari seem to have a simple and sleek design. Quite an attractive car I think, and it hurts me to say that. Love the lighter red colour, and the white wings are bearable for sponsorship purposes. Not a bad deal for Ferrari to get Alonso basically for free, when Santander are obviously footing the bill for him. So can we now class Fernando as a pay driver!
Average height for the nose. Not as high as others and about even with Mercedes. The all important front wing is clearly not as detailed as Mclaren, Red Bull and Sauber, but maybe it doesn’t need to be because the rest of the car deflects the air where needed. Fat, and weighty sidepods are well streamlined, and have the bulk purely for side impact crash testing. A feature most cars have this season.
Where I think Ferrari have excelled is the rear end. Although they haven't chosen to go the "sharkfin" path, there is so much free space at the back for clear airflow over the rear wing. Of course the "sharkfin" is subject to crosswind buffeting that can affect pitch and yaw mid-corner, and more importantly, under braking. What might let them down is the lack of cover over the rear suspension. This may cause turbulent air affecting the air that exits above the diffuser.
McLaren
For one, I am glad McLaren kept their silver and red livery. Its effective, sexy, and unique. Even if the Mercedes has tried to replicate without copying.
McLaren have boldly copied the splitter/divider underneath the nose that Williams had last year but strangely decided to opt against this year.
If we look at a front on view on the MP4-25, it is clear that this device will divide the air to flow more cleanly through the suspension arms and steering column, and swiftly into the sidepods. It will have the effect of forcing more air faster into the sidepods, which explains in a fashion as to why they are so small compared to other teams.
"The front wing is, in layman's terms, off its face!"
The front wing is, in layman's terms, off its face! Incredibly detailed, and obviously Mclarens' philosophy this year was to not be caught out by last year's mistakes. They learned a lot last year as a design team. Although they seemingly have "borrowed" ideas from RBR and Brawn, they have made them uniquely Mclaren. The Sharkfin is high, and long, and a bit fatter at the bottom. This is to accommodate the exhaust exits that, again unique to Mclaren, exit horizontally, rather than vertically like the rest of the grid. It will be interesting to see what benefit this has. The MP4-25 is vastly different in appearance to anything else this year which means that this year Mclaren will go either one of two ways - that is poor, or win the lot.
Mercedes
My overall view is that I'm largely unimpressed by Mercedes. I was expecting big changes in this year's car. The Mercedes livery is average, and hopefully will be updated next year.
They have gone with a higher nose than the Brawn, and the design remains largely unchanged. Of course as Ross alluded to last year, the nose has the air channelling veins. This seems to be a large talking point, although I think its effectiveness is overrated. I can only assume the concept was born out of a need to direct airflow away from the drivers helmet, which is a rather large obstacle.
The most noticeable change is the air box. Low and broad with a splitter. There is a semi-sharkfin, and I expected tighter packaging at the rear considering they have had a year with the engine and drive train. All this being said, I still believe they will be a top four team.
Sauber
This one gets me excited. BMW obviously did a lot of work before the withdrawal. A great looking front wing that should be successful in diverting airflow around the front wheels and into the rear sculpted body work. A high nose to increase the amount of air flowing underneath the car, and unique sidepods that have the idea of moulding airflow back inward toward the rear wing.
A large and bulky sharkfin as per Mclaren, but inspiringly sculpted sidepods and tight rear packaging. All in the name of rear stability and front end grip. I believe the Sauber should have great traction with the low sitting rear, and as F1 is mainly made up of slow to medium speed corners, this will be a great advantage over the course of 19 races. I think they will be the surprise of the year. Kubica left too early. Which leads me to...
Renault
U-G-L-Y they aint got no alibi, its ugly!! For a team that pulled out as late as they did officially, I think they must have pulled out mentally beforehand as this year's car will be the joke of 2010. My heart sinks for Kubica, it really does. Ugly cars rarely do well in F1, and I don’t think this year will be any exception.
Of course I'm saying this under the impression that this is the car that will actually race.
It looks quite uninspiring, and a bit too bulky at the sides. Like a driver, the car needs to be fit, and trim the fat. It looks shorter than the rest, as does the RBR at first glance. Go Renault engine efficiency!!
"I expect design changes early on in the year"
The rear wing is left of field, and might suit their own philosophy, but I expect design changes early on in the year, if not before Bahrain. The front wing endplates are also a tad bland, and are the least detailed of the already established teams.
Let's not expect much unfortunately.
Williams
I always hold high hopes for Williams. Shouldn't everyone? Real racers, battlers and sadly of late, the perennial underachievers. This all stems from their brief encounter with a walrus, and they have never recovered fully from that.
I'm a bit befuddled as to why they went with a clean sheet, as last year's car was quite decent, and an evolution of that may have pushed them up the grid. I hope it works for them, but as strange as it sounds, the car seem too clean to be a top performer.
It seems as of late, to find real performance and aero gains, a car needs to look messy. But I guess the 2009 Brawn put that to rest too. Nose is high, which in the past meant high centre of gravity, but with the double diffuser malarkey, this is necessary to maximise air flow underneath the car. I suspect that with this year's cars most performance will be found from the floor, and suspension geometry.
Interesting to note the Williams front wing sits backward from the mounting pillars, whereas the other teams have their mounting pillars attached closer to the front of the front wing main plane. There are some interesting components on the end fences that look successful in dispersing airflow around the tyres.
Toro Rosso
Nothing to see here folks! Keep moving. Seriously, not much change from last years RBR. Not expecting great feats from the driver pairing, although Buemi has some potential. I expect them to be toughing it out with Williams and or Renault at best, Virgin and Lotus at worst.
Virgin Racing
There will be some bad headlines printed about this team this year. My impressions of the car are that it might surprise. Well packaged at the rear, and sidepods of a Mclaren nature. The real sticking point will be suspension geometry and heating the tyres in unison. The front wing looks large, and dual channel end plates look as though they will get the desired result there. Except for one fine point. Sure the CFD would have calculated big downforce levels, but as our friend Mr Saward mentioned in a podcast last year, how will it go in turbulent air? There are no intricate details that suggest it will cope well in traffic, and there is a massive space behind the front wing that has no details to direct air straight toward the floor splitter and onward and downward toward the diffuser.
The car itself looks fantastic. I love the livery, the addition of the Yorkshire rose is just brilliant. I'm Australian, and it means nothing to me, but it’s a beautiful design. For me it harks back to the first Jordan in '91. Clean and unpretentious (even though it is a Branson baby). I think they will score points for sure, but not more than 10 unless they get lucky in the wet.
Red Bull
The one we were all waiting for. The thread for the launch was full of negative comments which surprised me. Sure it looks like last year's car, but they were the quickest last year, so the only thing they had to concentrate on was the rear end because they missed the double diffuser boat. Additionally if RBR can get Total to incorporate into blue, why did Renault insist on that hideous red?
"The rear end is even more tightly packaged than last year"
Firstly the front wing. Equal in development man hours of the Mclaren I would imagine, and running in turbulence was an issue for them last year until they introduced the stepped top wing. The nose is almost round once we get past the yellow tip, and the airflow channels on top are more pronounced and sharper at the front than other teams who have copied the idea. The rear end is even more tightly packaged than last year and it looks low thanks to the pull rod suspension geometry. This will assist with traction out of the slower corners, as last year, the RBR was an oversteer car compared to the understeering Brawn.
The sharkfin has now been filled in underneath the rear wing, and comprises the rear wing support post. It should be quick, but will it be the quickest?
Force India
With the Mclaren association, I am expecting big things from this team this year. The front wing is nicely detailed and there is plenty of space under the high nose to get lots of under the car and into that diffuser. High chunky sidepods like the Ferrari, and the rear packaging looks too high. First impressions are that it has a higher centre of gravity than the others as the exhaust exits sit high in the bodywork.
No change in livery, which is fine by me. Its effective, if not attractive. I'm also expecting over the course of the season for Liuzzi to beat Sutil resoundingly.
It really is all up in the air this year, and anyone who thinks they know who will win at this stage is kidding themselves. There will be some good guesses only in prediction land, and I for one am predicting a Lewis WDC and a Red Bull WCC.
Wednesday morning saw the launch of the eagerly anticipated Red Bull Racing RB6. As many F1 teams this year launch cars that bear more than a passing resemblance to the 2009 Red Bull chassis, all eyes were on Adrian Newey's masterpiece to see if he managed to develop his design yet further.
The Renault powered car was unveiled to the media at 8:30am local time (7:30am GMT), prior to taking to the track for today's F1 test in Jerez. As with previous launches this year, images of the new car leaked online in advance of the official launch.
Credit: Red Bull Racing
The new Red Bull RB6, featuring a heavily sculpted nose channel and revised front wing.
The car is being described by the team as an evolution of the RB5, and doesn't appear to offer anything out of the ordinary. Newey himself pointed out the team "have been able to design the rear suspension and gearbox with the double diffuser in mind".
Credit: Red Bull Racing
An alternate view of the new RB6.
Both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are sporting revised helmet designs for the new season. Webber's Arai helmet features largely similar colours to previous years, but adds an Australian emblem on the back. Vettel meanwhile has come out with a design that mimics the look of a can of Red Bull.
Credit: Red Bull Racing
Vettel's Red Bull can helmet, complete with list of ingredients and suggestions for recycling.
The styling of the helmet goes so far as to add a list of ingredients alongside a health warning. The top includes a large ring pull.
Credit: Red Bull Racing
The top of Sebastian Vettel's helmet shows lid of a Red Bull can including blue ring pull.
This post will be updated with pictures, video and information as it becomes available.
The Force India F1 Team officially unveiled their 2010 challenger during an online-only launch on Tuesday. The team's website carried details of the new car which takes many design cues from last year's chassis.
Credit: Force India
The VJM03 debuted with minor revisions to the livery and a different nose, but what is hiding at the rear?
The rear of the car though, is of key importance to the team. Design director Mark Smith noted that the car was very much an evolution of last years chassis, but also that "the double diffuser is a key development aspect of the car", and the team had gone into the 2010 season much wiser as a result of lessons learned in 2009. Smith also pointed out changes to refuelling regulations heavily impacted the design of the car.
"The removal of refuelling from races increases the amount of fuel needed to be stored in the cars – almost twice the amount we ran in 2009. There is a compromise now: either make the car much longer or wider, or, as we have done, a combination of both. This of course has influenced the mechanical design solutions and also the aerodynamics, specifically with respects to the diffuser and bodywork."
Last year the car handled well on the low downforce tracks, but struggled elsewhere. The VJM03 has been designed to be an efficient car under all conditions.
Credit: Force India
Staring down the nose of the VJM03. It would appear a lot of work has gone into the front wing detailing.
Like all drivers, Adrian Sutil is looking forward to competing this season, and he sounds very pleased with how things within the team have been progressing.
"It's the first time we have been completely on schedule so I feel this will be the first season when I can show from the beginning to the end what is possible with the car and what I can do. Of course we will have updates and performance packages from this point on but I hope we will be strong from the first practice session rather than compromising at the start."
Others might argue the team are still effectively behind those who ran at the first test of the year.
Credit: Force India
A look at the 2010 Force India chassis and livery from the side.
Finally, Tonio Liuzzi remains realistic, as this will be the first time he starts a full season with the team.
"My objective is to be as strong and consistent as possible and give good feedback to the team to help them improve. For sure scoring points as many times as I can is going to be the key and you never know, perhaps we can get something more as well if everything comes together."
In addition to providing static images, the official Force India YouTube channel uploaded the following video to accompany the launch of the car. Sutil, Liuzzi and recently confirmed Friday test driver Paul di Resta all feature.
The car will begin its first track test on Wednesday, at the second official F1 test of the year. Tonio will handle driver duties for the first two days before handling over to Sutil for days three and four. Paul di Resta won't take to the cockpit until 17 February.
The last F1 team to launch a new car online were Toyota back in 2009. This year Virgin Racing are flying that virtual flag, by announcing details of their new VR-01 chassis design online on Wednesday morning.
Credit: Virgin Racing
The Virgin Racing livery in all its red and black detail.
Today will offer the public a first look at a new car from a new team, as Virgin Racing become the first of Formula 1's new entrants, to debut a chassis. The VR-01 has been making headlines in the run up to the launch because it has been designed solely in the virtual world using CFD technology.
The online launch begins at 10:00 GMT and can be seen on the official homepage virginracing.com. It will be of particular interest to see how the shape of the car, created by Wirth Research, compares to traditional teams efforts.
Credit: Virgin Racing
Video: 5Live's David Croft presents a fantastic behind the scenes look at the launch photo shoot.
Virgin Racing Technical Director, Nick Wirth:
"I have been fortunate to have worked with the very best designers in F1 and I am well aware of exactly what it takes to be successful in this sport. When you see what the existing teams have achieved using the conventional but proven design approach, it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of scepticism about our all-CFD approach. But we are competing in a sport that is undergoing significant change having come face to face with today’s harsh economic realities."
Credit: Virgin Racing
A side view of the Virgin Racing VR-01.
Following this mornings launch, the car is expected to under go a two day shakedown at Silverstone.
The Toro Rosso team unveiled their 2010 challenger - the STR5 - at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on Monday. The car features an almost identical livery to previous years, while the chassis takes its design cue from last year's car, including an extended engine cover and bevelled nose.
The rollout of this new chassis is an important achievement for the team, who this year have been required to bring the design department entirely in-house. The Italian outfit had until this season been riding on the coat tails of sister team Red Bull Racing.
Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
The STR5 livery features stronger branding around the cockpit area, hopefully making it easier to distinguish from the Red Bull.
Chassis STR5-02 was presented at 09:05 GMT in Spain, where in front of the assembled media, drivers Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari pulled the covers back on the new car.
Shortly after the unveiling, Buemi took to the track, but completed just 10 laps before suffering a gearbox problem. By the end of the day the team had managed a total of 18 laps, however the team's technical director, Giorgio Ascanelli is more than aware they could be in for a tough time this year.
"Before even thinking about producing a car, we had to acquire the right tools to carry out these tasks and also hire the people who are to use these structures. Finding fifty people and putting them in an environment where they can do their job has been a tough task."
Team Principal, Franz Tost offered a more optimistic view stating that STR "Must aim to finish in the top eight in the Constructors’ Championship".
Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images
Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari display their 2010 helmet designs for the assembled photographers.
Chief Designer, Ben Butler was keen to point out that the car's heritage is closely tied to the package they ended their 2009 campaign with:
"The STR5 is definitely a case of evolution rather than revolution. We have taken a fantastic 2009 package as our starting point and we did not want to do too much with it, apart from changing and adapting it to take into consideration the regulation changes.
"It is easy to say there is little change between the 2009 and 2010 cars, but there have been a lot of significant evolutions that we have had to put in place, primarily to ensure reliability, and which will hopefully prove to be competitive once the racing starts."
Buemi will get two days in the car before Alguersuari takes over on Wednesday.
Both Renault and Sauber are launching their 2010 cars on the same day - just before the first pre-season test gets underway in Valencia. We're interested in both cars, naturally, and both teams also have a surprise to offer in terms of the livery as well. Peter Sauber has managed to buy back his team from the clutches of BMW, so he will want to put his own mark on things, I'm sure.
Credit: BMW Sauber F1 Team
The new C29 chassis from BMW Sauber.
Sauber will have their two confirmed drivers at the launch, in the form of Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa. They make an odd pairing, so it will be interesting to see how they get on. Plus, de la Rosa will be making his return to a race seat, and will probably be pretty happy to get things going.
Credit: BMW Sauber F1 Team
The C29 full frontal.
We haven't had two teams launch on the same day this year, so it will be interesting to see who gets the majority of the headlines. We'll be watching the news with a keen eye, and looking out for pictures and any gems from Twitter to keep you updated.
Credit: BMW Sauber F1 Team
The business end of C29 with blanked out diffuser.
Renault are set to be one of two teams ready to launch their 2010 car today, on the eve of the first official pre-season test. Robert Kubica will be on hand to unveil the car and talk to the waiting media, and he's likely to be joined by his teammate. At the time of writing, the second driver had not been confirmed, but there are strong indications it will be Vitaly Petrov.
Credit: Renault F1
The 2010 Renault F1 livery in all its stunning yellow and black glory.
This will be the first event under the watchful eye of Eric Boullier, and the first real opportunity for Genii Capital to present their case to the assembled press. Already, the team are one step behind the others in terms of offering a live stream of proceedings, but we won't hold that against them... too much. The website is currently being redesigned, so it may come live after the launch.
So far, all the cars we have seen have been longer than anticipated, and featured a nose much pointier than last year. More importantly though, Renault are bound to turn up with a new livery. From the bright blue of the Mild Seven days, to the creme egg look during ING's reign, there are rumours that they might turn up with the traditional yellow and black Renault colours.
Credit: Renault F1
A head on look down the nose of the new Renault 'bumble-bee' challenger.
As ever, we'll be keeping our eye on any news, pictures and tweets that come through, and will keep the post updated throughout the day.
Friday saw the McLaren team launch their 2010 F1 challenger during a ceremony at the Vodafone Headquarters in Newbury, UK. The covers were pulled back on the MP4-25 by drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Credit: mclaren.com
A side view of McLaren's elongated 2010 silver machine, the MP4-25.
The event began at 11:00 GMT and was successfully broadcast live to the internet in its entirety. The car again featured a silver livery not wildly differing from last year, while the chassis was notable for its extended 'shark-fin' engine cover. The underside of the nose features an unusual arrangement of turning vanes that should help direct airflow to the tightly packaged sidepod intakes.
The team's official press release described the revised bodywork as a "radical aerodynamic overhaul" and was keen to stress the importance of the ongoing relationship with engine partners, and now on track rivals, Mercedes.
Horsepower once again comes from our friends in Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz's FO 108X V8 subtly improves upon an engine which has become the benchmark in Formula 1, winning the last two drivers' world championships.
Credit: mclaren.com
The MP4-25 front and center, featuring Jenson Button's number one atop the nose.
New team member, Jenson Button was ecstatic to see his world champion's number one displayed on the nosecone for the first time.
"I’m incredibly proud to be standing here today knowing I'll be carrying the number one for the whole season: that's a great responsibility but also a great honour. It's something I’m relishing. It looks so cool too!"
"I've got a great team around me, and I already feel very at home here. I just can't wait to get in the car and start driving again. It really can’t come soon enough!"
Meanwhile, team mate Lewis Hamilton spoke of his faith in the team's strength in depth.
"We have a tremendous engineering team – people who have been here for many, many years and who have worked with some of the sport’s greatest champions and helped design and build some of Formula 1's most iconic cars. They really want to deliver another fantastic car for the 2010 season."
The car will run for the first time during testing in Valencia on Monday.
This morning Ferrari became the first F1 team to launch their brand new car for the upcoming season. While Mercedes may have unveiled their new livery on Monday, this was the public's first experience of a full launch in 2010.
The event began at 10:30am local time (9:30 GMT), and while Ferrari valiantly attempted to stream the happenings online, their website lasted no more than a few minutes before succumbing to the inevitable onslaught of traffic. Eventually a clear picture of the new challenger appeared, and when it did, it looked a lot last year's Red Bull, only slightly more red.
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A.
The new Ferrari F10 chassis that the Italian team hope will bring them success in 2010.
Pictures of this year's livery, featuring prominent Santander branding, had previously been leaked online, and rumours relating to the chassis design weren't wide of the mark either. Named the F10, the new car has been designed to pull Ferrari back to where it believes it belongs, right at the very front of the Formula 1 grid.
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A.
The new front end of the Ferrari F10 takes its design cues from last years Red Bull RB5.
Speaking at the unveiling, new signing Fernando Alonso said:
"I'm very calm regarding the work done by all the technicians at Ferrari. We have the best technicians in the world. The work we're doing in February, with Felipe's and my suggestions on the car, makes me really confident as far as the first race is concerned.
"It is important that a red car wins. We'll both give it our all to improve our performance, we'll both give 100%. I’ve always had strong teammates and I never had any problems with then. I have a great relation to all of them and it won't be different with Felipe."
Felipe Massa meanwhile was keen to highlight just how much work had gone into the F10:
"Many things happened in 2009, resulting in difficult conditions for us to work on the car. We started very early thinking about 2010. We were asking for many modifications not just regarding aerodynamics, but also the engine and the tank. Everything was really important considering the 2010 rules. What's very important is that every single detail can bring tenths of a second."
Originally Felipe Massa had been scheduled to run the car on track in the afternoon, but unfavourable weather conditions meant that plan had to be postponed.
