In this second preview edition of F1 Digest we take a look through the entry list, focusing on the teams and their new cars. How have they performed in testing? What features are on the new machines? Who has a strong lineup? All that and more will get you ready for the season to come.
The Teams
From the non-existant teams such as US F1 and Campos to those who are determined to challenge for another championship - Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes. In some teams, the drivers overshadow the cars, but we spend plenty of time discussing front wings, sidepods and shark fin engine covers.
There are new liveries to discuss, and how the teams managed their launches, plus the relationship between teammates - those who have new faces to get to know, and those who are continuing with their fellow driver from 2009.
We also take a quick look at the battle between Virgin Racing and Lotus, from testing, reliability issues, air stewardess outfits and launches. Everything is going to be different this year, and it's going to be great.
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.
Mercedes GP today confirmed Nick Heidfeld will be the team's test/reserve driver for the 2010 season. Heidfeld replaces Anthony Davidson who filled the role for Brawn GP last year.
Nick drove for BMW Sauber last year, but has found himself without a competitive drive in 2010 despite the emergence of three new teams to the field.
Speaking of the change in role, Nick said:
"Whilst I would of course have preferred a seat as an active driver, I am really proud to be part of the new Silver Arrows team. I have seen how committed everyone at the team is and I feel the same. I will be doing my very best to support Michael and Nico this year."
Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport added:
"We have known each other for many years and Nick was supported by our junior drivers programme from 1997. During his 10 years in Formula One, circumstances often made it difficult for him to achieve his breakthrough. However Nick is extremely capable, he will be an asset to our team and he will show this."
With Michael Schumacher yet to compete in a full Grand Prix weekend since 2006 and question marks remaining over recent injuries, the move by Mercedes to bring in a known quantity such as Heidfeld seems like sensible one.
Following a frenetic first day of testing in Spain, Formula 1 teams continue to test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, Valencia today. Monday brought all forms of excitement from the unveiling of the STR5 to the return of Michael Schumacher in a modern F1 cockpit. Additionally, Mercedes GP finally allowed fans and the media to see this years W01 chassis, while Robert Kubica began his new life as a Renault driver.
Lewis Hamilton arrives today to relieve Gary Paffett of his test driving duties, while Kamui Kobayashi will settle into the C29. Is it possible that Tuesday could be even more chaotic?
On track action begins at 10am CET (9am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.051km
Corners: 14
Lap record (unofficial): 1:08.544 (Anthony Davidson, Honda, 2006)
The Circuit Ricardo Tormo circuit is located to the East of Spain, not far from Valencia.
Drivers and Teams Attending
We are expecting to see the following drivers and teams in action today:
This week we talk about goodbye videos, terrible lighting, spy photography, digital subscriptions, tweeting, Fantasy Racing and British accents.
Intro
It was incredibly busy this week with a grand total of five launches, and with more to come plus testing, there's plenty to discuss.
Good Week / Bad Week
Good week for Toyota leaving us with a fantastic video to sum up their time in the sport, and also for US F1 who finally got around to confirming their first driver... by proxy. Bad week for the F1 Calendar though, as Abu Dhabi want to keep their grip on the season finale, and for Kimi Raikkonen who smashed into a tree during his first rally of the year.
News and Views
We cover all the launches we've experienced so far, starting with Mercedes. Bad lighting, a wonky live stream and no actual new car didn't really get us off to a good start. Ferrari were next with an even worse stream, but a new car, and a tweaked livery. McLaren showed them all how it was done, though, with a stream that worked, a fascinating insight into how the team is going to work, a new car and bloggers in attendance. We listen to a voicemail from Adie who was present at the launch.
Sauber and Renault launched on the eve of the first pre-season test in Valencia, and whilst the BMW-Sauber was bereft of sponsors and a bit bland on the livery front, Renault took the opposite tack and turned up with a new bumble bee paint job.
We assessed each livery and assigned a score out of 10 for each one, for easy comparison:
Team Launch
Christine's Score
Mr C's Score
Mercedes
3
4
Ferrari
6
4
Williams
0
6
McLaren
8
6
Sauber
2
4
Renault
2
4
We also quickly mention the fantastic news about the Autosport magazine going digital, plus some Ted News and a particular Twitter update.
Feedback
Lukeh kicks off the feedback section with a Tremayne about the constant regulation changes. Then we discuss the new Fantasy Racers league, my pronunciation, some jokes, Monaco Baby, accents and mankinis, testing and the Sidepodcast calendar.
Housekeeping
We finish with a quick mention of our brand new Twitter page, as linked below.
As we continue our quest to find out more about the young drivers who will be testing in Formula 1 machinery at Jerez next week, we turn our attention to the Mercedes drivers. We looked at the Toro Rosso duo yesterday, but now it's time to have a look at the former Brawn GP team.
Mike Conway
Age: 26
Nationality: British
F1 Experience: Test driver for Honda Racing in 2007.
Notable Achievements: 1st in British Formula Renault 2004, 1st in British F3 2006, 12th in GP2 2008, 17th in IndyCar 2009
Conway is relatively old for the young driver test, and has been linked with Honda test driver roles for quite a few years now. His career has progressed through Formula Ford and Formula Renault, to GP2 and he made the switch to IndyCar this year. He had a mixed season with just one third place podium towards the end of the season. He also had quite the crash during practice for the Indy 500 and was taken to hospital with concussion worries.
He's managed by 2MB - the company formed by Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell - and has links with the previous incarnation of this team. He's currently scheduled to run for three days, sharing each with Ericsson.
Marcus Ericsson
Age: 19
Nationality: Swedish
F1 Experience: None
Notable Achievements: 1st in Formula BMW UK 2007, 1st in Japanese Formula Three 2009, 4th Macau Grand Prix 2009
I can't seem to find any reference to Ericsson in terms of previous Formula 1 experience, so this may be his first time in an F1 car - and what a way to start, with a championship winning team. At the moment, Ericsson is competing in the 2009-10 GP2 Asia series, with events at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.
He's so far finished 11th and 12th during the Formula 1 support race in Abu Dhabi. Not great, but at least he is getting experience of F1 tracks. Previously his British Formula Three outings saw him race at Monza, Spa, Silverstone and Hockenheim as well.
Marcus is currently scheduled to test alongside Conway for all three days of the Jerez test.
All Posts in The Series: Jerez Testing December 2009
This weeks Thursday Thought seems like a relatively straightforward question to tackle. The Formula One Teams Association are investigating the possibility of launching their 2010 championship challengers at a single event in the new year, to help reduce costs. Handy for them no doubt, but are they taking away yet another source of enjoyment for fans?
Common People
Dubbed the common car launch, Autosport today noted that FOTA representatives have met with Bernie Ecclestone to discuss the concept, so there's a very real chance this idea could see the light of day. My initial reaction to the suggestion was this could only be a bad thing. In the past we've seen FOTA's cost cutting initiatives pull regular testing sessions from the calendar. This denied fans the opportunity to see F1 cars at an affordable price, removed a significant layer of interest during the year, and hindered those teams who started the season with a bad car.
In my eyes, as cost-cutting measures go, 2009's testing restrictions have been a dismal failure for F1 fans. Could a unified car launch be similarly disastrous? I think it could be, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.
This year was the first year we paid much attention to car unveilings at all. In seasons gone by, we noted any significant differences between the chassis, but we'd never followed all of the press that goes hand-in-hand with them. I will say we thoroughly enjoyed following with a closer interest, although I did object to the early mornings required to catch the announcements.
Variety was offered, with an online-only launch from Toyota, while Red Bull provided a fantastic explanation of '09 rule changes. Williams opted to roll the car out of the garage and then back in again.
Admittedly, between the various team websites dying and a general lack of co-ordination, you couldn't argue that the launches were a blinding success. Nor were they something that captured the interest of mainstream media. They did manage to keep us occupied for many days during winter though, and I do wonder if a single event might mean less coverage for each team and a number of them getting overlooked entirely. Revealing Mercedes' debut livery might steal the headlines from say, Red Bull trotting out the same driver pairing and colour scheme for the second year in a row.
There Goes the Fear
A significant reduction in manufacturer teams, coupled with a troubled economy, means any hope of a high-budget affair, along the lines of McLaren's 2007 run through the streets of Valencia are out of the window anyhow. If teams combine their efforts, it might still be a sight to behold and there is an opportunity to give something back to the fans too.
Although we don't know what FOTA's suggestions might entail, it would be fantastic if the combined launch was open to the public too. Better yet, run the cars around the track in the afternoon and double the unveiling with a scheduled test and ensure all the cars and drivers fit in a run.
Reducing costs, increasing testing and giving back to the fans. I can't argue with that.
All of the above assumes a level of common sense prevails and that every team will have something physical to reveal before February, which is by no means a given. In truth it's just as likely we'll see a low key, low cost event, attended by a handful of teams which leaves us longing for the good old days just like always. Cautiously optimistic I tell you.
It has been speculated endlessly since Monday's Mercedes/Brawn announcement, but today Jenson Button has been confirmed as a McLaren driver for 2010. Button will partner Lewis Hamilton, creating an all-British driver line-up for next season.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes signs Jenson Button. Sensational double World Champion driver line-up created as Jenson joins Lewis!
That seems like an odd place to make such an announcement, but it only really serves to confirm what pretty much everyone already knows.
Update: An official team press release swiftly followed McLaren's tweet. The team are excited to have team comprising two world champions and point out that:
This is the first time in Formula 1 history that a team has started the new season with a line-up featuring the most recent two successive World Champions
This is the first pairing of two British World Champions since Graham Hill partnered Jim Clark at Lotus in 1968
Jenson joining the Woking team creates what must be considered one of the strongest line-ups for next season. On this subject Button says:
"I think it’s fantastic that we’ll be forming an all-British line-up. I know that we both fly the flag with pride, and I sincerely hope we can make the whole of the United Kingdom, as well as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes fans across the world, proud. Nothing means more to me than to be able to represent my country, and I’m looking forward to both of us painting Formula 1’s circuits red, white and blue for many years to come."
Lewis appears happy with the arrival of a new team-mate, but doesn't forget the outgoing Kovalainen:
"It’s fantastic news that Jenson has decided to join Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – and I’m looking forward to working with him and our engineers to make sure we kick off the 2010 season with a car that’s competitive enough to win the World Championship – but I want to send my best wishes for the future to my 2008-09 team-mate and now good friend Heikki Kovalainen, who is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met."
