As it happened: F1's team launches 2017

• 11:56

  Hello fact fans and welcome to the first Factbyte Factbox of the brand new year, and it's a bumper one! Here is where you'll find all sorts of thoughts, links, pictures and gossip about each and every team launch throughout the upcoming week.

• 11:56

  We've got a packed week ahead of us with all ten teams (sob, poor Manor) set to reveal their 2017 machinery over the next seven days.

• 11:56

  2017 team launches

  Mon 20th Feb	Sauber F1 Team
  Tue 21st Feb	Renault F1 Team
  Wed 22nd Feb	Sahara Force India
  Thu 23rd Feb	Mercedes AMG Petronas
  Fri 24th Feb	McLaren Honda
  	Scuderia Ferrari
  Sat 25th Feb	Williams Martini Racing
  Sun 26th Feb	Haas F1 Team
  	Red Bull Racing
  	Scuderia Toro Rosso

• 12:09

  We've already had a sneak peek at the Williams with a render video of the new car.
• 12:15

  The regulation changes for this season mean the cars will look a little different to 2016's beasts. Here are a few details to look out for: wider tyres, wider front wings, lower rear wings but higher diffusers and a generally wider car overall.

• 13:57

  Teams are starting to get very excited about their launches. Renault have even got Jolyon Palmer involved with a hard hat and hi-vis jacket.

• 13:58

  Meanwhile, Mercedes are plugging the hashtag #cantw08 which doesn't quite scan but we'll let them off for now.

• 14:48

  Sauber are due to launch their car first, although it's supposed to be images first and then a roll out later in the week. As they describe it:

  "First images of our 2017 contender will be published on Monday, 20th February 2017! The Sauber C36-Ferrari will have its roll-out in the week prior to the first official Formula One test on 22nd February during the Sauber F1 Team’s filming day in Barcelona."

• 16:01

  Also, it will be interesting to see if Sauber offer up any unique views of their new car, as they've been known to dabble in a spot of VR in the past.

• 08:06

  

• 08:07

  All eyes on Sauber today, as we're expecting some images to be released of their 2017 car.

• 08:10

  However, Haas have released a preview statement for what they're calling their "sophomore season":

  "After building a new car from scratch in 2016, Haas F1 Team is doing the same in 2017. But unlike in 2016, the team's personnel are already assembled and, more importantly, have a year of experience working together. And its infrastructure, from the garage setup and the necessary equipment it houses to the trucks that transport said equipment from the team's European base in Banbury, England, has been in place for more than a year. The only new item that needs to be put together is the car."

• 10:02

  The first sighting of the new Sauber C36 with added gold stripes!

• 12:36

  Jörg Zander, Technical Director: "Basically, big teams have an advantage when it comes to major changes in the regulations but when the cars are reshuffled new opportunities always present themselves as well.

  "The C36 is wider and lower, with wider tyres making the car look more muscular than last year's model, the C35. Practically just by looking at it, one can tell the speed of the new car has increased as a result of more downforce and shorter braking distances. It is written all over its face."

• 12:38

  Zander has rejoined Sauber this year, after previously departing the Swiss squad in 2007 - leaving the chief designer position and returning as technical director.

• 12:40

  The new car is a celebration of Sauber's 25th season in Formula One, and boy they've been through a lot since then!

• 18:01

  

  With the "25 Years" celebratory branding.

• 18:02

  

  From the front, there's plenty of gold to behold.

• 18:02

  Tweet from @Ericsson_Marcus: I have to say it's been a while but I think this might be my new crush. Seriously good looking. Please be fast as well!

• 18:07

  F1.com have been quite taken with the gilt on Sauber's new livery, and have taken a look at other F1 cars that have run with gold paintwork.

• 18:09

  F1 fashion week begins with gold, then. Gold is the new black. Although it's worth noting that Sauber have tried to disguise their shark fin by leaving it black. We can still see it, people. The shark fin is back.

• 18:11

  A pretty thorough preview post and video by Red Bull has appeared, chatting to Christian Horner about the new car and the continuing driver line up of Ricciardo and Verstappen. Horner boils down the months and months of design work to this snappy little one-liner: "If it looks right, it tends to go alright."

• 18:12

  Tomorrow we should see the new Renault break cover, with the Enstone team getting pretty excited about unveiling their 2017 machinery.

• 18:12

  Renault have confirmed their information with an online launch getting underway in the afternoon. They're set to reveal the car on Facebook, with plenty of Twitter activity to watch out for as well.

  

• 18:46

  Another interesting preview video from Red Bull, this time talking to the people that made the car, the engineers!

  Adrian Newey, who clearly can't quite let go of F1 as much as he keeps saying he wants to, has this to add: "Here we are in the middle of February and it's that feeling of... well, it's exhaustion towards the end of the season for many of the guys, but then you go through the winter, you do your work and it's time to think 'yep, now I just want to get going again, to get out on the circuit and see where we are'."

• 07:53

  

• 07:55

  It's Renault's turn for the spotlight today, and they were getting very excited yesterday - the countdown is on! Even the drivers have been biding their time at the factory, with a spot of hoovering and photcopying.

• 14:41

  The Renault Sport live stream is up. Currently four men in white shirts are making positive predictions about the coming season.

• 14:46

  The live stream is suffering from stuttering issues and the Renault website has stopped responding. A familiar F1 launch story then.

  The presentation is very dry. A lot of corporate talk. The head of Microsoft Dynamics has just joined those on stage to pitch his products to the 36,000 people tuning in.

  Most overused word during this presentation: "partnerships".

• 14:54

  The stage setup looks like the Westlife reunion nobody asked for.

  

• 15:06

  The men in shirts vacate the stage and the R.S.17 is unveiled under an array of strobe lights. It's yellow and black. Castrol branding is found on the front end plates and a few minor sponsors have been added. Like Sauber before, attempts have been made to hide the shark fin by painting it jet black.

• 15:13

  Viewed from the rear. A clearer look at this season's wider tyres.

  

• 15:16

  Meanwhile the Mercedes team have news about their upcoming event. Their car will be launched in 360° VR.

  The event hashtag is amusingly titled #cantW08. Puntastic.

• 16:28

  A better look at the R.S.17 under studio lighting.

  

• 18:45

  Two final links for the Renault bombardment today - a sixty second F1Minute roundup of the driver news, and a gorgeous close up of the nose on F1 Big Picture.

• 18:46

  Force India are waiting in the wings to show off their new car - they've confirmed it will be 2pm UK time tomorrow and live on Sky Sports F1 website. More tomorrow!

• 07:59

  

• 08:02

  A new gallery posted today by Mercedes offers a sneaky look at the W08 - well, a bit of a nose and a heck of a lot of turquoise, anyway.

• 08:03

  Tweet from @JolyonPalmer: She's a beauty, let's hope the new car is as fast as it looks! Can't wait to get behind the wheel next week. #F12017 #Renault

• 12:51

  Ferrari are feeling left out from the launch party (or perhaps a little guilty for ignoring social media), so posted a short vignette about what they've been working on.

• 14:02

  Force India are ready to launch their new car. To kick things off Natalie Pinkham introduces their resident man-in-exile Vijay Mallya. Not every team can boast having one of these.

• 14:05

  Not pulling punches, Mallya directly addresses comments from Renault's Cyril Abiteboul yesterday that Force India might struggle more this year due to all the regulation changes. The arguments were sound, rule changes tend to favour larger teams, but Vijay isn't fazed.

  "Everybody has to start with a clean slate. But I know we have to develop right through 2017. There's no stopping. We've planned for it and we're very excited."

• 14:09

  Sergio Pérez and new boy Esteban Ocon are introduced to the stage by David Croft.

• 14:11

  Yesterday the drivers had no speaking part. Force India seem to trust their men more, with both answering a barrage of questions from Crofty. They don't offer much insight but do a decent job of pulling back the covers on the VJM10.

• 14:17

  The car is arguably less pretty than Renault's effort. The shark fin is bright silver and devoid of sponsorship at this time. The nose features an unsightly bump that looks anything but aerodynamic. You'd have to assume this will change before or during pre-season testing.

• 14:19

  Pérez raises a concern about navigating these new wider cars around Monaco and Baku.

• 14:22

  "I see no reason why we can't break into the top three. We're going to go for it. We set our sights high," says Mallya.

  Although he was put on the spot there. That optimism might come back to bite him. One has to admire the man's confidence / insanity though.

• 14:26

  Tweet from @andrewbensonf1: Mallya, Willis, Hamilton, Wolff last Thursday all dancing around the issue of whether the tyres will work. Do they know something we don't?

• 14:35

  That beluga bump up close.

  

• 14:41

  More from Mallya on the choice of colour scheme: "This livery gives our cars a contemporary and premium feel, which works well considering the partners we have on the car. We’ve kept the basic colour scheme that we’ve been running for the last couple of years, but we’ve just freshened up the design slightly."

• 14:43

  The drivers are getting a proper look at their new car today too.

  

• 20:05

  Mercedes are due to launch their car tomorrow, but BBC 5live sent along one half of their Afternoon Edition radio show to get some behind the scenes gossip of the team as they make their last minute preparations. I've hand-picked some great quotes from the show, but do have a listen if you can!

• 20:09

  Tweet from @ForceIndiaF1: 225k views on Facebook alone for the streaming of our launch - wow! Thank you to all the fans who tuned in, what a start for our 2017!

• 20:46

  We saw the Sauber car for the first time on Monday, but the team have taken it out on track today for some filming. We've popped up an F1 Big Picture of what appears to have been a good afternoon's work.

• 20:47

  They're not the only ones, though, as Toro Rosso have completed their own filming day, leaving behind something of a mess!

• 20:47

  And in case you missed it earlier, a sixty second recap of Vijay Mallya's discontent with Renault and his optimism for the coming season in today's F1Minute.

• 01:13

  Mallya vs. Abiteboul is proving to be a highlight of F1 fashion week.

  Tweet from @TheVijayMallya: I am so proud of this superbly engineered beauty. Unlike Renault this is a real racing car that will test

• 07:54

  

• 07:56

  Not content with just revealing a launch time, Mercedes have gone for a full on schedule - all times in GMT:

  12:10 - 360 degree Silver Arrow unveil

  14:40 - Toto Wolff Q&A

  15:45 - Lewis Hamilton Q&A

  16:25 - Tech Briefing

  18:30 - Valtteri Bottas Q&A

  Long day!

• 07:58

  Tweet from @RacecarEngineering: Forecast for winds gusting at up to 80mph later, during the Mercedes launch (which is scheduled to be outdoors) should be fuun.

• 12:07

  The W08 has been out doing some early laps around a very windy Silverstone circuit.

• 12:12

  The new car features a mostly silver livery, with teal go-faster stripes along each side. As yet there is no sign of this season's must have accessory, the shark fin.

• 12:20

  The Mercedes launch is go. The team are streaming live on YouTube in 360 degree virtual reality.

  It's pretty epic.

• 12:29

  In addition to the 360 broadcast Hamilton is hosting his own live stream on his Instagram channel. This is an exciting launch. Hard to know where to look.

• 12:33

  The new go-faster stripes have something to do with road car synergy and something Toto Wolff calls 'electric intelligence'. As everyone knows, blue swirly stripes are the international sign for electricity.

  A cynic might suggest that painting your car so it looks like it is eco-freiendly, while actually being powered by fossil fuel is somewhat disingenuous. We'll call this a 'bluewash'.

• 12:40

  Hamilton is now streaming out on Silverstone's main straight as the car and the drivers line up for press photos. This man loves his live broadcasting. If he wasn't an F1 star, he'd have his own YouTube show for sure.

• 12:42

  All attendees at Silverstone look positively freezing on this blustery British day. There's a reason people in the UK hibernate during winter. Outside is terrible on days like today.

  A grey car under grey British skies make for a tricky photo call.

• 12:45

  There will be more live streaming from Mercedes at 16:25 UK time. Bottas is due a run in the new car and there will be a tech briefing with the technical bods.

  Meanwhile Hamilton is still live streaming from the start/finish straight. He's also directing the camera car which is also filming him.

• 12:55

  Still streaming, Hamilton is answering fan questions. On the subject of his helmet designs, he notes he changed from his original iconic yellow when he moved to Mercedes because it "didn't go with the white overalls".

• 13:04

  Lewis, having had his hair done during his live stream, has gone off for a photo shoot. He'll be back to tackle more questions afterwards.

• 13:07

  The Mercedes website fell, and fell hard, during the launch. Still isn't back.

  

• 13:13

  Hamilton during this morning's run

  

• 16:22

  On the subject of the lack of the W08's shark fin.

  Tweet from @tgruener: Mercedes will try a different engine cover with larger airbox sail next week at Barcelona.

• 17:47

  Tweet from @McLarenF1: 5,957 miles apart, the McLaren-Honda #MCL32 will be revealed simultaneously LIVE in Woking and Tokyo. Get ready.

• 17:50

  McLaren have also written a post about how you can keep up with their launch day tomorrow:

  "We’ll be livestreaming the MCL32 launch from 11:00 GMT on Friday February 24th. View it on TEAMStream, follow it on the official McLaren YouTube channel, or see it via Facebook Live on the official McLaren Facebook page.

  "Don’t be late, the covers will come off within a few minutes of the livestream beginning! Stick around post-reveal to hear from our senior management team and Fernando and Stoffel, who will give you the first look at our all-new 2017 driver overalls."

• 17:52

  And just to be totally up to speed, Ferrari are launching at 9:45 Italy time, with presumably more details to come here. Early start tomorrow then!

• 18:55

  F1Minute today features more from Lewis Hamilton about increasing F1's social media use, do have a listen.

• 07:50

  

• 07:50

  So we've got Ferrari and McLaren up today, with the Scuderia set to get underway in about an hour. They're already counting down.

• 07:51

  Meanwhile, McLaren have turned the sign outside their factory orange in recognition of their new colour scheme.

• 07:52

  McLaren's theme this year is all about change. #ChangeYourName to indicate dropping the MP4 bit from their car name. #ChangeYourGame to indicate... doing things better, I suppose. And now they're going for #ChangeYourShirt to try and get you to buy new merchandise.

• 08:49

  Ferrari have gone live with their launch stream. Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are present and correct in their vibrant red overalls. Some very dramatic music is playing.

• 08:57

  Ferrari's live stream never quite got going, we're looking at a placeholder saying coming soon now.

• 09:03

  The new Ferrari - SF70H is revealed online but no sign of the promised video.

• 09:04

  Ferrari have gone for the shark fin but are disguising theirs in white paint on a white background.

• 10:31

  Tweet from @thebuxtonblog: At McLaren. Attention to detail. Guess what flavour the shortbread is...? Yep. Orange."

• 11:15

  Oops, missed McLaren's big reveal live but woah, that's a full on orange livery they've got going on.

• 18:59

  Let's have a bit of a catch up of today's goings on, shall we?

• 19:03

  First of all, I'd like to air my rage at the Ferrari number. Yea, yea, history blah de blah but seriously. F2012, F138, F14 T, SF15-T, SF16-H, SF70H. Bah!

• 19:05

  From the press release: "The number refers to the seventy years of history, which is truly unique for any marque in the sport. The letters in the name stand simply for Scuderia Ferrari and the Hybrid form of power."

• 19:07

  

• 19:11

  "The lengthened nose and the arrow-shaped wing are a consequence of the regulations, as is the obvious fin on the engine cover."

  Bless Ferrari, so clearly trying to absolve themselves of blame for this year's cars. "Not us, guv'nor, they made us design it like this."

• 19:14

  

  We do need to talk about what Ferrari have done with their engine cover, though. They seem to have gone for a mixture of the traditional shark fin and the Mercedes option of a t-bar.

  They say they have "concentrated our efforts on finding the right compromise between downforce and aerodynamic resistance."

  It is, for sure, a compromise.

• 19:18

  Sebastian Vettel after his laps at Fiorano: "It's always something special when you see the new car for the first time. You can see that the car looks strong and it feels very good, at least as far as the first laps are, and we definitely have a platform to build on."

• 19:25

  Ferrari's launch was very quickly upstaged by McLaren, who revealed their revamped car and livery in all its orange glory.

• 19:29

  

• 19:29

  Tweet from @McLarenF1: The origin of McLaren meets our future. Presenting the McLaren-Honda #MCL32, a blend of past & present in our new livery.

• 19:30

  Shark fin-wise, McLaren have got a pretty sleek and simple engine cover, but it does come to an abrupt halt with almost a ninety degree angle, rather than the point that others have favoured.

• 19:33

  During the launch itself, with Stoffel and Fernando showing off their own new colour scheme, the car looks more red than anything. Odd.

  

• 19:34

  Fernando Alonso: "What I’ve seen of the MCL32 appears to be really promising – the new regulations seem to be well thought-out, and the cars look fast and aggressive. The look of the car makes me really want to get in the cockpit – I’ve lost none of that all-important hunger every Formula 1 driver needs. Training over the winter has gone well – I worked really hard – and I can’t wait to get going in the car as I say."

• 19:47

  If you're thinking you can head into the weekend and relax now, think again. Williams launch their car tomorrow and we've got three team launches on Sunday - Haas, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

• 19:47

  Haas recruited a certain Romain Grosjean to plug their Sunday launch. You better tune in, it's going to be "pretty cool."

• 10:59

  

• 11:00

  Compared to what we've seen so far, the Williams launch is as low-key as it gets. The team have posted some photos of the actual car online (as opposed to the render we saw a week or so ago).

• 11:03

  

• 11:03

  There's a lot hidden in the shadows of this photoshoot, I think.

• 11:04

  Still, it features the shark fin and for once, the livery actually encompasses that new piece of bodywork, with the Martini stripes extending up along the engine cover.

• 11:05

  The launch press release Williams have published is also quite arm's length, saying "the regulations have changed" and "cars will look like this" and "teams will have to deal with this". I'd prefer to hear a bit more about what the team themselves have been doing, but it's not unusual for everyone to be a bit cagey at this point in proceedings.

• 11:06

  Tweet from @RenaultSportF1: We are seriously enjoying being able to tweet videos of our car today. Hope you like them. Filming days rock!

• 11:07

  Tweet from @WilliamsRacing: Introducing the Williams Mercedes FW40. Celebrating 40 years of Williams.

• 12:31

  If you were curious about who provided the orange paint for McLaren (I mean, who wouldn't be?) then there's more info from AkzoNobel here:

  “Our color and coatings expertise shows up in many unexpected places, even in Formula 1,” said Peter Tomlinson, Managing Director of AkzoNobel’s Vehicle Refinishes business. “We share a passion with McLaren for creating efficient, high performance technology. McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team is known for their iconic livery and the new color will add a new chapter to this, which we are proud to be part of.”

• 12:45

  It's not often you think of Red Bull being on the good side of trying to limit teams finding loopholes, but as Tobi Grüner points out, they did try to stop the shark fin situation: "After the current developments I have to retweet myself. Don't say you haven't been warned...

  "Red Bull unsuccessfully tried to find support among teams to ban huge engine cover fins (sails) in yesterdays strategy group meeting."

• 12:46

  

  If we just look at the cars from the front only, we'll all be fine.

• 12:48

  Three more teams to go tomorrow - Haas, Toro Rosso and Red Bull.

• 12:48

  

• 15:08

  Renault are filming their car in Barcelona today. Here's a live video recorded as the car exited the garage, chased down the pitlane by the camera car.

  Palmer is at the wheel, experiencing his first taste of 2017 machinery.

• 16:47

  Reporting from the field, @waygoodF1 has spotted a certain Haas car making an appearance in Spain. Good to see Grosjean getting some time behind the wheel before the launch tomorrow.

• 11:25

  

• 11:25

  Final day of car launches, and the lines are all getting a bit blurry now - testing starts tomorrow so teams are taking to the track for their filming days in Spain even before they've revealed the car officially.

• 11:26

  For example, the Haas launch is set for 2pm today, but this kind of thing has already been happening.

• 11:28

  I'm quite impressed with Red Bull's theme this year - their car is RB13, and they're trying to change the attitude towards that number. Un lucky for some.

• 11:31

  Red Bull are also launching at 13:13 CET, just to make sure you get the message.

• 11:32

  Tweet from @NobleF1: My impression of all #F1 cars so far is they look better on track than in rooms/launches. Also McLaren looks better in real life.

• 11:35

  Toro Rosso, meanwhile, are determined to be the last team to show their wares. They've pushed back their launch to 6pm (I'm assuming CET), with an unveil in the Barcelona paddock.

• 12:17

  Red Bull's 2017 car makes a video debut.
• 14:33

  We had a glimpse of the new Haas already but it has officially been launched now. Guenther Steiner says: “You always try to make a faster car, which is normally a lighter car. Now we can put on more ballast and get better weight distribution. The aero is completely new, as are the tires, so we needed to have some built-in adjustability.

  “Aesthetically, the car has a more aggressive look. It’s lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. Everything we learned from our first car has been applied to our new car.”

• 14:35

  

• 15:03

  The Haas VF-17 hits the track for a quick turn in Barcelona.

  

• 15:07

  Gene Haas on how heading into the second year compares to the first: "I think it has pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we're not trying to put the whole pit crew together. We don't have to worry about getting trucks and other infrastructure. We have all that in place.

  The negative side is that there's less time to do all these things again and there are a lot of rule changes, so you have to be prepared. On the other hand, we have stronger relationships with a lot of our suppliers, so that should make it easier. It's kind of give and take.

  It'll be just as challenging as it was last year, but I think with the knowledge we have, we should actually perform a little bit better this year."

• 15:25

  Arguably the best looking part of Haas's launch today is now up on F1 Big Picture.

• 17:02

  A crowd has gathered in the Barcelona pit lane for F1's final launch of the week (and presumably year, unless Manor spring a surprise).

• 17:05

  New livery for Toro Rosso and it's a striking dark blue and bright red. Wow.

• 17:07

  

• 17:08

  We'll have a hard time missing the STR12 amongst the starting grid this season.

• 17:10

  At least no-one will confuse this car with the sister team's traditional Red Bull livery. Anyone for a cola?

• 17:12

  With no unsightly bumps, a decent looking shark fin and a nicely sculpted nose, the STR12 could be a frontrunner for best looking car of the season. No doubt many changes to come before the season gets started though.

• 17:38

  Technical director, James Key: "With driver continuity and a power unit which made a major step forward last year, and which should be developing strongly this year, it just leaves the chassis as an unknown quantity. We always set ourselves ambitious targets and this year, we are taking a more long-term view over the 20 races, with a long list of planned in-season developments. I suspect it will be a very busy year with plenty of performance still to be found."

• 17:40
• 17:41

  That's every launch, all cars have been unveiled in their pre-season form. No doubt there is plenty to come in testing and lots of secrets still to be discovered, but we're off to a fantastic start.

• 17:42

  We can now draw some early conclusions of what we might be in for this season. Cars are unquestionably, visibly and strikingly better than in previous years. The rear wing being lower gives a better aesthetic than 2016's cars. The shark fin returning is a disappointing turn of events, but generally speaking F1 is going in the right direction again.

• 17:43

  In terms of launch week, Mercedes set an unassailably high bar (as per usual!) mid-week, with an entire day set aside for track runs, PR time, live interviews. They absolutely take the crown for best launch.

• 17:44

  The biggest disappointment is probably McLaren, who spent weeks bigging up all their many changes and then squandered the anticipation with a launch that lasted approximately thirty seconds.

• 17:44

  It's a surprise that Red Bull have only released a video, with no additional pictures or information. That may still be to come, but they are usually such a media-savvy outfit that it's odd for them to have such a muted reveal.

• 17:46

  We're handing the ugliest car (at the moment) award to Ferrari, particularly with their weird shark fin, t-fin compromise effort. And the best looking has to be Toro Rosso, who saved the best till last. As mentioned, however, everything could change and in just a few short days we could be looking at completely different machinery.

• 17:47

  We've got four days of testing coming up next week then, and will be watching for the following things: Honda's big engine change, Renault's performance aspirations against Vijay's plan to get Force India finishing third. Also, Magnussen at Haas, and seeing what colour that orange car over at McLaren actually looks like in anger.

• 17:48

  It should be a good few weeks coming up and the season is less than 30 days away now, so the excitement is building. Thanks for following the FBFB over the last seven days as we've celebrated the start of 2017's Formula One action.