Mercedes AMG F1 W04 unveiled by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Jerez

The new Mercedes AMG F1 2013 Challenger designated F1 W04 has been officially unveiled on the track at Jerez. The new car was unveiled by its driver pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after they arrived alongside the car each driving a white Gullwing Mercedes road car.

The F1 W04 looked extremely sleek and aerodynamically refined as the drivers posed for media images sitting on the front and back wheels holding their 2013 helmets.

The two drivers then had their photographs taken with a pit board announcing ‘Mercedes AMG welcomes Blackberry’. The team announced the new partnership earlier as Nico Rosberg took to the track for a few demonstration laps in the new car stating that the team is delighted to announce a significant new partnership agreement with BlackBerry as the Official Mobile Computing Partner for the MERCEDES AMG. Excerpt from the press release – As the Official Mobile Computing Partner for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, BlackBerry will collaborate with the team on technical and marketing opportunities. The new BlackBerry 10 platform will deliver tools and services for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS and fan engagement will be improved through the joint development of apps. BlackBerry 10 smartphones will also be used by the team so they can ´keep moving´ throughout the Formula One season.

The new partnership sees the iconic BlackBerry branding featured prominently on the chassis and headrest of the F1 W04 Silver Arrow, the racesuits of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and on the team´s racewear kit.

Lewis Hamilton will get his first impression of the new car from a drivers perspective when he completes a few demonstration laps this afternoon.

 

All images © and Courtesy of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team launches 2013 spec C32-Ferrari car at Hinwil and live on the internet

The Sauber F1 team today launched its 2013 specification car designated the C32 powered by a Ferrari engine at its base in Hinwil, Switzerland and live on the internet at its own website and on YouTube.

The new car has a striking dark colour scheme and looks pleasantly sleek in its appearance. Unlike the other F1 cars launched this week the new Sauber seems to have a hybrid stepped nose design. That is, it has a stepped nose however it is not visible when viewed from the side as there are small raised fairings each side of the step meaning it is far less prominent and consequently more appealing to the eye..

As well as the nose section the car is noticeably slimmer around the sidepod area and at the back of the car, more so than its competitors designs. According to chief designer Matt Morris the airflow over this area dictated the design layout resulting in a radiator configuration that is very different to last years C31. As with last years car the engine, gearbox and KERS system are all supplied by Ferrari. The KERS system is last years design but has been optimised for packaging volume and weight. The rear axle is a totally new development and has been designed to better interact with the airflow around the rear of the car while further improving the management of the tyres.

The C32 was unveiled by the team’s new driver pairing of Nico Hulkenberg now going into his third season of F1 and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez who finished third in last year’s GP2 championship.

According to team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber now has a strong platform in place on which to build and continue its upward curve. The team improved last year by scoring 126 points compared to the 44 points scored in 2011.

 

All images courtesy Sauber Motorsport AG

Sauber F1 Team to launch C32 live online on 2nd February, links here

The Sauber F1 Team will launch its 2013 car the C32-Ferrari at Hinwil today 2nd February 2013 and live on the internet. Sauber will be the fifth F1 Team to unveil its F1 car this week following in the footsteps of Lotus, McLaren, Ferrari and Force India. The launch event will commence at 12.00 CET and you can be there by following either of the links below:

On the Sauber F1 Team website

http://www.sauberf1team.com/

or on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/sauberf1team

Sahara Force India F1 Team launches VJM06 at Silverstone

Sahara Force India F1 Team today launched its 2013 F1 challenger designated the VJM06 at a chilly Silverstone circuit. The new car does not feature the stepped nose so unpopular on last years cars. The VJM06 was given a single shakedown lap of the circuit after the unveiling ceremony driven by Paul Di Resta. Force India has yet to name its second driver and when pressed for details today inferred that it was unlikely an announcement would be made until the Barcelona F1 test.

Technical Director Andrew Green spoke about the new car and indicated that developments were halted from just after mid season last year to introduce stability to the platform and to enable the team to refine the car and really dial it in. He said “We focussed on trying to understand what the car was doing, where it differed from our models and, importantly how we worked the tyres. We used that extra knowledge for this years car and it helped quite a lot”.

He went on to explain that although the new car is a ground up redesign it is evolutionary rather than revolutionary and this is in part due to the stability of the regulations. On the subject of the new nose complete with fairing to hide last years “step” he said it was neutral in terms of performance but did tidy up the airflow over the top of the chassis.

Regarding winter testing Green indicated that the changes to the Pirelli tyres would present a big challenge and provide the main area of focus for the team to try to understand them before the season starts in Australia. He did say though that the suspension of the new car has been tuned for what was learned on the tyres last year so is configured differently with the changes aimed at better complementing them. He also said that the rear suspension is quite different  and that for aerodynamic reasons the whole thing has been lifted up to allow the airflow under the lower rear wishbones.

In a team press release Dr Vijay Mallya confirmed that the team is looking for land to build a state of the art wind tunnel and that greater CFD capacity for 2013 was already in place. He said the team was targetting podiums this year and that its first objective was to hit the ground running and have a strong start to the season, something that’s been a weakness for the last couple of years. On the teams second driver he said “We had a shortlist and have considered every driver who is available. We are very close to making our decision and I can assure you that we will arrive in Australia with one of the most exciting pairings on the grid”

There was good news from the team on the commercial front with two new partnerships announced, the first with TW Steel Watches now official timing partner to the team and secondly with Chatham Marine the UK’s leading boat shoes manufacturer. Both partnerships will lead to branded items from the team with TW Steel scheduled to produce  an official team watch range for retail worldwide and Chatham to produce a Sahara Force India branded shoe specially designed for the global retail market.

A selection of photos from the Silverstone launch can be seen below, including a few of last years car for comparison purposes.

 

 

The shots below are of last years car with the stepped nose.

Caterham F1 Team confirms Giedo van der Garde for 2013 race seat

Caterham F1 Team this afternoon confirmed that Dutchman Giedo van der Garde will complete their driver line up for the rapidly approaching 2013 F1 season. Van der Garde who was the teams reserve driver last season will join Charles Pic and his appointment closes the race seat door for Heikki Kovalainen.

Caterham described the move as a natural step for van der Garde who drove for the team in last years GP2 series scoring two race wins and six podiums as well as driving in free practice for the F1 team on six occasions. Van der Garde was praised by the team for his GP2 performance and his outright pace, technical feedback and his relationship with his engineers and mechanics. Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said “We continue to grow as a team and are committed to giving young talent across the motorsport industry the chance to grow with us and this is Giedo’s opportunity to show he deserves his place at the highest level of global motorsport. He and Charles have been team-mates before so he is an excellent choice to partner Charles in what is going to be another very interesting season, and we are all looking forward to seeing Giedo continue to progress as he takes on the ultimate challenge of F1”

By contrast Force India today announced that it would probably not release details of its second driver and team mate to Paul Di Resta until the Barcelona F1 test.

McLaren MP4-28 Photos from todays launch at the MTC

Following the launch today of the new McLaren F1 Team 2013 Challenger designated the MP4-28 the team has released some images of the event, a selection of which you can see below. There is also a pic of Jenson Button arriving in the McLaren road car designated the P1. The new F1 car is similar in appearance to its predecessor but we are reliably told it’s very different under the skin. What’s your first impression?

All images courtesy McLaren.

McLaren MP4-28 F1 Car to be launched live on the web from MTC Woking 31st January

MP4-28 McLaren’s 2013 specification F1 challenger will be unveiled tomorrow 31st January  commencing at 10.30 am at the Mclaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking and the event will also be broadcast Live on the Internet. If you want to watch the MP4-28 being unveiled you can do so in a variety of ways using the links below:

1. Via the McLaren website http://www.mclaren.com
2. On the McLaren YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialMcLarenVids
3. At the McLaren F1 google+ page at https://plus.google.com/+McLaren/posts
4. On the McLaren Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/vodafonemclarenmercedes
5. Or you can get up to the minute updates from the McLaren resident tweeter @TheFifthDriver
6. Of course you can also follow us on twitter @first4f1 we will tweet reminders nearer the time

Please continue reading to find details of other launches this week….

Lotus E21 Photos – First 2013 Specification F1 car unveiled

Following this evenings unveiling of the Lotus F1 Teams 2013 challenger images of the new car have now been made available. What is your view on the appearance of the new car?

Williams F1 Team retains Susie Wolff as Development Driver for 2013

The Williams F1 Team has confirmed that Susie Wolff will continue in her role as Development driver for the Team in 2013. Her role is set to expand this year with an increased programme in the Team’s simulator combined with a greater level on in-car testing. Susie will be the first to get behind the wheel of the FW35 when she drives the car at Idiada next month and will do the majority of the aerodynamic testing this season.

Prior to joining the Williams F1 Team she competed in the DTM Series for seven seasons and was twice nominated for the BRDC young driver of the year award.

F1 2013 Teams fill remaining seats – When?

Force India, Caterham and Marussia F1 Teams have yet to confirm their final driver lineups for the 2013 season and time is fast running out, why is this?

There are a number of potential reasons why this may be happening but the main ones are likely to be finance or sponsorship related followed by a pecking order. Of the three F1 Teams mentioned Marussia  F1 is almost certain to go for a pay driver as finance was the underlying reason for the recent departure of experienced star Timo Glock. With one rookie driver already (Max Chilton) the team must surely have a preference for an experienced pair of hands. Sahara Force India has been the subject of some media speculation recently surrounding finances although the team has strongly refuted the claims. The catalyst for this was probably press coverage of issues facing Kingfisher Airlines owned by team boss Dr Vijay Mallya. The situation stalling the remaining Team Caterham is more of a mystery. Of the three, the team most likely to be causing the hold up is Force India and being higher up the performance pecking order are likely to be the team making the first move in the chain. Anything could be holding this up, including the driver struggling to finalise his sponsorship package to secure the deal. Caterham and Marussia could well be awaiting the outcome of this before making their decisions as they would not want to miss out on a key driver should he slip through the fingers of the Silverstone based outfit. It all adds up to an intriguing picture but time is fast running out and launch season starts in earnest from Monday 28th January. Force India will be unveiling their car on Friday 1st February and although they are keeping their cards close to their chest surely they would want to announce their drivers at the same time. One other spin off of stalling of course is the extra attention that the unknown attracts to the teams by way of media coverage and this is of course fantastic for the sponsors and makes the big event even more eagerly anticipated.

Of the drivers remaining the most established ones are Heikki Kovalainen, Bruno Senna, Kamui Kobayashi, Vitaly Petrov, Adrian Sutil and possibly Jules Bianchi currently test driver for Force India. Kobayashi has reportedly given up hope of a drive and Kovalainen although not a pay driver is still in training according to his twitter feed! Adrian Sutil has past experience with Spyker / Force India and has been linked with the drive recently so is a possibility. Bruno Senna could also be a key player and would no doubt bring good sponsorship money and an attractive name with him. It’s not an easy one to second guess and ultimately the teams in question hold all of the cards, how long they will keep us waiting is open to debate but there are finite deadlines approaching fast, with as described above the launch season in the coming week, the first F1 2013 test at Jerez on the 5th February and the new season starting in Melbourne in 47 days time. Watch this space!