Category: Motor Racing

The 2014 world champions Mercedes AMG Formula 1 have officially unveiled its W06 Hybrid at Jerez, ahead of the first pre-season test.

Mercedes hopes that this car can help defend their drivers’ and constructors’ crowns in the upcoming Formula 1 season, as testing kicks off.

“The launch of a new car is an exciting moment for everybody involved,” said Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “To see the product of all that hard work turn a wheel for the first time is a great source of pride – and rightly so.

“However, there is a long road ahead before we reach the first race. We must build a fast, reliable racing car to be able to compete with rivals whose ability and competitiveness can never be underestimated. At this point, every team is on zero points.”

The Silver Arrows completed a brief shakedown run earlier at Silverstone and the social media channel released a few initial ‘spyshots’ of the W06 Hybrid.

Title-winner Lewis Hamilton and championship runner-up Nico Rosberg tried the W06 Hybrid during the Silverstone run, with Rosberg set to carry out the first full test at Jerez before handing over to his team-mate for more development work.

This is the new Scuderia Toro Rosso STR10 unveiled on the eve of the pre-season Formula 1 testing at Jerez.

The Renault-powered STR10 will be driven by all new line-up featuring two youngsters in the shape of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen.

It’s a big risk from Toro Rosso to have two Formula 1 rookies. An experienced hand would have helped but the team decided not to retain Jean-Eric Vergne. As for promising Daniil Kvyat, he has been promoted to the Red Bull Racing for 2015.

Scuderia Toro Rosso’s team boss Franz Tost has declared the “unique” STR10 the best race car yet.

“I am convinced it will be the best car we have ever built at Toro Rosso,” he said.

There has been a lot of hard work and a lot of investment in a unique design.

“The design looks clean. And if it looks clean and nice it should be fast.”

Carlos Sainz Jr will have the unique opportunity to shakedown the STR10 first come pre-season testing on February 1.

The most famous motor racing outfit has unveil their 2015 challenger with the SF15-T.

Ferrari hopes that this new Formula 1 car can get back into the winning circle thanks to a driver line-up in the shape of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

After a disappointing 2014 season that has prompted a major management and staffing overhaul, the Maranello-based outfit is determined that the changes it has made will help move it back up the grid.

The James Allison-designed SF15-T features a long protruding nose and an aggressive sidepod concept.

Allison has commented that the main focus from the team is to resolve the issue regarding the “unacceptably large gap in our performance” last season, when Ferrari failed to win a race for the first time since 1993.

“We’ve tried to make sure the weaknesses we felt were particularly notable on the ’14 car were put right for the ’15 car,” he said.

Allison added that the team have made major gains with the packaging of the car at the rear.

“The back of the car is something that is noticeably different from the 2014 car where we have been successful in pulling the bodywork much tighter to everything underneath the skin,” he explained.

“That’s been done through a lot of work not just in the wind tunnel but also in the design heart of the company to try and find radiator designs that were fundamentally more efficient. So for every square centimetre of radiator we’re able to extract more cooling this year than last and therefore able to close the car down at the back significantly.”

The front of the SF15-T features a long, smooth nose which is familiar from other designs which have already appeared following another change in the regulations.

“I think all the cars on the grid this year are going to be more appealing around the front,” said Allison, “because after after a few years of trying I think we’ve finally invented a regulation that gets what we wanted from a safety point of view but also doesn’t create the rather unappealing features of the last few years”.

“So I think everyone will look a lot prettier from the front and the 2015 Ferrari is, I think, nice in that regard.”

New signing Sebastian Vettel will be given the unique opportunity to shakedown the car in the first official run at Jerez.

This is the new bold look for Sauber. The familiar fifty shade of grey over the last couple of seasons has been replaced by blue as the team unveiled images of its new C34 online.

Following a disappointing 2014 Formula 1 campaign, where it failed to score a single world championship point, the Swiss-based outfit is hoping it can rediscover the form that had it fighting for podiums in previous seasons.

Sauber has opted for a fresh new look for the 2015 championship ahead, with its colour scheme switching from white and grey to blue and yellow.

The Ferrari-powered car also has a striking nose design – featuring a more rounded front edge than seen on the other 2015 cars so far.

Sauber’s design team has focused on three areas for improvement over last year’s car: better performance in slow-speed corners, weight reduction and improved braking stability.

The car features slimmer sidepods compared to the C33, and the team has overhauled its radiator concept and now mounted them horizontally.

Packaging around the rear of the car is much tighter, and Sauber’s quest to get under the weight limit to allow maximum ballast has been boosted by the raising of F1’s minimum weight limit to 702kg.

The team also has an all-new driver line-up for 2015, as Marcus Ericsson joins Formula 1 rookie Felipe Nasr in place of Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez.

Ericsson will be the first man to drive the car when he takes to the track at Jerez on Sunday.

Sauber plans to use an interim version of the car for the first test, which will include some parts still from the C33. These will be replaced with bespoke 2015 components ahead of the season.

The 2014 Formula 1 champions provided a sneak view of their new race car during a shakedown test with the W06 Hybrid at Silverstone.

Mercedes hopes that this new car can defend their constructors’ title as well as giving the chance for Lewis Hamilton to seek his third drivers’ championship.

These images were provided by the outfit’s social media channel as Mercedes conducted a filming day with Nico Rosberg and champion Hamilton behind the wheel.

The W06 Hybrid covered 18 laps in icy conditions at the home of British motor racing.

Mercedes will officially launch the 2015 challenger on the first day of pre-season testing at Jerez on February 1.

The famous Formula 1 team and motor manufacturer are reunited for the upcoming season. This is the new McLaren-Honda MP4-30 which was unveiled on the team’s social media network.

The Woking-based outfit hopes that progress in its design structure, as well as its new relationship with Honda, can help Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso move back to the competitive end of the grid.

The silver, red and black race car features a long low nose design without the thumb extension seen on the Williams FW37 – and a tightly packaged rear end around the new power unit.

It also features a split roll-hoop inlet. The MP4-30 has been heavily influenced by chief engineer Peter Prodromou, who arrived at McLaren from Red Bull Racing.

Honda is returning to Formula 1 after a six-year absence, and is renewing a relationship with McLaren that delivered multiple victories and world titles from 1988 to 1992.

Honda’s motorsport chief Yasuhira Arai said that the design of the MP4-30 was one of no-compromise as the Japanese manufacturer bid to make a success of its return.

“As you can see with the new MP4-30, we’ve dedicated ourselves as one team with McLaren to creating a new car that compromises on nothing – either power or aerodynamics,” he said.

“Yet, in the midst of the excitement, both myself and our engineers are 100 per cent focused in both Sakura and Milton Keynes to prepare for Jerez and beyond. We’re confident that the technology is there, and I’m looking forward to see how it will perform.

“We’re about to commence a long season, with numerous challenges, but Honda is determined to face them head-on. After all, we’re here to drive Formula 1’s technology forward and give our fans a thrilling ride.”

With Fernando Alonso back to McLaren after a period with Renault (2008-2009) and Ferrari (2010-2014), the double world champion hope that this car can deliver that third title. As for Jenson Button, this is a great opportunity for him to remain commitment to the sport despite the off-season rumors of retirement.

It’s going to be a fascinating to see if this experience world champion partnership, along with the Honda engine, will return back to the glory days. Huge expectations is on everyone at McLaren to succeed and win that elusive championship this season.

Lotus F1 became the third team to unveil their 2015 challenger by releasing images of the new Mercedes-powered E23 Hybrid via social media.

The Enstone-based outfit are hoping that this new car will a be more competitive following a disappointing 2014 championship. A switch to a new engine manufacturer is certainly a positive step.

In addition, Lotus has spend much of last season consolidating its finances and restructuring its technical organisation so as to ensure that it returned to form this year.

The E23 Hybrid looks very beautiful, especially the front nose. This is a major contrast to that ugly and now-outlawed twin-tusk concept in 2014.

Lotus technical director Nick Chester described the car, which will be powered by Mercedes’ V6 hybrid turbo, as “a massive step forward”.

“It’s no secret that we struggled with last year’s car so we’ve targeted every area that caused us an issue,” he said. “We’ve made strong progress in the wind tunnel as well as in areas such as packaging and cooling.”

“We expect the E23 to perform far, far better than its predecessor.”

Chester said the new power unit “looks to be the one area of the car which could bring us the greatest performance gain”.

“It’s not just performance, but reliability and driveability as well as packaging and cooling too,” he explained.

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado have been retained for another season while the first shakedown of the new car will take place at Jerez, as part of pre-season testing.

Fingers crossed the E23 goes as quicly as it looks at the race tracks this season.

This is the new striking livery for Force India as the Silverstone-based team unveiled it’s new look for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

The colour scheme is predominantly silver and black, with flashes of orange. The look is very similar to the McLaren-Mercedes when it was sponsored by West cigarettes back in the early 2000s.

Just like the Williams FW37, the Force India has the 2015-spec nose, to comply with this season’s FIA rules.

By looking closer at the Mercedes-powered car, the VJM08 features a modified sculpting of the sidepods, new cooling intakes, and a revised rear suspension layout with a hydro-mechanical system replacing the torsion springs.

Technical director Andrew Green commented that the change in regulations at the front of the car had “caused a loss in terms of downforce and we’ve been working to claw back all that performance”. The front of the VJM08 has been lowered compared to the 2014 design.

Team principal Vijay Mallya said he hoped that 2015 would give an opportunity for Force India to challenge the big teams again, after it came close to beating McLaren last season in the constructors’ championship.

Hello there, gorgeous! #TheNewForce pic.twitter.com/ND9j0oN4zd

— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) January 21, 2015

“The 2015 car is a refinement of what we learned in 2014,” said Mallya, ahead of drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg pulling the covers off the car.

“Another major step forward is the technology change, in that we are now using a 60 per cent windtunnel in Cologne, Germany which is a far bigger step than we have ever taken before.

“Traditionally we have been in Brackley, England, where we used to develop our car with a 50 per cent model and an outdated windtunnel.

“With this new and important tool available to use, we hope the 2015 challenger will really prove its worth in competing with the big boys of F1 when we start the European season.

“We are lucky to have two exceptional drivers who will hopefully steer the Sahara Force India challenger to the front of the grid, and hopefully a few podiums during the current year.”

The driver line-up remains the same for this season with Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg. Both are determined to challenge the top teams in the upcoming championship.

Force India enjoys greater backing from Mexican companies in 2015 ahead of the return of Mexico’s round of the Formula 1 World Championship on November 1. Alcohol brand Jose Cuervo has joined the team from Sauber alongside Claro and Telcel which are both part of the America Movil telecommunications group.

The first official image of the 2015-spec Formula 1 racing car has been revealed courtesy of a tweet featuring the Mercedes-powered Williams FW37.

The FW37, which was fired up for the first time earlier today by the team at their factory, appears on the front cover of February’s issue of F1 Racing magazine.

The most distinctive feature on the new race car is the radically shortened nose tip, designed to comply with the revised 2015 regulations.

Martini Racing continues to be the main sponsor with addition partners featuring Rexona and Hackett.

Williams are hoping the FW37 can continue the previous season’s success after numerous podium finishes which resulted in third place in the constructors’ standings.

Hopefully that elusive first win with Mercedes power and running the iconic Martini Racing colours will come in this year’s Formula 1 championship.

The FW37 revealed in this week's @F1Racing_mag with a feature on the making of inside: pic.twitter.com/vw8Fnr63al

— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) January 20, 2015

Following months of speculation, McLaren have confirmed that Fernando Alonso will return to the team, with Jenson Button retained for another Formula 1 season.

The announcement was made at a special media briefing at McLaren’s Woking headquarters.

It was well-known that Fernando Alonso will be back racing for McLaren after five difficult and frustration seasons with Scuderia Ferrari. But a decision on his team-mate meant a delay to the announcement on the 2015 line-up.

Debate raged within the team over whether the 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button’s greater experience should be preferred to rookie Kevin Magnussen’s longer-term potential.

A decision on the final driver line-up had been anticipated ahead of the season-finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but an announcement was twice delayed as agreement failed to materialise at boardroom level.

Button, 34, who recently described McLaren’s indecision over its 2015 driver line-up as “strange”, was ultimately given chance to prolong his career.

The decision means Magnussen, 22, will be left without a race seat in Formula 1 next year, but the Woking team said he would be retained as a reserve, test driver.

Alonso said the discussion for him to return to McLaren began over a year ago. “Over the past year I have received several offers, some of them really tempting, given the current performance of some of the teams that showed interest,” he said.

“But, more than a year ago, McLaren-Honda contacted me and asked me to take part, in a very active way, in the return of their partnership – a partnership that dominated the Formula One scene for so long.”

Alonso added he is excited to be following the footsteps of Ayrton Senna, who won all three of his world championships in a McLaren-Honda.

“I have never hidden my deep admiration for Ayrton Senna, my favourite driver, my idol on track, my reference,” he said.

“I still remember, as a kid, the posters in my wardrobe, my toy cars in which I dreamed I would one day emulate Ayrton, and the kart that my father built for my older sister, and that I ended up falling in love with.

“That kart had the livery of one of the most legendary partnerships in the history of Formula One, McLaren-Honda, the car that Ayrton drove, the same partnership to which I am now honoured to join, to take part in the next Formula One world championship.”

McLaren will therefore join Ferrari in having world champions in both their cars next year. “As regards drivers, McLaren’s policy has always been to assemble the strongest line-up possible,” said Ron Dennis, “and in Fernando and Jenson I firmly believe that is exactly what we have.”

“I can safely say that we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula One team,” Dennis added.

“Being a part of new-look McLaren-Honda is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, and I am very pleased to have been invited to do my bit. In fact, I am absolutely raring to go,” said Jenson Button.

“I am also very glad that Kevin will remain part of the team. He is a very quick driver and a really nice guy.

“Looking forward, I know the Honda guys well, having driven Formula 1 cars powered by their engines from 2003 to 2008.

“I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for them, and promise to give 100 per cent to make their partnership with McLaren a success.

“Last but far from least, I am very much looking forward to having a driver as fast and as experienced as Fernando as my team-mate. I am sure we will work extremely well together.”

McLaren chairman Ron Dennis said the chance to pair proven world champions Alonso and Button was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“Fernando and Jenson have started a combined total of precisely 500 grands prix between them – a mighty aggregate – and have won 47 of them,” he said.

“I can safely say, therefore, that we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula 1 team.

“I want to thank and pay tribute to Kevin, who has done a great job this season and will continue to be an integral part of our team.

“He will be our test, reserve and third driver, and remains an excellent prospect for the future.”

So an exciting line-up in the shape of two champions. Fernando Alonso returns to the team following that fallout over Spygate back in 2007 and it will be fascinating to see how the double world champion can get along with Ron Dennis now.

As for Jenson Button, it seems the amount of support on social media has convince the McLaren team to retain him for another chance in Formula 1. Button has still got the drive to succeed and it’s going to be exciting to see how he will fare against Alonso.

But it’s a tough blow for Kevin Magnussen. After showing so much promising in his debut season, Magnussen has been sidelined to a test, reserved driver. Can he make a return to Formula 1 in the near future? Perhaps but a certain GP2 star is making waves and could take over, so Keven needs to watch out for Stoffel Vandoorne…