New Season 2013 - Car Launches/Unveiling

The new season is nearly here

Discuss the Teams F1 launches/Unveilings for the 2013 Formula One World Championship.

Lotus will officially kick off the build-up to the 2013 Formula 1 season tonight when it unveils its new E21.

The Enstone-based outfit is hoping that the new car builds on the momentum of its successful E20 - which delivered a victory in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen in Abu Dhabi last November. With only subtle changes to the regulations for this year, allied to the fact that Lotus managed to bounce back from a mid-season loss of momentum, team principal Eric Boullier told AUTOSPORT over the winter that he would be satisfied if his team could begin the new campaign in the same shape as it ended last year.

"I would be very happy to start the season with the same car performance we had last year relative to everyone else," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.

Lotus's car will be unveiled on its own YouTube channel at 7.15pm GMT. Following the Lotus' car launch tonight, McLaren will follow with its unveiling at its Woking factory on Thursday, before both Ferrari and Force India launch their cars on Friday.

Definitely a thumbs up for the slight livery change and more striking red elements. Looks a much more tightly compacted rear-end and I think Lotus' will certainly be competing at the front-end of the grid this season. BBC's Gary Anderson revealed, "There are bigger downforce-producing turning vanes - curved bodywork - on the bottom of the brake ducts and more at the front of the sidepods, which are reminiscent of those raced by Red Bull and Sauber at the end of last year. There is also a hint of Red Bull about the rear bodywork treatment around the exhaust''

Obviously, the car that was revealed yesterday will be vastly different to the one that lines up in Australia come March but it's a good start.

Lotus look set to be one of the top four teams again this year. I wonder if they can step up to the level of competing for titles? I am not so sure.

Nice looking car, though I thought the teams might have got rid of the stepped noses this season. Like the livery too.

Given that they appear to have essentially copied Red Bull's design from last season, for directing the exhaust gases at the rear of the chassis for extra downforce, I'd expect them to be a fair bit quicker. Expecting Kimi to get a few wins this season. Lotus could well be a top 4 runner, but I have a feeling one of the midfield runners such as Sauber, Williams or Toro Rosso might spring a few surprises.

Of course, I'm also hoping against hope that things at Mercedes aren't quite as bad as they seem...

New Ferrari looks beautiful and certainly a lot more pleasing that the 2012 model.

Now thats more like it. Maybe Lotus are bucking this season's trend by sticking with the stepped nose.

The McLaren looks quite similar to last season's car, albeit with a higher nose and more tightly sculpted back end. Sidepods have been restyled too. JB seems quite excited by it, which hopefully is a good sign.

The Ferrari is a work of art compared to last season's model. The esteemed Mr Anderson thinks they have made a lot of positive changes, the only potential problem being the ultra-aggressive rear bodywork. Looks a bit unusual as they've incorporated some black into the traditional livery.

Really like the look of the new Force India. Technically appears to be fairly conservative, with incremental improvements on last year's car. Hope its as fast as it looks and that Di Resta can start challenging for podium finishes. They've looked good in fits and starts the last few years but never been able to maintain performance over a race weekend.

Ferrari looks amazing hope its as good as it looks ! Come on Ferrari

Mclaren have the dullest livery ever -_- and the lotus looks pretty coll with the red tbh

dont mind the FI , hopefully Sauber have changed the livery from the awful white.

So far, I've been a little disappointed in the unveiling/launches compared to last season. This is probably because of the non-change in regulations, therefore the car designs are pretty much the same and there's been no major livery changes. The exception to this though is Mercedes, they've got to come up with something competitive and different to last season's design. I look forward to that launch.

i think the merc livery will be actually be the same with maybe more blue but thats about it, if any team changes think it will be Sauber which hopefully they do and please stop making TR and RB having the same design give TR some originality

Looks good tbh better then last years , will be good to see if they will be a threat to the big 5.

Red Bull tomro expect it to look the same as ever but with the new nose

That Sauber looks like it means business......or I'm hoping it does for Hulkenberg's chances this year. The designers and tech guys at Sauber seem to be very confident about the evolution of this car from what i've heard and those thin sidepods are interesting and different to the norm. Can't wait now for Red Bull & Mercedes. Hamilton must have his fingers crossed about this Merc. Getting exciting now.

i like the dash of purple tbh think it makes look a bit better then how it usually looks, dislike the nose though

Torro Rosso is hopefully different as well and sepreates it from the redbull

Michael Schmidt, the correspondent for the specialist German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, was one of those at Jerez getting an early first glimpse at the silver car.

"The first impression is disappointing," he said.

"At first glance the car seems quite conservative, with long and relatively crude sidepods.

"With a first look we could not see any major innovations."

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/02/04/mercedes-w04-launch-pictures/ - more pictures

Interesting design, nose very platypus looking. According to Gary Anderson of the BBC it's relatively negative views upon the car.

''At first glance I can't see where the 'step change in performance' Mercedes are talking about is going to come from with their new car. The nose has the allowed 'vanity panel' to hide the height difference between nose tip and chassis. If you put little ridges on either side of the nose, that can help prevent air spilling over the side. But the way Mercedes have designed their nose it looks like it will exacerbate that problem, which affects the aerodynamics detrimentally''.

"The sidepods have a raised outer edge. It's aimed at getting air to the rear but it creates lift, and then there are turning vanes on top to reduce the lift. So that confuses me a little. They are trying to use the exhaust for aerodynamic effect at the back, but there is an awful lot of bodywork back there which will block the airflow and reduce the effectiveness of the 'coke-bottle' shape, which is what gives overall downforce, as opposed to the on-throttle downforce you get from the exhausts''.

"Unlike the McLaren, which looked a step forward in every area, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm seeing anything too exciting about the Mercedes."

I know it's early and we saw how far Ferrari came back from last season's early woes and poor testing performance, so I guess it's a waiting game now. If this isn't competitive for Hamilton then this season will be disappointing for me because F1 needs the competition and the best drivers at the front.

It's quite interesting... Most things I've read about the new McLaren suggest it is a good step forwards, but I actually have a friend who works for McLaren, and he says otherwise.

He says the consensus around the factory is that they haven't put together a great car this year, and they will struggle to keep up with the other top teams. Apparently the car needs a lot of work, because a few of their ideas just haven't panned out as expected.

I guess we'll find out whether he's right over the next few days!

Not very heartening news on the Mercedes launch.

Quite a nice looking car and a very nice paint job, but from what Gary Anderson says in the BBC's article, it seems their design philosophy is a tad confused and that some of the elements could actually work against each other, rather than improve the car's performance.

I hope that either Mr Anderson is wrong, or that Mercedes discover any problems early on in testing and make a few substantial changes before the first race.

What he actually had to say

"At first glance I can't see where the 'step change in performance' Mercedes are talking about is going to come from with their new car.

"There are a few changes here and there, but not necessarily in ways that look like they will be a big advantage.

"One area that is definitely working a bit harder is the front brake ducts, which are more elaborate.

"The nose has the allowed 'vanity panel' to hide the height difference between nose tip and chassis. If you put little ridges on either side of the nose, that can help prevent air spilling over the side. But the way Mercedes have designed their nose it looks like it will exacerbate that problem, which affects the aerodynamics detrimentally.

"The sidepods have a raised outer edge. It's aimed at getting air to the rear but it creates lift, and then there are turning vanes on top to reduce the lift. So that confuses me a little.

"They are trying to use the exhaust for aerodynamic effect at the back, but there is an awful lot of bodywork back there which will block the airflow and reduce the effectiveness of the 'coke-bottle' shape, which is what gives overall downforce, as opposed to the on-throttle downforce you get from the exhausts

It doesn't sound promising from Mercedes and being a former designer im not going to argue with him

Like the look of the new Sauber. Still got my fingers crossed for Merc - plenty of scribes on the sidelines taking potshots already but not gonna get too downbeat because just like Alan Hanson and co on MOTD the're on the sofa, not in the dug out! Will get a clearer picture at Barcelona.

One thing - will have to look twice at the Mercs this season if both drivers are sporting similar helmets.

not really a fan of the merc and how it looks torro rosso have reveled there car too, oh do we find out tomro whos is de resta partner as well as the cathram and marrussia though they will probs look the same. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105403

McLaren have already had to stop Button for a fuel pump failure on day one of the test. Poor reliability showing already, typical McLaren. Thank God Hamilton has left.

Loving the new Sauber, looks a great car and I think Hulkenberg could surprise some people this year. Anyone seen Kimi Raikkonen's customised steering-wheel with the buttons, 'mute' & 'ice cream' being labelled.....classic Kimi.

I like the way you've left out the Mercedes breaking down when complaining about Mclaren's reliability Tbf neither mean anything just the use bugs they run out before the season starts

Oh dear.....Rosberg's day is officially over with that electrical fault which resulted in a fire

Early days guys calm down. Liking the new Marussia

Liking the look of the Toro Rosso. Seems they've made a few good tweaks and also used a McLaren style exhaust. They're gonna have to hope it goes as well as it looks if they're serious about targeting a top 6 finish.

Have to say I'm disappointed with the Caterham. Looks more like a soap box racer than an F1 car. Here's hoping its performance is totally at odds with its looks, or else they could be this season's HRT. Apparently they aren't going to make any major changes over the season either. Gary Anderson wasn't too enthusiastic in his analysis. Equally disappointed with their very unambitious goal for a "modest improvement".

Like the look of the Marussia - the front end looks quite similar to the Mercedes, although the wing looks a good bit higher. GA reckons its a nice tidy package, with scope for improvement over the season.

The new Red Bull is a nicer looking beast than last season. At first I thought they'd kept the stepped nose (and in a way they have) but they've given the stepped area more of a slope and blended it with the cockpit area slightly better. Surprised at how much of the rear section is exposed - almost looks like they forgot to put some bodywork on. GA says he doesn't see too many changes from last season, but given how far ahead they were, I suppose they didn't feel the need to mess with a winning package that much.

The Sauber looks quite striking in its new livery (but perhaps a little too similar to the Mercedes). Like the unusual nose design, but GA doesn't think it'll help the front aerodynamics much. He also reckons abandoning their usual exhaust design in favour of a McLaren style one is a bit of a gamble. Hope it pays off...

Caterham are a disgrace, anything Tony Fernandes is involved in is a farce.....just look a QPR. Marussia does look a significant improvement with Pat Symonds working there and I just wish they had a stronger financial package to really give it a go and challenge the midfield.

Not a great start for Mercedes but it is early days, I will reserve judgement until after the second test because that's when the experts can really analyse the data and understand how competitive each car really is.

The Red Bull looks great as always, fully expect Vettel to start strong. That's the problem, last year with the new regulations Red Bull struggled early doors and then developed throughout the year while it's rivals faulted. This year they start favourites and have a car which is probably the fastest. Ominous

Looking forward to SkySportsF1 tonight at 9pm for the overview and Ted's Notebook. Hopefully Hamilton has no issues tomorrow and they get more than 11 laps of running.

Results from the 1st day of testing

1 Button McLaren 1m18.861s 37
2 Webber Red Bull 1m19.709s +0.848 73
3 Grosjean Lotus 1m19.796s +0.935 54
4 di Resta Force India 1m20.343s +1.482 89
5 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m20.401s +1.540 70
6 Massa Ferrari 1m20.536s +1.675 64
7 Hulkenberg Sauber 1m20.699s +1.838 79
8 Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.846s +1.985 11
9 Maldonado Williams 1m20.864s +2.003 84
10 vd Garde Caterham 1m21.915s +3.054 64
11 Chilton Marussia 1m24.176s +5.315 29

John wrote:Hopefully Hamilton has no issues tomorrow and they get more than 11 laps of running.

hope so - they must have lost out on a shed load of data today when you consider that force india and williams banged in about 160 laps between them. With no real in-season testing these days pre-season is vital.

Hamilton has put it in the barrier after a loss of brake pressure, There's a lot of bugs you can get but that's generally a very serious one

Very concerning all these issues for Mercedes and now its a malfunction on the rear-caliper brake line. Hamilton was looking reasonably good behind the wheel before the issue happened but once again more setbacks. Hamilton & Rosberg have only managed a handful of laps which is the big problem for the team's data gathering and understanding the finer details of this car. Already on the back foot with only doing less than 30 laps in two days.

Further Update - Mercedes' director of Motorsport Toto Wolff tells Sky Sports: "We want to sort out things properly and it looks like we are not going to back out today. You want to get as much mileage as possible but this is still the first test and no need to be desperate."

You can already tell that the Lotus has made significant steps forward over the winter.

Max Chilton FTW

I'm just surprised that Williams' 2012 car is setting times only 2 seconds slower than the McLaren.

Of course, you can't read too much into pre-season testing, but I'll be interested to see how their new car fares when its launched at Barcelona.

For those that haven't heard Sky will be showing the last test live on Sky f1 and also on sky 3d

It's about time they started showing testing

Rosberg banging in the laps today & looking consistently good. Hamilton getting a new front wing on friday, looking more promising for Mercedes. I think they will be there or thereabouts come australia, maybe third to fourth row which will make Hamilton a danger.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m17.879s 85
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.766s +0.887 148
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m19.052s +1.173 102
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m19.200s +1.321 40
5. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.247s +1.368 85
6. James Rossiter Force India 1m19.303s +1.424 42
7. Jenson Button McLaren 1m19.603s +1.724 83
8. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m19.934s +2.055 110
9. Max Chilton Marussia 1m21.269s +3.390 78
10. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m21.575s +3.696 86
11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m22.352s +4.473 57
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.729s +5.850 7

End of day 4 -
COMPLETED LAPS
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 145
2 Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) 142
3 Charles Pic (Caterham) 109
4 Sergio Perez (McLaren) 97
5 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 96
6 Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) 92
7 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 91
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) 82
9 Luiz Razia (Marussia) 81
10 Jules Bianchi (Force India) 56
11 Pedro de la Rosa (Ferrari) 50
12 Paul di Resta (Force India) 49

FINAL LAP TIMES
1 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) 1m18.148s
2 Jules Bianchi (Force India) 1m18.175s
3 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1m18.565s
4 Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), 1m18.669s
5 Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) 1m18.760s
6 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1m18.905s
7 Sergio Perez (McLaren), 1m18.944s
8 Valtteri Bottas (Williams), 1m19.851s
9 Pedro de la Rosa (Ferrari), 1m20.316s
10 Charles Pic (Caterham), 1m21.105s
11 Luiz Razia (Marussia), 1m21.226s
12 Paul di Resta (Force India), 1m23.435s

Day 1 Test 2

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.616s 54 Medium
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m22.672s + 0.007s 44 Medium
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.952s + 0.336s 110 Medium
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m22.965s + 0.349s 66 Medium
5. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m23.733s + 1.117s 86 Soft
6. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.884s + 1.268s 73 Hard
7. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m24.124s + 1.508s 77 Medium
8. Paul di Resta Force India 1m24.144s + 1.528s 82 Medium
9. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m25.124s + 2.508s 68 Hard
10. Max Chilton Marussia 1m26.747s + 4.131s 65 Soft
11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m27.534s + 4.918s 49 Hard

1. Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.848

2. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault 1:22.197

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus-Renault 1:22.697

4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:22.726

5. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:23.247

6. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault 1:23.561

7. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.718

8. Paul di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes 1:23.971

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.205

10. Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth 1:25.115

11. Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham-Renault 1:26.243

Lap Completed

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 121
Charles Pic (Caterham) 102
Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 98
Sergio Perez (McLaren) 97
Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)88
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)84
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)76
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) 70
Max Chilton (Marussia) 66
Paul di Resta (Force India) 62
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) 43

Interesting. I still think it's quite clear that Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus are the top 3 with Ferrari just behind. Mercedes are there or thereabouts and Hamilton has been doing some good times and showing more reliability. They seem to be complaining about the tyres and the degradation. Could be the cold temperatures but Pirelli know that the unpredictable races and strategy had gone by the end of 2012, therefore they may have created a tyre which will try and recreate that drama of early 2012 and producing multiple winners.

Have to say I'm liking the look of the 2013 Williams.

According to Gary Anderson there's nothing particularly fancy or innovative, but that there is plenty of good, solid engineering that looks as though they should make good strides in terms of performance.

Spoiler:

Williams Confident of Improvement in 2013

Looking at the lap times from testing, its interesting to note both Maldonado and Valtteri have posted times in the top 6.

1 Alonso Ferrari 1m21.875s
2 Hulkenberg Sauber 1m22.160s +0.285
3 Grosjean Lotus 1m22.188s +0.313
4 Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.611s +0.736
5 Maldonado Williams 1m22.675s +0.800
6 Bottas Williams 1m22.826s +0.951
7 Button McLaren 1m22.840s +0.965
8 Sutil Force India 1m22.877s +1.002
9 Webber Red Bull 1m23.024s +1.149
10 Vergne Toro Rosso 1m23.366s +1.491
11 Chilton Marussia 1m25.690s +3.815
12 van der Garde Caterham 1m26.177s +4.302

Interesting that Merc havent set a time on softs after 3 days of tests (unless they did - but with high fuel). Looks like they are concentrating soley on their achilles heel of tyre degridation in the race. Also notice Buttons top time was a 10th off Hamiltons on the same hard tyre. Different track temp and we don't know the fuel loads but Hami fans may just be in for a pleasant surprise. Fingers crossed.

@Steve - what are you hearing about the tyres, apparently a lot of negative talk coming from the drivers. Basically one lap then they are immediately going off quicker than last years. Hope we are not going to see a lot of conserving this season

John - it seems this years tyres will have a larger operating window but are more crumbly - at least for the start of the season as it looks like they want to repeat the 'lottery' for the first few races with lots of pitstops. However it seems that todays problems were more to do with graining because of the cold temperatures as opposed to actual drop off. Aussie will be warmer so graining shouldnt be quite as bad. Of the times that I've seen it looks like Red Bull and Lotus were the most consistent over 12 or so laps.