You'll Definitely Spot It!

The first thing you notice about the new Renault R30 is the colour scheme - it's bold to say the least. However, looking a little closer gives cause to be mildly optimistic.

Make no mistake; I don't think that this new Renault will be a world champion. It's a little harsh to write something off before it has even racked up one lap but it doesn't LOOK as quick as either the McLaren MP4-25 or Ferrari F10. Having said that, it does look (aerodynamically at least) better than last year's car.

In my opinion, the R29 never looked like it could win races and so it was proved - this car, I think could be the first dark horse of the new season.

As with the Sauber, I think that this car is a lot less developed than the Ferrari and McLaren but it is smooth and neat. There are obvious changes to the nose of this car when compared to its predecessor and these changes make the whole package seem much more aesthetically pleasing on the eye. As with the McLaren and Sauber, Renault have added a shark fin on the engine cover and the sidepods seem sleek like the Ferrari's.

There are no other notable aerodynamic features to this car but another reason to be optimistic came from (technical director) Bob Bell when he said that this car often beats the targets set for it in the wind tunnel. Maybe Renault has found something?

I'm struggling to predict how well this car will do but let's hope that its performance shouts louder than its colours and that Robert Kubica and (new signing) Vitaly Petrov are fighting at the front of the midfield.

P.s. Petrov was runner-up in the GP2 series last year. He becomes the first Russian F1 driver and apparently brings sponsorship money with him to Renault.

Sauber - The Colour Scheme Says it All.

This was probably the lowest key car launch I have seen for a long time. Nonetheless, introducing the (BMW-in name alone) Sauber C29.

Peter Sauber could never really hope to emulate the success Brawn had last year, but when BMW announced that they would be leaving the sport, he moved hell and high water to ensure that his team lived on. The trouble is that, unlike Honda, BMWs exit became clear at a much earlier part of car development than with last year's Brawn car. The problem with this is that it means that the whole development of this year's Sauber slowed at a very early stage - at least it didn't stop entirely. The lack of development tells though.

This team is the proud owner of possibly 'the' most advanced wind tunnel in F1 (this is why BMW took it over in the first place) and to that end, any car they produce should be very efficient aerodynamically. However, with no sponsor (Peter Sauber had been hoping for the Petronas sponsorship that went to Mercedes) the team simply cannot afford to run the wind tunnel as much as they need. Add to this the fact that last year's BMW wasn't the best - and it becomes evident that most of the budget would have been spent understanding what was wrong with the previous car rather than finding innovative solutions for this year's.

All of this has led to a car which can be best described as minimalist. It echoes the Ferrari in the way that the sidepods are as small as possible but it doesn't have the sleek, efficient look of the Red car. There is a shark fin over the engine cover but it doesn't have the intricate complexities of the McLaren. The nose overhangs the front wing by quite a way but it is wide and unrefined rather than pointy and purposeful (like the Ferrari) or aggressive and advanced (like the McLaren). It is definitely way behind with its paint job too.

Overall, this car is probably a solid base and reflects how I imagine the first iterations of most 2010 cars looked in the design phase. The problem is that I think that all of the major constructors will be ahead when they hit the testing tracks in the next couple of weeks and if Renault, Williams and Force India have made gains over the off season then it could be a difficult year for the Swiss team. On the plus side, the Ferrari engine should stand them in good stead against the unproven Cosworth and underpowered Renault.

I see this car being in the lower end of the points, particularly at the start of the year, but with no investment it could be difficult to keep up with the development race and could find itself in the lower mid-field by the end.

Maybe survival and attracting a new partner for 2011 would be a success this year.

McLaren Stick With Tradition and Go 'Radical'

The MP4-25 is one of the cars that I have been looking forward to seeing the most; not just because it is the car on which national hopes sit (with Lewis and Jenson as drivers), but because McLaren are ALWAYS aggressive in their car design. They haven't disappointed.

Where Ferrari produced a car that could best be described as neat and efficient, the McLaren looks like something that Q could have invented for James Bond - striking and attractive but riddled with gadgets primed to take out the enemy. From front to back, I get the feeling that this car is at the limits of the rulebook and that could be a good omen for the Woking team.

The front wing shows delicate and intricate engineering - extra levels on the wing that you know will be effective at levelling the ratio of grip between the front and rear tyres (remember that the extra weight over the rear from the bigger fuel tank could otherwise unbalance the car). The nose appears to be a hybrid of last year's McLaren and Red Bull; aggressive and yet not the most striking part of the car. The sidepods are the polar opposite to the Ferrari's - these are small but not sleek; rather they drop off as soon as they can so that the engine cover makes up the remainder of the rear shell. Then there is the most advance 'shark fin' that I have seen. This gives the appearance of a very short car but I'm sure that the rear stability gained from attaching the fin to the rear wing is the bigger driving force for the design.

Then there is the stuff you can't see - (team boss) Martin Whitmarsh eluded to how there have been big changes to the new diffuser but, like Ferrari yesterday, McLaren kept it covered. This will be where the teams that missed out last year will make up most ground and you could find that the diffuser is as big an issue this year as last.

My verdict?

McLaren has stuck with its philosophy of being at the limit of the rules and it is clear that with no KERS to distract them they have made great strides aerodynamically this year. Make no mistake, this car could well be the most developed straight out of the box - and if it's not then you wouldn't bet against it being the most developed by the time that Bahrain comes around.

From what I have seen (not to mention the rumours that Ferrari are already considering the need for a B-spec car; they don't seem confident) I would have to predict that this McLaren would be better than the F10 from yesterday. Only time will tell but I would now put the McLaren drivers as favourite for the title.

A New Start...

You get the feeling that 2008 took quite a lot out of Ferrari; losing the driver's championship at the last turn of the last race must have hurt badly. Then came 2009, a car burdened by a simple lack of time put into it - Ferrari didn't spot the double diffuser loophole. Then came Massa's accident and the ill-fated Badoer incident, the removal of Raikkonen and the 'treason' of Michael Schumacher.

The win in Belgium may have spared blushes but the report card for the season would have read: C, distinctly average - must do better.

So, to 2010. This morning, the worlds press got to see the new F10 in all its glory.

At first glance, the new car doesn't seem as radical a departure from its predecessor as I expected. However, the more I look at it, the more I can see just how refined this car appears to be. The sidepods are neater, smoother and tighter. The nose is sleek and elegant but yet purposeful. The wheelbase is longer, of course, but this is to accommodate the bigger fuel tank required this year. There are humps on top of the nose - emulating the design of last year's Red Bull and the overriding impression is efficient.

The colour scheme is that of all Ferraris; red - but there has been thought given as to how best to advertise (new sponsor) Santander and the final look is that of a car which is maybe more grown up than the 2009 model.

How do I think it will run?

It certainly seems that this year Ferrari have concentrated on what they want the car to do. They won't have been sidetracked by KERS and the double diffuser should be bigger and better integrated into the design of the car (rather than just an add on). It is not the most beautiful car I have ever seen and I doubt that it will be the cleverest design out there this year. This may be a good thing though - remember, at the end of last year the gap between the top and bottom teams was tiny (roughly 1 second). If Ferrari have made a car as efficient as it looks then it should be very drivable for Alonso and Massa - not to mention easy to set up. This bodes well for the races.

So, my overall impression is that of optimism (if you are a Ferrari fan); I can see this car winning races and being in the hunt but I'm not sure whether it is exciting enough to be the overall champion. This car is a very sensible revolution for the Ferrari team; a good base to improve upon but 'sensible' isn't very Italian - where is the passion. True racing is all about passion.

On Your Marks...

I feel like a kid; for me the season starts tomorrow. I know that the first race isn't until 14th March but when the covers come off of 2010s first car in the morning it will seem like the racing has already begun.

Mercedes provided a nice warm up at their PR event on Monday when they launched the new team in their new colours but there was no new car (the car in the pictures is last year's Brawn with a new paint job). For that we have to wait until testing begins on the 1st Feb.

Tomorrow we'll see the car Ferrari hope will launch them and their new star Fernando Alonso back to the top of the tables. If rumours are to be believed it will look very similar to last year's Red Bull.

From then on, the weekend will reveal what McLaren, Sauber, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso and Mercedes are bringing to the party this season and Monday will be the first test of 2010.

I'll put my thoughts and pictures up here as soon as I can after each launch.

In other news, it seems that the money behind the De La Rosa move was funded by Santander (who also sponsor McLaren and Ferrari - it seems that one bank wasn't too badly affected by the recession!).

Also, USF1 have confirmed that ex-GP2 winner Jose Maria Lopez will drive for them in 2010 although they are yet to confirm when they will first run their new car. Lopez comes with a nice paycheck from the Argentinean government who want to create a new icon in their country. This might be a good move - the way things are going I'm not sure how fruitful the FIFA world cup is going to be for their team this year...

Further changes to the tyre and points regulations have been proposed. I'll have more on them when they are confirmed.

Finally, Bahrain has added an extra loop to the layout of its circuit increasing the length of the track by 1.2Km (0.75miles) - I hope the new section is good.

The Magic Number

Just something curious I stumbled upon today; Michael Schumacher is trying to get the number of his car changed from 4 to 3 because he 'likes odd numbers.'

The numbering system used in F1 is as follows:

-The previous year's champion is the only person who can have the number 1 on his car (for 2010 Jenson Button). His team mate has number 2.

- The order then continues in order of the previous year's constructors' championship (i.e. Mercedes/Brawn has 3 & 4; Red Bull has 5 & 6 etc.).

- If the Driver's champion is no longer driving in F1 the reigning constructor has the numbers 0 & 2 - No one has number 1 (see Damon Hill 1994 as an example).

- The number 13 is not used.

- If teams are keeping the same driver line-up then the driver who finished higher in the previous championship gets the lower number.

- If teams are changing one of their drivers, the new driver gets the higher number.

- If teams are changing both of their drivers, it is the one accepted onto the official FIA entry list first that gets the lower number. If they are both announced at the same time then the team can decide.

This last point is what has ruffled Schumi. He wasn't announced by Merc until a long time after the official FIA entry list was released but Rosberg (his team mate) was. By rights this means that Rosberg gets car 3 and Schumi car 4. Drivers are superstitious though - Schumi has never won a title with an even number on his car and in fact car 4 has only won 7 races in the last decade! Moreover, we all know how Michael likes to be the 'number 1' within a team and he could be playing mind games - to show Rosberg that he is already favoured.

Rosberg might let it go, Button didn't mind letting Barrichello have (his lucky) number 11 in 2006 and Mansell was always associated with the 'red 5' on his car. The fact that the number 13 isn't used is proof enough of the superstition that fills the paddock.

Will it make a difference if Schumi gets his number changed? Probably not - the reason he has never won with an even number is that for most of the time he won back to back titles and so just had the number 1.

I am however surprised that Michael isn't going for another record - a car bearing the number 4 has NEVER won the title. Schumi will be gutted if Nico shocks us all and does just that next year.

What Has Pedro Got?

Peter Sauber has signed the (very) experienced Pedro de la Rosa as team mate to young star Kamui Kobayashi but is this a wise move by Sauber or are we staring another Badoer situation in the face?

Since he (reluctantly) purchased the Sauber team from BMW to ensure that all the employees at Hinwil kept their jobs, Peter Sauber has been trying to find the most experienced man he could as his second driver. He flirted with the possibilities of Trulli, Fisichella and Heidfeld so how did he end up with someone who hasn't driven in anger since 2006?

I was surprised when Kobayashi got the drive at Sauber; I thought that with no Toyota he had very little chance of getting another attempt at F1. This would have been unfair as his debut drives were miraculous when you consider how the other rookies did in 2009. However, I get the feeling that Sauber wants to find a buyer for his team who can guarantee its financial security (something that he is struggling to do) so if he has a rookie with the potential to be something of a star then it keeps the media on his team. More media interest, more interest full stop. This includes buyers. Moreover, maybe Sauber is playing the long game; maybe he thinks that as the recession passes over (optimistically in the next few years) and we head back into the boom half of the cycle, then having someone Japanese leading your team could attract certain car manufacturers.

However, with a rookie comes a gamble - it is only after a few more races that we will get to know the level Kobayashi can operate at. As a backup experience is needed. This should ensure that points are scored next year and it should also help keep the pace of car development up. Also, the young protégée could learn from his team mate too.

I think that Peter Sauber wanted Trulli initially, and he is known to be a Heidfeld fan - both of these would have been very savvy signings but a spanner was put in the works when Mercedes 'stole' long-term sponsor Petronas from the team. The lack of funding caused by this meant that Sauber couldn't afford to pay his drivers top dollar and he really wanted a driver that could bring some money to the team. This was a problem for both Trulli and Heidfeld and so this seemingly left the door open for Fisichella (who would have brought a serious reduction -25%- to the £6mill wage bill for Ferrari engines this year). This is the case because Fisi is Ferrari's third driver and so they would pay to keep him 'race ready' in case there is another incident like the one with Massa last year.

So how did de la Rosa get the gig? The last time he drove in a Grand Prix was when he was filling in for Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of 2006. He had a reasonable but not spectacular time alongside Kimi Raikkonen at McLaren but this doesn't compare well to Fisichella who did very well at Force India and ok at Ferrari LAST YEAR.

I think that there are two reasons for the choice of de la Rosa. The first is that I believe that Pedro might just bring some sponsorship from (Spanish fuel company) Repsol. If Fisi was saving £1.5mill then Repsol must be footing at least that. Of course, this way Sauber don't owe Ferrari anything.

The second reason is, in my opinion, bigger. Pedro de la Rosa has been the test driver behind the great McLarens of the last decade. He knows how to improve a car and brings much more technical ability for his money than Fisi does.

Whilst I think that Fisi may have been quicker out of the box, I think that (given a few tests) Pedro is never going to be as bad as Badoer was last year. Moreover, if Pedro's development skills ensure that Sauber punch above their weight - and Kobayashi continues his good form then de la Rosa could prove to be a very smart signing indeed.

There will be another driver on the grid next year who hasn't raced since 2006 and nobody doubts him... let's not write off Pedro either.