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F1 2015: Jerez Test Driver Line Up
The first test for the 2015 Formula 1 Season gets underway tomorrow in Jerez, Spain.

The test will run from 01 – 04 February. This is how the drivers will line up on each day

Day 1: Sunday 1 Ferbuary
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 2: Monday 2 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Valtteri Bottas
- Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
Day 3: Tuesday 3 February
- Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
- Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Fernando Alonso
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Sauber – Felipe Nasr
- Lotus – Pastor Maldonado
Day 4: Wednesday 4 February
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton
- Red Bull – Daniil Kvyat
- Williams – Felipe Massa
- Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen
- McLaren – Jenson Button
- Force India – Not participating
- Toro Rosso – Max Versappen
- Sauber – Marcus Ericsson
- Lotus – Romain Grosjean
The Caterham and Marussia teams have not finalized their entries for the 2015 season and have been excluded from the list.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
January 31, 2015
Ferrari Launches the SF15-T

An hour after Sauber launched their 2015 contender, the Ferrari F1 team took the covers of their latest creation. The SF15-T.

The SF15-T was launched online. Like many other teams, Ferrari released teaser shots and videos in the build up to the launch.

The car maintains a similar livery to its predecessor with some very minor changes.

The biggest difference on the 2015 car is the nose. Ferrari have gone with a long, lower flat nose, which according to the team will bring in a boost in aerodynamic performance. The rear of the car is more tightly packed than the 2014 car, although not as compact as the McLaren. Other changes include a redesigned rear wing, which according to the team will have “a larger DRS effect on the straights,” remodeled front and rear brake ducts and an overhauled suspension kinematics.

With this being a launch specification car. We can expect to see many changes on the car at the Jerez test which starts on 1 Febrary 2015.

Pictures courtesy Scuderia Ferrari F1

January 30, 2015
Sauber Unveil the C34

The Sauber F1 team unveiled their 2015 car online on Friday morning.

The new car sports a blue and yellow livery with a different looking nose to the other cars that were launched. The nose on the Sauber is wider than the others.

Sauber say that with the new car they’ve focused on three main areas: Performance in slow corners, weight reduction, as well as braking stability.

“We were able to gain a lot of experience during the course of the 2014 season, which will have an influence on the Sauber C34,” said Eric Gandelin, chief designer of the Sauber F1 Team.

The team say that the side pods on the C34 are slimmer than they were on the C33. This despite the higher cooling requirements for the new power unit. This was possible through the modifications to the attachment of the side crash elements and the radiators which are mounted horizontally. The rear packaging on the C34 is more tighter than its predecessor. This will help with the aerodynamics at the rear of the car.

After a dismal 2014 Sauber are hoping that their new car will bring home some points in 2015. With significant changes being made to the power unit this year, they feel that they can challenge the mid field for points.

According to the team some of the parts on the car are still from the C33, but they will be replaced as testing goes on.

“We will use the time up to Melbourne to ensure we’re as competitive as possible when we line up on the grid for the season opener,” added Eric Gandelin.

Pictures courtesy Sauber F1 Team

January 30, 2015
Mercedes W06 Silverstone Shakedown

While all eyes were on the McLaren 2015 car launch, the Mercedes F1 team quietly sneaked into Silverstone for a shakedown for their 2015 car, the W06.

In very cold conditions both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg got to lap the Northhamptonshire circuit clocking up a total of 18 laps. The session, classified as a promotional event under FIA rules, was brought to a premature end after a blizzard moved in.

The team have been releasing teaser videos and pictures on their twitter feed for the past few days. The official unveiling of the car will take place in the Jerez pit lane on the morning of the first day of testing.

Pictures courtesy Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team

January 30, 2015
McLaren Reveal the Honda Powered MP4-30 for 2015

The McLaren F1 team revealed their 2015 contender, the MP4-30, on Thursday afternoon.

After much anticipation the car was revealed online in a tweet by the McLaren F1 team.

The car sports a familiar McLaren silver/black livery with some red detailing. The car is still missing the presence of a title sponsor logo.

The influence of former Red Bull car designer Pete Prodromou can be seen. The rear of the car is packed incredibly tight, very similar to the 2014 Red Bull. The car features a split intake in the roll hoop area and a rather interesting looking front suspension setup. McLaren have stuck with the toothed rear wing and also a very similar rear suspension setup as in 2014 but with out the rear wishbone wings.

Although a bit underwhelming its not about what the car looks like but rather how the entire package works.

Pictures courtesy McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team

January 29, 2015
Force India to Skip Jerez Test

The Force India Formula 1 Team announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will not participate at the first test of the 2015 season in Jerez, Spain.

The team announced on Twitter that they will skip the test. “We have chosen not to run the old (2014) car in Jerez. The learning opportunities would have been limited so the focus is now on Barcelona,” read the tweet.

They intended to run their 2014 car at the first test, but with just 4 days before the test begins, they’ve decided not to participate. Their focus now turns to the second test in Barcelona where they plan to maximize their time there.

It’s not clear as to why the team has taken the decision to skip the test, apart from their 2015 car not being ready.

Photo credit: Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team

January 28, 2015
F1 2015: Car Launches, Testing Dates and Driver Line Ups

The 2015 Formula 1 Season is upon us and with all the teams releasing teaser pics and with the car launches and testing about to take place within the week we thought we’d give you a quick run down on the testing schedule and the driver line up for each team.

Testing Dates:

01 – 04 February – Jerez, Spain

19 – 22 February – Barcelona, Spain

26 February – 01 March – Barcelona, Span

Car Launches:

29 January – McLaren(Online)

30 January – Ferrari(Online)

30 January – Sauber(Online)

31 January – Toro Rosso

01 February – Mercedes

Driver Line up:

MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

RED BULL: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS: Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

MCLAREN: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button

FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

LOTUS: Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER: Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

The entries for the Marussia and Caterham teams were on the provisional FIA list subject to confirmation before the season begins.

The complete 2015 Formula 1 World Championship Calendar can be found here

January 27, 2015
Lotus F1 team reveal pictures of the E23

The Lotus F1 team today unveiled its 2015 challenger, the Mercedes-powered E23 Hybrid.

The team finished only 8th in last year’s Constructors’ Championship and are hopeful that the E23 will aid in the recovery of the team.

“The E23 Hybrid represents a massive step forward for us,” said technical director Nick Chester.

“It’s no secret that we struggled with last year’s car so we’ve targeted every area that caused us an issue. 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. In terms of what’s new, obviously a massive change for us is a new Power Unit supplier. We made this change as it looked and 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.”

“The E22 did deliver good figures in the wind tunnel,” he continued, “even if it was difficult to unlock its potential, so we’ve paid more attention to making the characteristics of the car more adaptable. In terms of the suspension, we were delivered something of a blow last year when the front-rear interconnected suspension was outlawed mid-season. The E23’s suspension design is specific to the updated regulations so we’re not trying to update a system originally intended to work a different way. We learnt a lot in many areas of the car over the course of 2014 so there are many lessons which have been applied. We know we’ve made a big step. We won’t know how our car will fare in relative terms until we’re out in action at a Grand Prix, but we certainly expect to be much more competitive than last year.”

Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO, is clearly excited about the E23 and its potential. “The E23 Hybrid represents a new era for Lotus F1 Team, not only in the change to a Mercedes Benz Power Unit, but also it is the fruition of a busy winter behind the scenes,” he said in a statement released by the team.

“Improvements within our Design, Aero and Simulation departments have all contributed to the development of a car which is a huge step forward. As a team we are confident that the new car coupled with additions to the Race team will enable a huge leap forward and we are full of optimism going into the new season. It is time to put the disappointment of last season behind us and benefit from 12 months of hard work; we are ready to return to our rightful place at the pinnacle of the sport.”

The E23 will be raced by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who both drove for the team during 2014.

These are the pictures of the E23 that the team released today:

January 26, 2015
Force India unveils VJM08 livery in Mexico

Force India unveiled its new 2015 livery and front nose design at launch event in Mexico.

Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez pulled the wraps off the new car livery in Mexico City, ahead of F1’s return to Mexico later this year.

The revised colour scheme was presented on Force India’s 2014 car following the team’s decision to delay the introduction of the new VJM08 until the second pre-season test of the year.The team confirmed on Tuesday that the VJM08 will not be present at next weekend’s Jerez test and will only make its debut in Barcelona in mid-February.

Although the VJM08 was not present at the livery launch, Force India say that it is an evolution of the VJM07 which will be used at the opening test of the year in Jerez and carried the team to sixth in the 2014 constructors’ standings.

“It’s another evolution of the contemporary look we introduced last year, which reflects the growth of the team and the global brands with which we are working,” said team principal Vijay Mallya.

“I love the addition of silver, which makes the car appear more sleek and aggressive and I’m sure it’s something that will appeal to the fans as well. Our traditional team colours remain integrated in the livery, but we’ve given it a very modern twist.”

“I’m very excited about 2015,” Sergio Perez added. “It’s my second season with this team so that always makes things easier. I feel very relaxed about the new season in a good way. The regulations are not changing and I believe that will benefit us as a team.

“It means the development from last year can continue and we don’t have to start everything from zero again. I like these regulations and the V6 engines helped produce close and competitive racing. At the end of 2014 I was feeling very confident in the car and I want to carry this momentum into the new season. I want more podiums in 2015.”

“I hope for spectacular things,” Nico Hulkenberg said discussing his 2015 aspirations. “That means scoring many points, great racing and lots of fun. I’m part of a team that is growing and hungry for more. 2014 was our best season yet so we need to aim to go a step further this year and give the teams ahead of us a harder time.”

Technical director Andrew Green said that changes will be most noticeable at the front end of the Mercedes-powered car, “The front of the car looks very different from what we had developed previously,” he said. “It is a redesign that involved a lot of work over the winter, as the new regulations caused a loss in terms of downforce and we’ve been working to claw back all that performance.”

Force India also said that the VJM08 will also feature other more subtle changes which include modified sculpting of the sidepods and new cooling intakes. There’ll also be a completely new rear suspension layout with a new hydro-mechanical system replacing the original torsion springs.

Here’s a gallery of the new Force India VJM08 livery.

January 22, 2015
Williams F1 Team launch first images of FW37

The Williams F1 Team has become the first team to reveal its 2015 Formula One title contender, with a computer rendered image of its FW37 appearing on the front cover of this month’s F1 Racing magazine.

Following that, the team followed up with images of the Fw37 on their website along with a statement from the team.

Ahead of the imminent launch of Force India’s new livery later today, the Williams team, who finished in third place in the 2014 Constructors’ Championship, showed off the FW37, which features a revised front nose in order to comply with the 2015 regulations and rule changes.

The FW37 will be piloted once again by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, and the car will again be powered by Mercedes engines.

Minor changes to the Martini-based livery are seen including new the appearance of new sponsors Rexona, Avanade and Hackett.

“The notion for the FW37 was to look closely at the FW36 and its performances,” said Williams Martini Racing’s Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds in a statement on the team website. “We then went about recognising what had worked well and identifying and resolving the areas that we felt needed to be improved. Although the aerodynamics of the car were impressive there is always room for improvement particularly as we handle the new 2015 nose regulations,” he continued.

According to the statement the design of the FW37 has stemmed from the performance of the FW36 but the conceptual ideas came long before the 2014 successes.

“The first conceptual stage of the FW37 came before the FW36 had turned a wheel,” Symonds continued. The main element to this is understanding the rule changes and how they will affect the design of the car, from here we can start see if our ideas will fit within the regulations”.

The Williams team managed to rack up nine podiums throughout the 2014 season and also enjoyed a front row lockout at the Austrian Grand Prix. They placed third in the Constructors’ championship and are looking to continue their climb up the ladder.

“The desire to beat Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ in 2014 meant we pushed our development through to late autumn, but the size of the team is now at a point where it was able to sustain this development whilst still working on the FW37,” Symonds said.

The layout phase of the FW37 was completed by the summer break in August, according to the team. Work on the new front bulkhead was a main priority for the designers and aerodynamicists due to the changes to the regulations for 2015.

“The change in regulations offered us a slight headache,” Symonds explained. “The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound. The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us”.

But, the team has its eyes on more podiums this year and Williams is hoping to catch Mercedes with their FW37 this season.

“The more rule stability there is, the closer the field gets. I hope as a team we are more capable of maintaining the forward momentum to catch Mercedes, than the teams behind us are of catching us. It’s not just about stable regulations but also about the team and every individual that works here moving forward and improving.”

Frank Williams, Team Principal concluded the team statement saying that, “The team had a fantastic season last year, we are aiming to replicate this development over the winter and to start the 2015 season in a strong position. We have an enormously talented group of people here at Williams who want nothing more than the team to do well. This passion produced a great turn around in fortunes for the team in 2014 and everybody has worked tirelessly to continue that climb up the grid.

“We have added a few more high profile names to accompany the incredibly supportive group of partners we have,” Frank Williams added. “After a very strong first year with Mercedes we are looking to further develop the relationship as we look for more podiums in 2015. I feel this year will be equally as exciting as the last and look forward to seeing the FW37 on the grid at the first race.”

January 21, 2015