Friday, 1 February 2013
Formula 1 - Di Resta flies solo at Force India car launch
Ferrari has presented its new F138, the car with which the Italian squad hopes to return to championship glory in the 2013 Formula One season - and the company's chief admits that the company's vanity has forced them to make it better looking than last year's unloved model.
Already the critics have been praising the stunning lines of the new creation - in stark contrast to the outrage that greeted the car dubbed the "ugliest Ferrari ever" last season.
The car, whose name is a combination of the current year and a tribute to the V8 engines that will be used for the last time this season, is the 59th grand prix single-seater produced by the Maranello-based squad.
The F138 has been developed in the Toyota windtunnel in Cologne following Ferrari's decision to shut down its own unit in order to upgrade it.
Ferrari is seeking to hit the ground running with its new car after a dismal performance by its predecessor when it made its testing debut last year.
Despite that, the historic Italian outfit managed to stay in the championship fight until the end of the year, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso losing out to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the final race of the season in Brazil.
"The key objective that we must have is of immediately delivering a competitive car to our drivers," team boss Stefano Domenicali acknowledged.
"Unfortunately in recent years we have at the beginning of the winter unfortunately not been able to be right on top of what we are doing.
"We have tried to look at our organisation to be much more effective in the preparations over the coming week."
Domenicali described some of the changes from the 2012 car as "extreme", and Alonso added that it would be impossible to judge the team's hopes for this year until the car hits the track in testing.
"The difference at the front is just tenths," said Alonso, "tenths you cannot see by looking at the car.
"Sometimes you don't know why a particular car holds sway. We need to get on track and really see how competitive it is."
Domenicali also pointed out that the decision to cover up the step in the car's nose with a new-for-2013 'vanity panel' was for performance reasons.
"We wanted to go in that direction because the whole project is to improve performance in that area," he said. "And it is more beautiful!"
Two-time world champion Alonso will be partnered by Felipe Massa again this year after the Brazilian secured a one-year contract extension thanks to his resurgence in the second half of the season.
Massa will be tasked with driving the F138 for the first time next Tuesday at Jerez.
Reuters / Eurosport
Formula 1 - Di Resta flies solo at Force India car launch
Germany's Adrian Sutil, a former Force India driver, and Ferrari-backed Frenchman Jules Bianchi, last year's reserve, have both been linked to the vacant seat but the team were in no rush to make a decision.
"Paul's here," grinned deputy team principal Bob Fernley, representing the absent aviation and liquor baron Vijay Mallya who co-owns and runs the team, when asked what the situation was with the drivers.
"The shareholders will make their decision in due course. We know who is on the short list. We are trying to put together the programmes that are going to really take the team through a longer period than just one year," he added.
"We need to be very careful where we are going and the shareholders will take as long as necessary. I suspect that we will probably announce the two remaining drivers (race and reserve)...before Barcelona".
The first of three pre-season tests is in Jerez next week with the second in Barcelona from February 19. The season starts in Australia on March 17.
Di Resta, who will have his third different team-mate in three seasons after partnering Sutil and then Nico Hulkenberg, will do most of the Jerez testing with Britain's James Rossiter having some time in the car to provide a benchmark for the simulator work he will be doing.
The choice of second driver ultimately is likely to favour whoever can bring most sponsorship, or other forms of backing, with them.
In the absence of news, the car was the star - with the black cover coming off the VJM06 on a cold and damp morning before the Mercedes-powered car was wheeled out of the garage to be fired up for the first laps by any team this year.
It immediately stood out for its 'nose job' - a 'modesty panel' turning what was a stepped nose last season into a smooth and flowing front end.
Lotus, the first of the teams to show off their new car on Monday, eschewed such cosmetic surgery on the grounds that it was only added weight but Force India technical director Andrew Green said it was there for performance as well as aesthetics.
"Our's is purely performance driven and really the performance is not on the top of the chassis, it's what you can do underneath," said technical director Andrew Green.
"And by pushing the chassis to its limits it allows us to get the aerodynamic performance. Putting the panel on top cleans up the flow over the top of the chassis. It's a small thing but to us it's important."
Green said the car was new from the ground up, even if an evolution of the one that took the team to seventh place overall last season, with a lot of tweaks to the suspension. Di Resta said it looked sharp and felt fine on the shakedown laps.
"It's cold," the Scot declared after the first run. "But I'm very comfortable in the car.
Flying solo at the team, he said, also had its benefits.
"I'm quite enjoying the attention," said Di Resta, who will be one of four Britons on the grid this season now that rookie Max Chilton has joined Marussia.
"It's a strange feeling obviously not to have a second driver and a reserve around but it's not hampering my preparations in any way."
Ferrari puts faith in beauty with stunning F1 car for 2013 season
By Eurosport | World of Sport – 5 hours ago
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Ferrari has presented its new F138, the car with which the Italian squad hopes to return to championship glory in the 2013 Formula One season - and the company's chief admits that the company's vanity has forced them to make it better looking than last year's unloved model.
Already the critics have been praising the stunning lines of the new creation - in stark contrast to the outrage that greeted the car dubbed the "ugliest Ferrari ever" last season.
The car, whose name is a combination of the current year and a tribute to the V8 engines that will be used for the last time this season, is the 59th grand prix single-seater produced by the Maranello-based squad.
The F138 has been developed in the Toyota windtunnel in Cologne following Ferrari's decision to shut down its own unit in order to upgrade it.
Ferrari is seeking to hit the ground running with its new car after a dismal performance by its predecessor when it made its testing debut last year.
Despite that, the historic Italian outfit managed to stay in the championship fight until the end of the year, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso losing out to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the final race of the season in Brazil.
"The key objective that we must have is of immediately delivering a competitive car to our drivers," team boss Stefano Domenicali acknowledged.
"Unfortunately in recent years we have at the beginning of the winter unfortunately not been able to be right on top of what we are doing.
"We have tried to look at our organisation to be much more effective in the preparations over the coming week."
Domenicali described some of the changes from the 2012 car as "extreme", and Alonso added that it would be impossible to judge the team's hopes for this year until the car hits the track in testing.
"The difference at the front is just tenths," said Alonso, "tenths you cannot see by looking at the car.
"Sometimes you don't know why a particular car holds sway. We need to get on track and really see how competitive it is."
Domenicali also pointed out that the decision to cover up the step in the car's nose with a new-for-2013 'vanity panel' was for performance reasons.
"We wanted to go in that direction because the whole project is to improve performance in that area," he said. "And it is more beautiful!"
Two-time world champion Alonso will be partnered by Felipe Massa again this year after the Brazilian secured a one-year contract extension thanks to his resurgence in the second half of the season.
Massa will be tasked with driving the F138 for the first time next Tuesday at Jerez.
Reuters / Eurosport
Ferrari puts faith in beauty with stunning F1 car for 2013 season By Eurosport |
Ferrari has presented its new F138, the car with which the Italian squad hopes to return to championship glory in the 2013 Formula One season - and the company's chief admits that the company's vanity has forced them to make it better looking than last year's unloved model.
Already the critics have been praising the stunning lines of the new creation - in stark contrast to the outrage that greeted the car dubbed the "ugliest Ferrari ever" last season.
The car, whose name is a combination of the current year and a tribute to the V8 engines that will be used for the last time this season, is the 59th grand prix single-seater produced by the Maranello-based squad.
The F138 has been developed in the Toyota windtunnel in Cologne following Ferrari's decision to shut down its own unit in order to upgrade it.
Ferrari is seeking to hit the ground running with its new car after a dismal performance by its predecessor when it made its testing debut last year.
Despite that, the historic Italian outfit managed to stay in the championship fight until the end of the year, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso losing out to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the final race of the season in Brazil.
"The key objective that we must have is of immediately delivering a competitive car to our drivers," team boss Stefano Domenicali acknowledged.
"Unfortunately in recent years we have at the beginning of the winter unfortunately not been able to be right on top of what we are doing.
"We have tried to look at our organisation to be much more effective in the preparations over the coming week."
Domenicali described some of the changes from the 2012 car as "extreme", and Alonso added that it would be impossible to judge the team's hopes for this year until the car hits the track in testing.
"The difference at the front is just tenths," said Alonso, "tenths you cannot see by looking at the car.
"Sometimes you don't know why a particular car holds sway. We need to get on track and really see how competitive it is."
Domenicali also pointed out that the decision to cover up the step in the car's nose with a new-for-2013 'vanity panel' was for performance reasons.
"We wanted to go in that direction because the whole project is to improve performance in that area," he said. "And it is more beautiful!"
Two-time world champion Alonso will be partnered by Felipe Massa again this year after the Brazilian secured a one-year contract extension thanks to his resurgence in the second half of the season.
Massa will be tasked with driving the F138 for the first time next Tuesday at Jerez.
Reuters / Eurosport
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