2010 Car Launch Dates

Post by **mario** » 18 Jan 2010, 20:47

Since we are getting close to the time when the news cars are finally shown to the world (giving us something decent to talk about), I thought that it might be helpful to give a list of the known launch dates for the cars.
So, the following list contains the dates which I have been able to find, sometimes along with supplementary notes. I have tried to list the cars launches in chronological order.

Car Launch Dates:
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro TBA : January 28th
The first car complying to the 2010 regulations should be shown to the press at Ferrari's headquarters, as in previous years. Interestingly, on launch day, the F281 will retain the F60's front and rear wings, with the new wings expected for the first test at Valencia, on the 1st Feb. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80828

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-25 : January 29th
The MP4/25 should be shown off at McLaren's headquarters. Testing duties at McLaren will be split evenly at Valencia: Pedro de la Rosa is scheduled to drive for the 1st Feb, Hamilton on the 2nd and Button on the 3rd. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80941

Renault F1 Team R30 : 31st Jan [ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80882 ]
BMW Sauber F1 Team C29 : JAN 31st [ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80748 ]
Both of these cars are going to be revealed at the Valencia circuit the day before the first test.

Mercedes GP Petronas : Livery revealed Jan 25th, Car on 1st Feb at Valencia
As a slight teaser, Mercedes intend to show the 2010 livery on a 2009 car (most likely the 2009 BGP-001) at the Stuttgart Mercedes Museum on the 25th. The actual 2010 challenger will be revealed at the Valencia circuit on the first day of the test. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80913

AT&T Williams FW32 : Feb 1st
Scuderia Toro Rosso STR5 : Feb 1st
Like Mercedes, both Williams and Toro Rosso intend to launch their cars at the Valencia circuit on the first day of testing, with modest events for the press to attend. Perhaps both teams wish for the cars to speak for themselves.

Virgin Racing (Manor) VR-01 : UK Shake Down 4th Feb, Testing at Jerez from 10th Feb.
Currently, the plans are for the Virgin Racing entry to conduct a shake down run (50km are allowed for this purpose), although the car is expected to first be fired up on the 29th Jan, with a check of electrical and mechanical systems on the 1st Feb. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80841
However, the intention is for the car to compete at the 2nd test at Jerez.

Lotus F1 Racing: Feb 12th
The last of the confirmed dates, the Lotus team do not intend to launch their car until the 12th Feb (although the engine will be fired up on the 5th Feb). The car will then be tested at Jerez at the 3rd test, on the 17th Feb.

Unconfirmed
Red Bull Racing RB6 : 10th Feb
Red Bull have formally announed that they intend to skip the first test at Valencia in favour of leaving the car in the wind tunnel for 9 days. Based on this, it is reasonable to expect that the car will not be launched until the start of the 2nd test. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80809

Force India F1 Team VJM03 : 10th Feb
Like Red Bull, the Force india team believe that spending more time in the wind tunnel will give the team a more competitive edge come the start of the season. As a result, they have also elected to not attend the Valencia test, but will attend the 2nd test session at Jerez. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80914

Unknown
Campos Meta - Dallara : TBA
Although Campos were the first new team to homologate a chassis to the 2010 regulations, recently concerns have been raised about the solvency of the team. Currently, there have been no formal announcements of when the Campos-Dallara car will make it's debue, nor which tests Campos will attend.

USGPE (USF1) Team : TBA
USF1 plan to hold a test at Barber Motorsport Park "some time next month" - however, access will be restricted, with members of the public not allowed in. Recent press statements indicate that the team also intends to carry out further tests in Spain (although whether this will be at Jerez with the other teams has not yet been made clear). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80776

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 18 Jan 2010, 20:49

USF1-- Are they testing on a track no other F1 car has ever driven, just so that there's no evidence to compare them to?

Also, thanks so much for compiling this list... nice work.

watka · Post by **watka** » 18 Jan 2010, 21:03

thehemogoblin wrote:USF1-- Are they testing on a track no other F1 car has ever driven, just so that there's no evidence to compare them to?

Also, thanks so much for compiling this list... nice work.

And USF1 have a base in Spain (at Motorland Aragon no less).

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 18 Jan 2010, 21:10

mario wrote:Since we are getting close to the time when the news cars are finally shown to the world (giving us something decent to talk about), I thought that it might be helpful to give a list of the known launch dates for the cars.
So, the following list contains the dates which I have been able to find, sometimes along with supplementary notes. I have tried to list the cars launches in chronological order.

Car Launch Dates:
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro TBA : January 28th
The first car complying to the 2010 regulations should be shown to the press at Ferrari's headquarters, as in previous years. Interestingly, on launch day, the F281 will retain the F60's front and rear wings, with the new wings expected for the first test at Valencia, on the 1st Feb. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80828

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-25 : January 29th
The MP4/25 should be shown off at McLaren's headquarters. Testing duties at McLaren will be split evenly at Valencia: Pedro de la Rosa is scheduled to drive for the 1st Feb, Hamilton on the 2nd and Button on the 3rd. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80941

Renault F1 Team R30 : 31st Jan [ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80882 ]
BMW Sauber F1 Team C29 : JAN 31st [ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80748 ]
Both of these cars are going to be revealed at the Valencia circuit the day before the first test.

Mercedes GP Petronas : Livery revealed Jan 25th, Car on 1st Feb at Valencia
As a slight teaser, Mercedes intend to show the 2010 livery on a 2009 car (most likely the 2009 BGP-001) at the Stuttgart Mercedes Museum on the 25th. The actual 2010 challenger will be revealed at the Valencia circuit on the first day of the test. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80913

AT&T Williams FW32 : Feb 1st
Scuderia Toro Rosso STR5 : Feb 1st
Like Mercedes, both Williams and Toro Rosso intend to launch their cars at the Valencia circuit on the first day of testing, with modest events for the press to attend. Perhaps both teams wish for the cars to speak for themselves.

Virgin Racing (Manor) VR-01 : UK Shake Down 4th Feb, Testing at Jerez from 10th Feb.
Currently, the plans are for the Virgin Racing entry to conduct a shake down run (50km are allowed for this purpose), although the car is expected to first be fired up on the 29th Jan, with a check of electrical and mechanical systems on the 1st Feb. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80841
However, the intention is for the car to compete at the 2nd test at Jerez.

Lotus F1 Racing: Feb 12th
The last of the confirmed dates, the Lotus team do not intend to launch their car until the 12th Feb (although the engine will be fired up on the 5th Feb). The car will then be tested at Jerez at the 3rd test, on the 17th Feb.

Unconfirmed
Red Bull Racing RB6 : 10th Feb
Red Bull have formally announed that they intend to skip the first test at Valencia in favour of leaving the car in the wind tunnel for 9 days. Based on this, it is reasonable to expect that the car will not be launched until the start of the 2nd test. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80809

Force India F1 Team VJM03 : 10th Feb
Like Red Bull, the Force india team believe that spending more time in the wind tunnel will give the team a more competitive edge come the start of the season. As a result, they have also elected to not attend the Valencia test, but will attend the 2nd test session at Jerez. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80914

Unknown
Campos Meta - Dallara : TBA
Although Campos were the first new team to homologate a chassis to the 2010 regulations, recently concerns have been raised about the solvency of the team. Currently, there have been no formal announcements of when the Campos-Dallara car will make it's debue, nor which tests Campos will attend.

USGPE (USF1) Team : TBA
USF1 plan to hold a test at Barber Motorsport Park "some time next month" - however, access will be restricted, with members of the public not allowed in. Recent press statements indicate that the team also intends to carry out further tests in Spain (although whether this will be at Jerez with the other teams has not yet been made clear). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80776

Mario, you're a legend.

Gotta love Autosport too though.

Really makes you realise how haphazard Campos and USF1 are, really worrying.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 18 Jan 2010, 21:21

shinji wrote:Mario, you're a legend.

Gotta love Autosport too though.

Really makes you realise how haphazard Campos and USF1 are, really worrying.

Making mine shinji's words, mario.

Can I suggest Campos will be launching their car "from a great height"?

Post by **mario** » 18 Jan 2010, 21:29

watka wrote:
thehemogoblin wrote:USF1-- Are they testing on a track no other F1 car has ever driven, just so that there's no evidence to compare them to?

Also, thanks so much for compiling this list... nice work.

And USF1 have a base in Spain (at Motorland Aragon no less).

We know that the FIA granted a special dispensation to the USF1 team to carry out a test outside of Europe (also in part because the circuit has never held a test for an F1 car until now). The most pragmatic reason for testing at Barber appears to be practicality - the track is very close to USF1 main facilities, whilst the secondary base at the Motorland Aragon development do not appear to be ready for the team to move in.
Coupled with this, the event is designed to get as much of the American press to attend as possible - given the aim of the team to attract people in the US to F1, and the generally patriotic flavour of the team, it make sense for the first test to be in the US.

However, I will agree with Shinji that it is worrying that Campos has yet to announce any plans for launching the car, let alone testing it. We can only see how thigns turn out, although I am not that hopeful for them.

CarlosFerreira wrote:
shinji wrote:Mario, you're a legend.

Gotta love Autosport too though.

Really makes you realise how haphazard Campos and USF1 are, really worrying.

Making mine shinji's words, mario.

Can I suggest Campos will be launching their car "from a great height"?

Thanks for that - that has certainly put a grin on my face. :lol:

And thanks to everyone for your encouragement - I simply thought that it would be a good idea to gather together the launch dates, since soon enough there should be much more for everyone to discuss once the cars start coming off the production lines.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 18 Jan 2010, 21:36

I'm really eager. 10 days-at least-seem a lot of time...

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 18 Jan 2010, 22:38

What happened to the Simultaneous launch day?

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 18 Jan 2010, 22:40

ADx_Wales wrote:What happened to the Simultaneous launch day?

It died a death a while back. You can't honestly expect the teams to agree on something, can you?

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 18 Jan 2010, 23:42

shinji wrote:
ADx_Wales wrote:What happened to the Simultaneous launch day?

It died a death a while back. You can't honestly expect the teams to agree on something, can you?

Ironically, I think they agreed not to do it.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 19 Jan 2010, 00:03

Only in a parallell universe eh.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 19 Jan 2010, 01:45

How can you unveil a livery, but not unveil a car?

Unless Mercedes are going to re-create it on a BGP-001?

Fitch · Post by **Fitch** » 19 Jan 2010, 05:08

USF1's test is at Barber because they asked the FIA for the Special Dispensation to test here in the States, and they granted it and then TOLD them which track to test on.......

So in Short, USF1 is testing at Barber because the FIA told them to test there...not because of anything on USF1's part........

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 19 Jan 2010, 05:31

If the FIA told them to test at Barber, there's a good reason for it: all Formula 1 testing has to take place on circuits designated as being Category-1 or Category-1T. Category-1 circuits are those which are rated high enough to host Formula 1 races, and thus can easily handle testing. Then there are Category-2 circuits, which is the next step down. In order to be eleigible to host a Formula 1 race, a Category-2 circuit would need some upgrades; they are the nearest thing to a Formula 1 circuit without being a Formula 1 circuit. There is, however, a middle-ground: Category-1T. These circuits are not ready to host Formula 1 races, but they are beter than your averag Categoy-2 circuit, and so good enough to host Formula 1 testing. There are only a handful of circuits worldwide that have been given a 1T rating: Adria, Algarve, the Dubai Autodrome, Estoril, Eurospeedway Laustiz, Jerez, Misano, Monteblanco, Nogaro, Vallelunga and Zandvoort.

In fact, in all of America, there is just one circuit which has a Category-1 rating, and that is Indianapolis. Then there's a whole host of American circuits in Category-2, because Indycar regulations only require a a circuit to hold a Category-2 ranking in order to host an Indycar race. Because there is a lack of circuits in America that USF1 could be able to test on, they no doubt asked the FIA which American circuit would be best-suited for their testing; which Category-2 circuit could be considered good enough to host testing sessions. The FIA obviously responded with Barber Motorsports Park. And so that is why USF1 is testing at Barber: because they needed to be within the rules. I don't know what the actual rules dictating testing are, but all teams need to notify the FIA which circuits they'll be testing on and when. Most of the February tests are set to take place at Jerez, with one at Valencia (not the street circuit) and one in Barcelona. Any team wanting to test outside of those dates and locations needs to apply for special dispensations to the FIA because they are limited to just fifteen thousand kilometres of testing over the course of fifteen days. And that applies to the entire team, so it's really seven and a half thousand kilometres for each driver. The FIA are well within their rights to tell USF1 where to test, because of the strict rules surrounding the testing ban.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Jan 2010, 13:09

Captain Hammer wrote:There are only a handful of circuits worldwide that have been given a 1T rating: Adria, Algarve, the Dubai Autodrome, Estoril, Eurospeedway Laustiz, Jerez, Misano, Monteblanco, Nogaro, Vallelunga and Zandvoort.

Has any team ever tested at the Eurospeedway Lausitz? I assume it would be the infield track and not the oval that has the 1T rating?

Post by **mario** » 19 Jan 2010, 16:12

Captain Hammer wrote:How can you unveil a livery, but not unveil a car?

Unless Mercedes are going to re-create it on a BGP-001?

It appears that they will indeed use a BGP-001 which has been repainted in the Mercedes GP colours (which makes sense, I suppose).

shinji wrote:
ADx_Wales wrote:What happened to the Simultaneous launch day?

It died a death a while back. You can't honestly expect the teams to agree on something, can you?

It appears that part of the problem was that the original launch date was going to be at the beginning of Feb just before the first test at Valencia (since almost all the teams would be there for the test, it was the most practical option). Shortly afterwards, though, the Lotus team admitted that they would be unable to make the proposed date, whilst USF1 was (understandably) not keen to send a car over to Valencia when they were not going to participate at the Valencia test. Finally, there was the problem that the teams quickly realised that the press would almost certainly make a beeline for the Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari stands, and ignore most of the other teams - so FOTA decided to drop the idea.

Fitch wrote:USF1's test is at Barber because they asked the FIA for the Special Dispensation to test here in the States, and they granted it and then TOLD them which track to test on.......

So in Short, USF1 is testing at Barber because the FIA told them to test there...not because of anything on USF1's part........

Do you have a source for that statement - my understanding had been that it was USF1 which came up with the venue choice, not the FIA.

And Captain Hammer, whilst you are right about the 15,000 km for testing, remember that the teams are allowed 6 days of straight line testing during the season (although there are plans to reduce that further). There is also a provision of 50km set aside for a shake down test, plus something like 150km for publicity events (which Ferrari used to give Badoer a chance to familiarise himself with the F60B when he had to take over from Massa).

Post by **mario** » 19 Jan 2010, 18:11

Brief update concerning Campos - their car has passed the final FIA rash tests. Mor importantly, they now hope to attend the second Jerez test, on the 17th-20th Feb. However, they may not make that test, and have to wait until the final test at Barcelona to try the car out. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80971

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 19 Jan 2010, 19:55

mario wrote:Brief update concerning Campos - their car has passed the final FIA rash tests. Mor importantly, they now hope to attend the second Jerez test, on the 17th-20th Feb. However, they may not make that test, and have to wait until the final test at Barcelona to try the car out. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80971

It's good to know that Campos is irritation-free.

Popi_Larrauri · Post by **Popi_Larrauri** » 19 Jan 2010, 20:14

Captain Hammer wrote:If the FIA told them to test at Barber, there's a good reason for it: all Formula 1 testing has to take place on circuits designated as being Category-1 or Category-1T. Category-1 circuits are those which are rated high enough to host Formula 1 races, and thus can easily handle testing. Then there are Category-2 circuits, which is the next step down. In order to be eleigible to host a Formula 1 race, a Category-2 circuit would need some upgrades; they are the nearest thing to a Formula 1 circuit without being a Formula 1 circuit. There is, however, a middle-ground: Category-1T. These circuits are not ready to host Formula 1 races, but they are beter than your averag Categoy-2 circuit, and so good enough to host Formula 1 testing. There are only a handful of circuits worldwide that have been given a 1T rating: Adria, Algarve, the Dubai Autodrome, Estoril, Eurospeedway Laustiz, Jerez, Misano, Monteblanco, Nogaro, Vallelunga and Zandvoort.

In fact, in all of America, there is just one circuit which has a Category-1 rating, and that is Indianapolis. Then there's a whole host of American circuits in Category-2, because Indycar regulations only require a a circuit to hold a Category-2 ranking in order to host an Indycar race. Because there is a lack of circuits in America that USF1 could be able to test on, they no doubt asked the FIA which American circuit would be best-suited for their testing; which Category-2 circuit could be considered good enough to host testing sessions. The FIA obviously responded with Barber Motorsports Park. And so that is why USF1 is testing at Barber: because they needed to be within the rules. I don't know what the actual rules dictating testing are, but all teams need to notify the FIA which circuits they'll be testing on and when. Most of the February tests are set to take place at Jerez, with one at Valencia (not the street circuit) and one in Barcelona. Any team wanting to test outside of those dates and locations needs to apply for special dispensations to the FIA because they are limited to just fifteen thousand kilometres of testing over the course of fifteen days. And that applies to the entire team, so it's really seven and a half thousand kilometres for each driver. The FIA are well within their rights to tell USF1 where to test, because of the strict rules surrounding the testing ban.

Good info.

Thanks.

Popi_Larrauri · Post by **Popi_Larrauri** » 19 Jan 2010, 20:15

mario wrote:Brief update concerning Campos - their car has passed the final FIA rash tests. Mor importantly, they now hope to attend the second Jerez test, on the 17th-20th Feb. However, they may not make that test, and have to wait until the final test at Barcelona to try the car out. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80971

Mario, I add myself to the praises given here. Thanks for your work.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 19 Jan 2010, 23:01

dr-baker wrote:Has any team ever tested at the Eurospeedway Lausitz? I assume it would be the infield track and not the oval that has the 1T rating?

Not that I know of. Most of the teams generally like to test at Catalunya, Jerez de la Frontera or Ricardo Tormo. The reason is that Spain is still reasonably warm during the winter off-season, so the conditions there are most likely to simulate racing conditions. You'll get the occasional team doing shakedown tests at Silverstone since they don't have to travel very far (and Force India like using it becuase their base of operations is right across the road), and the FIA want teams to test in Bahrain - the reason why it was promoted to the opening race was so that the teams could do the last major test there, leave all their non-essential gear and ome back to it for he first race to cut down on travel costs - but after Ferrari and (I think it was) Toyota got inundated by a sandstom last year (there's a great shot of Raikkonen powering through the waves of sand), it's fallen out of poularity.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Jan 2010, 09:37

Captain Hammer wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Has any team ever tested at the Eurospeedway Lausitz? I assume it would be the infield track and not the oval that has the 1T rating?

Not that I know of. Most of the teams generally like to test at Catalunya, Jerez de la Frontera or Ricardo Tormo. The reason is that Spain is still reasonably warm during the winter off-season, so the conditions there are most likely to simulate racing conditions. You'll get the occasional team doing shakedown tests at Silverstone since they don't have to travel very far (and Force India like using it becuase their base of operations is right across the road), and the FIA want teams to test in Bahrain - the reason why it was promoted to the opening race was so that the teams could do the last major test there, leave all their non-essential gear and ome back to it for he first race to cut down on travel costs - but after Ferrari and (I think it was) Toyota got inundated by a sandstom last year (there's a great shot of Raikkonen powering through the waves of sand), it's fallen out of poularity.

Thanks Captain (although I knew of the reasons why they often go to the Iberian penisula for testing). Just wondered whether maybe Toyota might have gone there, for instance, considering that the track would have been in the same country as their base...

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 20 Jan 2010, 12:19

The thing about Lausitz is that there has never been a race there. Any data they'd gather would be unuseable, or would certainly require more work to convert ino something usefu. I know the sport hasn't gone to Jerez for years, and Ricardo Tormo has never seen a race, either, but the teams know these circuits very well.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 21 Jan 2010, 11:39

Alonso has filmed an advert to show off Ferrari's new livery for this year and there's a fair bit of white in it...:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81002

(By the way, how could I post an image of this into the thread so that the image was visible here?)

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 21 Jan 2010, 12:00

That Ferrari scheme has too much white for my liking.
I think they should have went with black

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 21 Jan 2010, 12:49

dr-baker wrote:(By the way, how could I post an image of this into the thread so that the image was visible here?)

There's a button in the post a reply screen which reads "Img". Push it. Copy the image's URL and paste it between the html code that appears, and this will appear:

So, Santander really had nothing to do with it, huh?

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 21 Jan 2010, 13:30

CarlosFerreira wrote:
So, Santander really had nothing to do with it, huh?

That all white rear wing looks hideous!

muttley · Post by **muttley** » 21 Jan 2010, 13:42

Hopefully it's a throwback to the 70s, rather than the horrible 1993 season...

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 21 Jan 2010, 14:40

muttley wrote:Hopefully it's a throwback to the 70s, rather than the horrible 1993 season...

I don't see the Italian flag anywhere on the new livery...

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 21 Jan 2010, 15:06

Not too dissimilar to this -

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 21 Jan 2010, 16:37

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Reminds me of a strawberry sundae.

Popi_Larrauri · Post by **Popi_Larrauri** » 21 Jan 2010, 17:27

Shinji...

.... How on earth do you get the data for your signature????

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:01

Popi_Larrauri wrote:Shinji...

.... How on earth do you get the data for your signature????

Well, I'm glad you asked:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1000

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 21 Jan 2010, 19:32

Here are some better shots of the 2010 Ferrari livery:

watka · Post by **watka** » 21 Jan 2010, 23:20

kostas22 wrote:Here are some better shots of the 2010 Ferrari livery:

They've really shoe-horned in that Santander livery. It's like taking the Mona Lisa and putting a big red circle in the end of her nose.

In a way, it's not dissimilar to when McLaren ruined their silver livery with the glaring red Fly Emirates sponsorship (they managed to get it about right with the Vodafone logos though).

Post by **mario** » 21 Jan 2010, 23:38

Not the worst car that we have seen in F1 (the 2009 Renault comes to mind...), even if, as Henrique says, it looks like a strawberry sundae.

On another note, since I suppose that it is most appropriate to go here, a few more technical details of the USF1 car have emerged recently. At the moment, it appears that the first chassis is complete, and they have begun to prepare it for their first tests.
http://www.racintoday.com/archives/13543

According this article, in one respect USF1 are more retro than Ferrari's paintjob, because USF1 are deigning their own transverse gearbox casing, with Emco internals - the first car to be built with one since Williams for their 1998 challenger. It is a bold choice, and it means that the car should have a shorter wheelbase in comparison to the other new teams.
Also, since they are designing their own casing, they might be able to make a small weight saving compared to the standard Xtrac unit. By comparison, the Campos team has gone for a fully spec Xtrac unit, along with Lotus - 1Malaysia, whilst the Virgin Racing team are usingthe Xtrac internals but a custom casing.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 22 Jan 2010, 00:01

Incessant gearbox failures, here we come.

Also known as: Red Bull, part deux

Guzuky · Post by **Guzuky** » 22 Jan 2010, 00:57

thehemogoblin wrote:USF1-- Are they testing on a track no other F1 car has ever driven, just so that there's no evidence to compare them to?

Also, thanks so much for compiling this list... nice work.

Spot on!!

Post by **mario** » 22 Jan 2010, 15:26

thehemogoblin wrote:Incessant gearbox failures, here we come.

Also known as: Red Bull, part deux

Maybe - Emco is a specialised gearbox manufacturer, and the ones dealing with the most difficult part (designing the internal parts) - all USF1 is effectively designing is the case (which I reckon will probably be aluminium, since titanium is not easy to work with and a lot more expensive for only a small perfromance gain, and composite Carbon Fibre/Titanium gearboxes are so complex that even some of the big teams could never crack the problem).

In theory, designing their own casing should mean that they can adjust the suspension mounting points to their own requirements. Not only that, they can adjust the casing stiffness and load bearing properties to their own ends, instead of having to design it based around Xtrac's designs.
It's odd that they have gone for such a radical departure - particularly when a transverse casing will make it more difficult to integrate a DDD (since the casing could block access to the underside of the car), when the rest of the car seems to be relatively conservative in terms of design. Still, we'll see what happens.

[As an aside, here is the listing of what casings the current teams used in 2009:
Ferrari – Carbon Fibre\Ti composite
McLaren - Carbon Fibre
BMW – Ti
Renault – Carbon Fibre\Ti composite
Red Bull Racing - Carbon Fibre
Toro Rosso - Aluminium
Williams - Aluminium
Toyota - Aluminium
Brawn - Carbon Fibre (ex-Honda)
FI – McLaren's Carbon Fibre gearbox]

Meanwhile, on the topic of car launches, if anyone has got some free time on the 29th Jan, you can watch the launch of the McLaren MP4/25 - Mclaren are going to provide a live stream of the launch, starting at 11:00am GMT http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81025

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 22 Jan 2010, 17:23

mario wrote:Meanwhile, on the topic of car launches, if anyone has got some free time on the 29th Jan, you can watch the launch of the McLaren MP4/25 - Mclaren are going to provide a live stream of the launch, starting at 11:00am GMT http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81025

Idle question, but is there any other teams doing something like this? Or for that matter, are the first tests going to be live/viewable?

Had a quick look at Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bulls web sites. Ferrari doesnt seem to say anything, neither does Red Bull (although they were delaying) and all I got from Mercedes was Nico Rosberg telling me that their site was not ready...