Contary to speculation, the launch model of McLaren’s 2011 car did not feature Renault-style front-exiting exhausts.
But leading figures of the Woking based team did not rule out the appearance of the innovation on the MP4-26 at some point between now and the start of the 2011 season.

Indeed, closer inspection of the car on display in the cold Berlin air on Friday showed some of the detail beneath the bodywork had been moulded in dummy plastic.

Engineering director Tim Goss admitted: “It won’t come as any real surprise or shock that the exhaust solution that you see on the car today is not what we intend to be testing or racing.”

He flagged some “novel solutions” to appear before Bahrain not only on the new McLaren but also the racers fielded by the team’s competitors.

“Be warned, you haven’t seen it all,” boss Martin Whitmarsh advised reporters in the German capital.

He said certain “bits and pieces” of the MP4-26′s eventual race specification have been “hidden from you and our competitors” for the launch.

There has also been speculation that Mercedes’ new W02 car will eventually feature the Renault-like exhaust exits near the sidepods.

“Before we get to Bahrain you’ll probably see a number of teams with different solutions to get the benefit from the exhaust energy,” admitted team boss Ross Brawn this week at the Valencia test.

“I saw Ferrari have some different options,” the Mercedes chief added.

The identity of the F1 team currently known as Lotus Racing moved further under a cloud on Thursday.

The team’s official naming license has been withdrawn by the Proton-owned Group Lotus, and Tony Fernandes’ alternative plan to be called Team Lotus by buying that separate name is now subject to court proceedings.

Meanwhile, Group Lotus is expected to enter F1 in collaboration with the Enstone based Renault team in 2011, and the sports car marque has now announced a project to supply engines and bodywork in the Indycar series from 2012.

“We want to compete with the big buys,” said CEO Dany Bahar.

A GP2 project for 2011 has already been put in place by Group Lotus, all of which leaves Fernandes with little option than to adopt an alternative identity for his privately-owned UK based Malaysian team.

“I do not want to comment on Proton’s move to enter F1 but their action certainly will have some bearing on the team name,” admitted Lotus Racing chief executive Riad Asmat.

“For now, we are preparing our team and we want to be ready for any eventualities.  We are definitely going to be there when the (2011) season starts,” he is quoted by the Malaysian newspaper The Star.

McLaren team figures believe the recent flexible bodywork saga will have taken the shine off Red Bull’s earlier dominance.

At F1′s last outings in Spa and Monza, where new FIA compliance tests came into effect, the RB6 was no longer the stand-out dominant package it had been at earlier events.

But Red Bull already expected to struggle at those high speed circuits, due to its less powerful Renault engines.

In light of the team’s dominance on twisty tracks like Monaco and Hungary, therefore, this weekend’s racing on the Singapore street circuit might be seen as a litmus test of the true effects of the FIA’s flexibility clampdown.

“I think a lot has changed since that race in Budapest — not least, some quite hefty revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility,” said Jenson Button.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh agreed: “Singapore is likely to give us a much clearer idea of the respective pace of the leading teams after two less-representative events in Belgium and Italy.”

Chief race engineer Phil Prew is also hoping Red Bull will be closer to the rest of the field in Singapore this weekend.

“The legality clarification and changes that we’ve all made in response to that could well influence it (the pecking order),” he said during Wednesday’s Vodafone phone media conference.

“We’re optimistic that the gap, which was massive by formula one standards, should well have reduced,” added Prew.

He said he now feels all the teams are racing on a level playing field.

“The advantage that was felt to be gained by Red Bull and Ferrari in Hungary will be harder to exploit,” confirmed Prew.

The outline of F1′s new technical direction for 2013 and beyond has been essentially decided.

According to Autosprint’s Italian-language auto.it, the sport’s cars of the future will feature so-called ‘ground effect’ aerodynamics and be powered by 1.6 litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engines.

The report said the package has been agreed by the majority of the teams.

A working group, featuring a group of engineers from F1 teams, has been in charge of defining the basic outline of the 2013 regulations, Autosprint said.

The four-cylinder turbo engines will reportedly produce 650 horse power, with drivers to be limited to using just five separate units per season.

Ground-effect aerodynamics, meanwhile, could improve overtaking by having the majority of the downforce generated underneath the car, rather than by the wings and top bodywork which greatly disturb the airflow onto following cars.

The technology was pioneered in F1 in the late 70s, but banned shortly afterwards because while producing immense cornering grip, ground effects made the cars unstable at high speed and relied on ‘sliding skirts’ that often broke.

The flexible cars controversy slowed down the previously dominant Red Bull team at Spa-Francorchamps, according to Jenson Button.

Although the Austrian owned team claims the long straights of the Belgian circuit simply did not suit the RB6, McLaren’s Button suspects Adrian Newey had to modify the car to meet more stringent bodywork flexibility tests.

Button’s boss Martin Whitmarsh, and Mercedes’ Ross Brawn, said last weekend that they thought the front wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars were flexing less visibly than they had in Hungary earlier in August.

“I think Red Bull’s pace was affected by the new tests,” said the reigning world champion.

“I hope the new even more stringent tests for Monza will have even more of an effect. They say they won’t have to change anything but they said that here.

“Watching the car here on the track it was not flexing as much,” added Button.

The 30-year-old also does not expect Red Bull to obtain a championship advantage by appointing Mark Webber as the number one driver for the rest of the 2010 campaign.

“I don’t think they will. I think they love Vettel,” he said.

McLaren team boss Whitmarsh added: “I think (Red Bull) quite like their younger driver, so I doubt they will put their weight behind Mark.”

Jenson Button on Thursday predicted problems this weekend for those teams planning to debut a Red Bull-style exhaust layout.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault are planning to run updated cars, with exhausts pointed towards the cars’ double diffusers, during the European grand prix event.

Button’s McLaren team will not test a similar layout until the British grand prix in two weeks, and the Briton told reporters in Valencia that there is a chance his rivals have got their numbers wrong.

“The floors are going to be getting very hot, so they’re going to get through a lot of floors, I’m sure,” he said, referring to the fact the layout blasts the car’s bodywork with hot exhaust fumes.

Button’s desire to see his rivals stumble with the ‘blown rear diffuser’ concept is because McLaren engineers predict the innovation is worth up to half a second per lap.

On the similar Montreal circuit two weeks ago, the McLarens finished first and second.

“Coming here I thought that momentum could be carried, but looking at all the cars around us in the pitlane – which I had a little nose at earlier on – there is a lot of new bits on cars,” said Button.

His teammate Lewis Hamilton agrees that Ferrari in particular will be “very quick” this weekend.
(GMM)

McLaren on Wednesday confirmed reports a Red Bull-style exhaust layout will debut on the MP4-25 at Silverstone.

Several teams are embarking upon a similar approach, with designers working to install low-mounted exhausts that allow air to flow more efficiently into the double diffuser.

The benefit, with also the fast-moving exhaust fumes channelled through the diffuser, is believed to be up to half a second per lap.

“We’ll be doing trials at an aerodynamic test before Silverstone and hope to have it working on the practice sessions and race it on the Sunday,” engineering director Paddy Lowe told reporters during a teleconference.

He admitted that the biggest challenge is equipping the suspension and bodywork to withstand being “blasted” by hot engine fumes, and rued that Ferrari has managed to have its version ready for this weekend’s Valencia race.

“That is a concern,” answered Lowe when told Ferrari’s step forward could be half a second per lap.

“We’ll have to see how they get on with it.  It’s a shame that some others have been slightly quicker than we were getting it, but we are where we are,” he added.

(GMM)

Jun.11 (GMM)  Virgin on Friday took over from HRT as the slowest team in formula one.

For the first time in 2010, the new Spanish team was clearly faster than the Virgins as the field practiced for the Canadian grand prix.

Virgin, one of F1′s three new outfits this year, travelled to North America with a special low-downforce bodywork package for the unique Circuit Gilles Villeneuve layout.

“We have a nice Montreal aero package which consists of new aero parts all over the car, specifically for this track,” technical director Nick Wirth said earlier this week.

But Timo Glock trailed the pace of the leading new-team Lotus by a full second in the morning, before the gap blew out even further in the afternoon as both he and teammate Lucas di Grassi brought up the rear of the timesheets.

“I think we were a bit optimistic with our package for here,” said German Glock.

Virgin, however, is confident of making a step forward in Canada, as the VR-01 cars were fitted with the less competitive Turkey-spec Cosworth engines on Friday.

Ferrari is not prepared to give up on its 2010 car, despite falling off the pace last weekend in Turkey.

Fernando Alonso failed to make the Q3 qualifying session at Istanbul Park, while Felipe Massa was the Maranello team’s highest placed finisher — behind the Red Bulls, the McLarens, the Mercedes and the Renault of Robert Kubica.

Ferrari’s F10 will feature a specific low-downforce bodywork package in Montreal next weekend, before a big update of changes is debuted at Valencia later this month.

Spain’s AS newspaper believes the Valencia update will include a major repackaging of the rear end and exhaust system.

But team boss Stefano Domenicali denies that if the upgrade fails to pull Ferrari back to the front of the grid, Ferrari will begin to focus on 2011.

“We are not going to stop developing this car — we are not throwing away these races so far,” he is quoted as saying.

Even though the Italian media is decrying Ferrari’s “disaster” and “crisis”, Alonso is only 14 points off the lead of the drivers’ championship.

Domenicali insisted: “We will continue working on the F10 until the end of the season.”

He told lne.es: “The championship is still open and we have seen that anything can happen in the races.  We will not give up.”

Spaniard Alonso agrees that Ferrari is still in a position to fight for the title, arguing that no matter how good the Valencia upgrade, it will not be enough to close the gap to the front.

“We know that McLaren and Red Bull are very far away and we don’t know if that’s enough.  We have to work hard,” he said.

He told La Razon: “We don’t know how long it is going to take, but the truth is that we are almost eight tenths from Red Bull and 6 or 7 tenths from McLaren, and these developments (for Valencia) are not going to give us that much.”

(GMM)

A meeting of the Technical Working Group did not result in a decision about F1′s tyre supplier for 2011.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, however, reports that Pirelli has moved into pole position for the contract, even though recent rumours suggested both the Italian marque and Michelin were offering to supply tyres for 1.5m euros per team.

Earlier this week, representatives of Pirelli met with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the technical directors’ meeting, it emerges that the new tyre supplier and the ban on double diffusers will not be the only technical changes for 2011.

The magazine said the main area of attention, apart from the return of KERS, is aerodynamics. Pending the approval of the FIA, the bodywork ahead of the sidepods, and the flow aids under the chassis, are to disappear.

It is also expected that the front wings will be smaller, while the front wing adjustors could be replaced by adjustable rear wings.

Robert Kubica has admitted he is worried about whether Renault is fully prepared to perform on the streets of Monaco this weekend.

The Pole, who switched to the Enstone based team following three and a half years at BMW, said he has always enjoyed a specific bodywork package for the unique street layout.

“Unfortunately we don’t have a specific downforce level for here,” he revealed to reporters on Wednesday.

“Normally from the past I was used to having some different wings with more downforce.

“Drag and efficiency is not so important here in Monaco, but we will be using practically the same wings as all year, so we will have to see if our downforce level is good for here,” he added.

The 25-year-old is currently eighth in the drivers’ championship, having finished four of the five races so far in the points.

(GMM)

In its striking silver and black, the new nose of the single-seater does remind us of Brawn’s BGP01, but if we look closely it’s very different.  The middle part of the nose is much higher, reaching above the front wing, together with the typical V shape of the Red Bull RB5 V.  The car has its nose edge higher at both sides right up to the cockpit opening. (look at the detailed picture below.)

The underside of the nose is rounded off, also as the RB5, but with less height in the front suspension mounts which are joined to the chassis by a small keel.

Around the driver, the sidepod entries have changed less, maintaining the air inlets that are now bulky in comparison to what McLaren and Ferrari have presented in 2010. The wing mirrors have been kept very simple.

Front detail of the Mercedes W01

This racing car may be one of the most innovative, not having anything to do with the adjustments made for his official presentation in Germany.  The airbox, apart from being an air inlet, its main objective is to be a roll hoop for the pilot in case of a crash.  Due to this, the teams usually reinforce the airbox walls with carbon fiber so that it matches the required strength.  Up to here there’s nothing we don’t know, but Mercedes has gone a little farther applying a completely different concept.

W01 Airbox

Here, the team has chosen to build the roll hoop as a vertical column providing a thick support on the centerline of the car.  So an air inlet must also be provided.  If you watch closely, the airbox is divided in two, with an air opening much larger than we are used to.

A little more to the back, there is a small opening on each side of the airbox, providing cooling air for some components that sit more rearward in the car.  It is understood that Mercedes and several other teams have chosen to move some components to sit in the low rear to make place for the larger fuel tank.

Despite the fairly bulky shape of the sidepods with a remarkable lack of undercut, the rear end of the car is extremely mince, leaving most of the suspension components open to free airflow. The team have made the bodywork so narrow that many of the components protrude.

Specifications

• Chassis: Construction Molded carbon fiber and honeycomb composite structure
• Suspension: Wishbone
• Dampers: Sachs
• Wheels: BBS forged magnesium
• Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza
• Brakes: Brembo calipers, discs/pads Carbon/Carbon
• Steering: Power assisted rack and pinion
• Electronics: FIA standard ECU and FIA homologated electronic and electrical system
• Gearbox: Seven speed unit with carbon composite maincase
• Gear selection: Sequential, semi-automatic, hydraulic activation
• Clutch: carbon plate

Dimensions

• Overall length: 4800mm
• Overall height: 950mm
• Overall width: 1800 mm

Motor

• Type: Mercedes-Benz FO108X
• Capacity: 2,4 liters
• Cylinders: 8
• Maximum rpm: 18.000 (maximum FIA regulation)
• Bank angle: 90 °
• Piston bore: 98 mm (maximum FIA regulation)
• No. of valves: 32
• Weight: 95kg (minimum FIA regulation weight)