BMW Sauber F1.09 Kubica, Heidfeld & Theissen

BMW Sauber rolled out its 2009 car Tuesday, believing the new vehicle will deliver on the team's target of winning the Formula One championship.

Drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld unveiled the F1.09 car at the Cheste Circuit before Kubica took it out for an installation lap. Several hundred people, including the team crew, saw a modified car that closely resembled several of this year's new class, sporting a stocky front and slim rear.

"When we started four years ago we said that we should be fighting for the championship this season," team principal Mario Theissen said. "All the targets have been met so there is no reason not to continue." Kubica finished third and Heidfeld sixth in the 2008 drivers' standings, while BMW Sauber was third in the constructors' championship in a season where it won its first race.

The 2009 modifications are expected to create greater downforce, double engine life and change aerodynamics to allow for more overtaking. BMW Sauber managing director Walter Riedl said the changes will have the biggest impact on F1 design in 30 years.

Kubica stayed cautious despite the promise that the modifications would lead to extra excitement on the track, especially with personal safety concerns over a new front wing that is wider than the wheels.

"We have to be very careful not only in the first corner but especially when you think you have overtaken the guy and close the line, now you can easily take off his wing and then this wing is quite huge and can go under the car," said Kubica, whose car launched into a violent somersault after such a situation at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007. "It goes under the car and you have no control anymore."

The F1.09 is also fully compliant with the KERS energy recovery system, although Theissen couldn't guarantee that the German team would be using the hybrid technology by the season-opening Australian GP on March 29.

Both Kubica and Heidfeld expect a wide-open start to the season after F1 introduced dramatic cost-cutting measures on top of car modifications, although they both felt the edge still belonged to 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.

"Clearly it's not a comfortable situation, with everyone fighting and trying new situations without knowing if it's the right one," Theissen said of the push to develop the cars in time for Melbourne. "It's not comfortable but it's exciting."

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pic 1: BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009
pic 2: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009

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pic 1: Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009
pic 2: Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009

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pic 1: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009
pic 2: Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld, Christian Klien,.. Mario Theissen, Willy Rampf BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009

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pic 1: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009
pic 2: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009

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pic 1: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009
pic 2: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW P86.9 Unveiling 2009

Renault unveils R29 in Portugal, Alonso & Piquet

Renault officially launched its 2009 season on Monday as the new R29 was unveiled to the world's media at the Algarve Motor Park near Portimao in the south of Portugal. Both the team's race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, were on hand in the morning to take the covers off their new challenger as they joined Managing Director Flavio Briatore for a photo call with the R29 in front of the team's pit garage.

They were joined by young Frenchman, Romain Grosjean, who was announced as the team's third driver for 2009, and the latest recruits from Renault's Driver Development Programme: Davide Valsecchi from Italy, Charles Pic from France and Marco Sorensen from Denmark.

With radical revisions to the sport's technical regulations introduced this year, the R29 incorporates a new design philosophy and looks very different from its predecessor. Great attention has been paid to maximizing the new rules and the team is optimistic about its chances for the year ahead.

"We began our preparations for the R29 project early and I am proud of what the team has achieved,” explained Briatore. “There are lots of new things to deal with this year, which could shake things up, but we intend to continue fighting at the front. We will now concentrate on our final preparations for the start of the season so that we can arrive in Australia hopefully fighting for the podium."

Both Alonso and Piquet were delighted to get their hands on the R29 so early in the year. Having followed the car's progress closely over the winter, they paid tribute to the work done by the staff in the factories in Enstone and Viry.

"The team has had a very busy development programme to allow us to be ready for the first January test with the new car," said Alonso. "Now we are all looking forward to seeing the result of all that effort on the racetrack."

After the photo call, the R29 made its track debut as Piquet kicked off the team's winter development programme at the Algarve Motor Park. "It feels great to be in the R29, even though the weather was not great," said the Brazilian afterwards.

"Today was all about adding miles to the car, collecting data and learning as much as we could. Hopefully the rest of the week will allow us to build on the progress we have made today."

Renault will remain in the Algarve until Thursday to continue with their testing programme. Piquet will be in the R29 for a second day on Tuesday before handing it over to Alonso for the final two days.

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pic 1: Nelson Piquet Jr., Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean, Flavio Briatore Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008
pic 2: Nelson Piquet Jr., Fernando Alonso, Davide Valsecchi, Charles Pic, Marco Sorensen, Flavio Briatore Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008

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pic 1: Nelson Piquet Jr., Fernando Alonso, Davide Valsecchi, Charles Pic, Marco Sorensen, Flavio Briatore Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008
pic 2: Nelson Piquet Jr., Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean, Flavio Briatore Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008

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pic 1: Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008
pic 2: Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008

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pic 1: Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008
pic 2: Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault F1 Team RS27 Testing Unveiling 2008

Williams-Toyota FW31 dark blue Livary

The Williams-Toyota FW31 made its first apperance on Monday at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. The car is liveried in dark blue for the moment at least and features rather fewer sponsors than were visible in 2008. Petrobras and Lenovo are gone (which was no surprise) and all the different brands of the Baugur Group (notably Hamleys) have disappeared. The team still has considerable sponsorship from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Philips has got more space on the car. The team says that the livery is not yet definitive and that we will see the racing colour scheme at the end of February.

The car ran for the first time in the hands of the team's tester Nico Hulkenberg. A much more elegant car than its predecessor, despite the large front wing and narrow rear wing, the Williams will be different from all the other 2009 F1 cars as its KERS system is based not on an electrical storage system but rather on a flywheel, which stores the car's energy as motion. This involves a flywheel which spins at 64,000 rpm but the team has done considerable testing and is convinced that the unit is completely safe, with a carbonfibre containment structure capable of containing enormous pressures in case of failure.

The team has applied for various patents to protect its intellectual property. The device features a continuously variable transmission which provides a seamlessly changing ratio between the inputs and the flywheel. The team says that the energy-efficiency of the unit is almost twice as good as the petrol-electric hybrid systems that have been adopted by the other teams. The F1 systems are limited to 60kw output, but the Williams system is reckoned to be capable of 100kW. The FIA is expected to increase the limit in the future and Williams hopes to be able to take advantage of that. The system weighs 25kg, which should mean that Williams will still have the possibility of moving ballast around inside the car.

The team hopes that its ingenuity will push it back to the top end of the F1 grid after several years struggling after the split with BMW. The big problem in recent years has been high-speed aerodynamics and it will be important to see whether this has been improved with the team new car.

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg On The Track
pic 2: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg On The Track

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg
pic 2: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg
pic 2: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg
pic 2: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg On The Track

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Test Run Nicolas Hülkenberg
pic 2: Williams FW31 Test Run Kazuki Nakajima On The Track

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Side
pic 2: Williams FW31 Side

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pic 1: Williams FW31 Front
pic 2: Williams FW31 Front

MP4-24, McLaren revealed, KERS

At its Woking, U.K. headquarters today, the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team officially revealed its totally revised 2009 Formula 1 contender, called the MP4-24. As expected, the car wears a completely new aerodynamic package to accommodate the slick racing tires, as well as power-boosting Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

Like the newly disclosed Ferrari F60 and Toyota TF109, the Mercedes-Benz racer most strikingly features a wider front wing, a narrower and taller rear spoiler and no ancillary 'winglets.' The driver is also given the ability to adjust the degree of downforce applied by the front wing in order to garner faster cornering and straightaway speeds.

Underneath all the fancy carbon body work resides the highly talked about (and controversial) KERS system. Created over the course of two years, the energy recovery technology is said to recycle braking force in order to provide an 80-hp boost in overtaking power. The extra oomph can shave an estimated 0.3 to 0.5 seconds per lap if used correctly.

McLaren's competitor is powered by a 2.4L V-8 that's been restricted to a FIA mandated 18,000 rpm. Despite its small displacement, the racing motor churns out around 800 hp and is mated to an ultra-quick seven-speed sequential gearbox.

On a separate but related note, immediately following the car's introduction, McLaren F1 team principle Ron Dennis announced his intentions to leave the team's head position in order to focus on other, more demanding McLaren Group projects. He will be replaced by McLaren Group COO Martin Whitmarsh who has been labeled as Dennis' right hand man.

Dennis has no intention of leaving F1 altogether and will attend races throughout the season.

"Let me make one thing clear: this is very definitely not retirement," said Dennis in an interview with the F1 Web site. "In fact, I intend to work even harder from now on. And it's because I intend to work even harder -- on growing the McLaren Group -- that I've decided to pass the role of Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Martin."

"In any case, this announcement won't change a great deal because, in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer of McLaren Group, Martin and I already jointly take all the major decisions that affect this company. What today's decision means is that Martin will now become solely responsible for the performance of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and will be entrusted to ensure the team remains a competitive force in Formula One motor racing."

"As for myself, I will continue to expand and develop my role as McLaren Group Chairman and still intend to go to some, but not all, Grands Prix because I remain a diehard enthusiast. Motor racing is in my blood -- and nothing will dilute my passion for either the sport or the success of this company."

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pic 1: MP4-24, McLaren Side
pic 2: MP4-24, McLaren Front up 2009

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pic 1: MP4-24, McLaren 2009
pic 2: Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen MP4-24, McLaren 2009

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pic 1: Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen MP4-24, McLaren 2009
pic 2: Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen MP4-24, McLaren 2009

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pic 1: Lewis Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa, Gary Paffett, Heikki Kovalainen MP4-24, McLaren 2009
pic 2: Lewis Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa, Gary Paffett, Heikki Kovalainen MP4-24, McLaren 2009

Buemi, Renault and the F60

Toro Rosso has confirmed their drivers line-up of 2009: 1st driver is Sebastién Buemi, 2nd driver is Sebastién Bourdais. That's Swiss Seb and French Seb. I was personally hoping for Takuma Sato, but even a sexy guy like myself can be mistaken. Surprise..

Renault, with Fernando Alonso and Nelsinho Piquet, may be heading towards a dead end. Rumours circulating the F1 paddock has it that 2009 is the last season for Renault. Several factors point to this:
Renault's team president, Bernard Rey, has said that Renault is commited to Formula 1 "for this year".
Whispers in the F1 circles claims that the Renault engine will not be available to customer teams after 2009.
About 100 staff at their factory in Enstone, UK, will be fired due to ecomicial strain and rule changes. These fired people are working with aerodynamic and the testing of the car - two areas heavily decreased for 2009 thanks to new rules.

The Ferrari F60 rounds this shizzle up. This car is labelled illegal by like everyone. Latest in line is Toyota's something-dude Pascal Vasselon. Previously, Mercedes' Norbert Haug and some BMW bloke said it is illegal. Why? It features rear exhaust pipes on the exterior - an illegal feature. It's not taken too heavily by these three men, who are quite sure it will be changed well in time for Melbourne. It's merely a pre-version of the finished edition anyway, right?

I will not be posting much, if antyhing, for the remainder of January and perhaps February. Expect to see me back in weekly action, though, once the season is about to embark.

Oh, by the way guys: Mark Webber is about to hit the roads soon. In about 2-3 weeks, he'll test the new Red Bull. Yay for him.

Toyota unveils TF109 Online, Internet-only unveiling

Toyota adopted a modern and unique method to launch their new car today: the Internet-only unveiling allowed the whole world to see the car at the same time, but as yet no one has seen it for real or up close.

Toyota have taken a shapely approach to their new car: although clearly in its first iteration of bodywork to meet the new rules, the car sports some interesting touches to maximise downforce and reduce drag. The car's chassis design was headed again by Pascal Vasselon, while this is the end of the first full new machine for head of aerodynamics Mark Gillan.

Unlike the interim cars tested before Christmas, Toyota have gone for a slim nose but, unlike Ferrari, they have kept the nose shorter and raised the tip up as far as possible. This shape does provide more space under the nose cone for turning vanes, which is an area outside of the exclusion zones for bodywork. Thus Toyota have fitted a pair of vanes to the rear of the nose cone that lead back under the chassis.

Toyota TF109 detailThe front wing is split abruptly between the FIA-mandated middle section and the downforce-producing outer spans, which feature single element moving flaps. Most noticeable are the shapely endplates without curved leading edges to tease airflow around the front wheels; these are most noticeable when viewed from above. Curiously, the front wheel fairings have their openings pointing forwards rather than backwards as with their 2008 car, while the rear wheels are fitted with Toyota's novel vaned fairings. Leading back. the team have fitted another pair of small bargeboards in front of the sidepod and a simple tall pod wing to its shoulder.

As one of the last teams to adopt undercut sidepods, the new sidepod fronts are exceptionally undercut. They then sweep into a tight coke bottle shape before exiting in a bulbous shape over the gearbox. The only cooling outlets allowed in the engine cover also need to route the exhaust pipes; Toyota have chosen to sink the pipes beneath the engine cover rather than expose them as per the Ferrari.

Also on the engine cover is a small tail spine that smoothes the flow to the new, narrower, rear wing to make more use of the lower beam wing. Toyota have lowered the rear crash structure to reach underneath it, leaving the full span of the beam wing exposed to the airflow.

This year the engines are reduced in revs (18,000rpm from 19,000) and each driver will need to use no more than eight engines throughout the season.

The TF109 will take to the track publicly for the first time next week at the Portimao test.

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pic 1: toyota TF109 White Front
pic 2: toyota TF109 White Front

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pic 1: toyota TF109 White Top
pic 2: toyota TF109 White Side

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pic 1: toyota TF109 White Side
pic 2: toyota TF109 White Side

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pic 1: toyota TF109 Black Top
pic 2: toyota TF109 Black Side

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pic 1: toyota TF109 Black Front
pic 2: toyota TF109 Black Front