McLaren MP4/4 At Motegi

Formula 1 geeks like myself have spent countless hours on YouTube reliving the glory days of the sport. I’m of the opinion that the 80′s were Formula 1′s greatest decade. They saw a massive shift in the sport as more sponsors became involved and it entered the World stage. The 80′s produced a dizzying array of talent with drivers becoming international celebrities. Despite all of this, Formula 1 was great in the 80′s for one important reason; it was the peak of the turbo era.

The turbo era produced many astonishing machines but none quite like the McLaren MP4/4. In my mind it’s the greatest Formula 1 car of all time. Its Honda RA168-E V6 was capable of over 1000 HP and in the hands of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, won 15 races in 1988.

Despite its legendary history, the MP4/4 remains a recluse these days.

It’s a rarity to see the MP4/4 stretching its legs on the track. I was encouraged to see Lewis Hamilton take Senna’s old car for a spin on Top Gear a few years ago. The chance to see one of the sport’s current World Champions take the reigns of such a fantastic machine was an exciting prospect. However, disappointment set in when the segment’s soundtrack overpowered the car’s bellowing V6 twin-turbo. I often find that the biggest complaint from YouTube viewers is that the engine sound isn’t a high enough priority in car videos.

I was encouraged to come across this video of the MP4/4 at Motegi last July.

With HD footage and good sound quality, it’s not to be missed. The first few minutes get off to a slow start but once the car is warmed up, it’s pure engine pornography. Turn your speakers up to 11.

This MP4/4 was probably running a more conservative tune compared to it’s days at Monaco. Regardless, the video gives us a taste of what the car would’ve sounded like at WOT. I think it’s automotive bliss.

As a new season of Formula 1 gets underway in a couple weeks, it marks the final appearance of V8s in the sport. The new technical regulations of 2014 will see Formula 1 enter its second turbo era. While the new cars will hardly capture the ferocity of their ancestors, it’ll be nice to see Formula 1 using turbos again. I don’t think I’m alone in saying how eager I am to hear to 2014 cars. Internal wastegates will keep the noise levels down significantly, but the rumor is that they will sound great. I suppose we’ll have our answer a year from now. In the meantime, the MP4/4′s legacy lives on.

Video courtesy of Deckay.

LaFerrari

The Geneva Motor Show is in full swing and today was the highly anticipated debut of Ferrari’s Enzo successor. Simply named LaFerrari, it will most certainly revolutionize the way we think about hyper cars. Many people have gotten hung up on the name and while not brilliant, it’s hardly a reason to dislike what is an astonishing piece of engineering.

The Ferrari DNA is present throughout with subtle hints to the 458 Italia and the P4/5.

Like the name, LaFerrari’s looks have been met with mixed reviews. I think it’s a fantastically good looking piece of design and far exceeds the Enzo.

Many of you have probably had the chance to soak in all of the content released throughout the day. In case you’ve missed it, here are some of the more interesting details about the car.

 

 

 

 

While KERS and active aero are technologies we’ve become familiar with in motor sports, they’ve rarely been used on production cars. It’s a trend that’s gaining momentum in the automotive industry and is fast becoming the new norm for high performance road cars.

There’s no mistaking that LaFerrari has Formula 1 to thank for it’s technical contributions to the project. While many will argue that the sport has little influence on production cars, that certainly is not the case here. Ferrari, McLaren, Pagani and Porsche are ushering in a new era of what’s technically possible.

Now we can all look forward to the inevitable LaFerrari-P1 comparison test.

Photos & videos courtesy of Ferrari.

McLaren P1

The McLaren P1. Just look at the thing.

The hyper car battle of 2013 is shaping up to be a good one. In a beauty contest the P1 edges just ahead of Porsche’s upcoming 918. Although I have my suspicions that Ferrari is going to come in and blow everyone away.

While McLaren has been fairly transparent and given us all lots of access to media and information regarding the P1, Ferrari have been quietly working away in Maranello. Aside from some performance figures and other carefully released details, not much is known about the upcoming F150, primarily what it will look like. That will all change in March at the Geneva Motor Show.

In the meantime enjoy the excellent P1.

Photos courtesy of McLaren.

The 2013 Caterham CT03 & Marussia MR02

Rounding out the grid for 2013 will be Caterham and Marussia who both debuted their cars earlier today at Jerez.

Caterham have chosen to focus their efforts on the bigger changes to hit the sport in 2014, so they’ve opted to run an upgraded version of last year’s CT01 in 2013.

The CT03 features an updated livery and changes to the side pods and rear end. It’s expected to remain in the same trim, come race day in Melbourne.

Teammates Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde will compete in the car this coming season.

Marussia will be competing in the MR02 this season.

Like the rest of the teams, the MR02 is an “evolution”, expanding upon last year’s car. One big change for 2013 is that the MR02 will have KERS.

With Timo Glock off the team in 2013, rookie Max Chilton is currently their only driver.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget the back marker teams. Even the phrase back marker sounds awful. I suppose that’s the nature of racing and someone has to finish last. Something many of us forget is while teams like Caterham and Marussia may not be top competitors in the World of Formula 1, in the racing World as a whole they still occupy the upper echelon. For that reason alone you have to give credit where it is due.

Photos courtesy of F1 Fanatic.

The 2013 Toro Rosso STR8

Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso unveiled their 2013 STR8 earlier today.

STR teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were at Jerez to unveil the car, ahead of the first day of testing beginning tomorrow.

After finishing 9th overall in 2012, STR Team Principal Franz Tost expects the team to finish 6th in 2013. It’s an optimistic goal, but after last season anything can happen.

All of the cars are looking much better heading into 2013 with their new nose jobs. The season’s first testing doesn’t usually tell us a lot, but it’s still going to be interesting to see how everyone performs tomorrow.

Photos courtesy of F1 Fanatic.

The 2013 Mercedes W04

It has been an interesting offseason for Mercedes who have seen massive power shifts in both the front office and in the driver’s seat. In what was easily the biggest off track story of 2012, Lewis Hamilton announced that he would leave McLaren and head to Mercedes, to take spot of a retiring Michael Schumacher. Many are still questioning if Lewis’ decision was the right one.

In his first public appearance since joining the team, Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg were out to unveil Mercedes’ 2013 contender, the W04.

It’s tough to see any difference between the W03 and it’s successor apart from a slight nose job. Like all of the other teams, the W04 is an “evolution” car and will certainly look different come race day.

According to Mercedes, the W04 is the result of “many thousands of hours of work”.

The W04 may have more of a burden than any other car on the starting grid in 2013. Mercedes have made big claims since acquiring Hamilton. Their 2012 season fell flat after the first few races and much of the responsibility will be on the shoulders of Ross Brawn if this car follows a similar path.

Granted no racing has been done, but I still don’t understand the move from Hamilton’s perspective, apart from having more free time due to less sponsorship constraints. There’s also the strange hiring of Niki Lauda as Mercedes’ special informant. Between Brawn, Lauda and Toto Wolff, this team has way too many captains and I think it’s only a matter of time before this ticking time bomb goes off. There have already been rumblings of a Brawn departure from the team. None of this is good news for Hamilton who left McLaren to get away from the “drama”. I expect 2013 to be a very interesting season for Mercedes and we’ll all be following them closely.

Photos courtesy of Mercedes.

The 2013 Infinity Red Bull Racing RB9

Earlier today Red Bull held an event at their Milton Keynes base to unveil the 2013 RB9.

Teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were on hand to present the RB9 to the media.

In the offseason Webber came under harsh criticism from Vettel’s mentor Helmut Marko. It’s no secret there’s been an underlying tension in the Red Bull Paddock the last couple of seasons. Webber’s contract is up at the end of 2013 and it will be interesting to see if he continues with the team.

The RB9 sports a slightly different livery to reflect the team’s relationship with title sponsor Infinity.

The car was described as an “evolution” by its designer Adrian Newey. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as most teams will be using last year’s cars as building blocks. The biggest changes will come in 2014, as the new technical regulations come into play.

The front and rear wings will be different come race day as the current ones are just for show.

Red Bull hope to secure their 4th consecutive World Driver’s and Constuctor’s Championships in 2013 with the RB9.

Photos courtesy of Red Bull.

The 2013 Sauber C32

It’s debut week in Formula 1 as all the teams unveil their cars for the 2013 season. Earlier today Sauber showed us their C32 which will be driven by Nico Hulkenberg and rookie Esteban Gutierrez.

While most teams thus far have stuck to the same liveries, Sauber have opted to go with a completely different look and it’s certainly paid off.

Technical specs aside, the C32 is quite possibly the best looking car of 2013.

2012′s C31 was no slouch and drove both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi to podium finishes. That’s a pretty big feat considering the operating budget of a team like Sauber is significantly less than some of the front runners like Red Bull.

Nose jobs seem to be an early trend for Formula 1 in 2013. Of all the cars debuted so far, Lotus are the only team to retain the feature.

Sauber have produced what is a truly great looking Formula 1 car. That’s not something we’ve often been able to say in recent years (maybe with the exception of Lotus).

With Perez off to McLaren, his seat was given to former Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg. His teammate will be Esteban Gutierrez who’s long been rumored to enter the sport. It’s left Kamui Kobayashi without a drive for 2013 which is really unfortunate. Kobayashi was always a fan favorite in the sport and with a podium finish at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, it seemed likely he’d be retained for 2013. However, such is the nature of an ultra competitive sport like Formula 1. Hopefully Sauber will continue to bring the fight to the front runners in 2013.

Photos courtesy of Sauber.

The 2013 Ferrari F138

On the back of yesterday’s McLaren MP4-28 debut, Ferrari have held an event to unveil their own F138.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were on hand for the festivities. It’s really good to see Massa in Rosso Corsa for another year. Who knows what 2014 will bring, but after his last few races in 2012, it’s a well deserved seat with the Scuderia.

Team Principal Stefano Domenicali described the F138 as an evolution of the F2012.

The F138 will use the same pull rod front and rear suspension as last year’s car. However unlike the F2012, it’s done away with what was possibly the ugliest step nose in all of Formula 1.

There are noticeable changes in the car’s side profile. Like the rest of the 2013 cars we’ve seen so far, expect a different front and rear wing setup come race day. The extra hits of black on white on the car’s livery are a nice touch.

Hopefully the F138 drives as good as it looks. I still firmly believe Alonso should’ve won the World Driver’s Championship last year. The experts are predicting 2013 will be another Alonso-Vettel fight, so I guess we’ll find out shortly.

Photos courtesy of Ferrari.

The 2013 Force India VJM06

In between the commotion coming from McLaren and Ferrari, Force India held an event at Silverstone to unveil their own 2013 contender, the VJM06.

Paul di Resta was on hand to present the car to the media. Another Force India driver was noticeably absent as the team have yet to sign one. It’s just another one of the offseason difficulties they’ve faced recently.

Like the McLaren MP4-28, the VJM06 has opted to do away with the step nose design in 2013.

As a team Force India raises a lot of questions. First of which is, who will be their second driver in 2013? With di Resta and Hulkenberg last year, the team were a midfield leader and showed lots of potential. In many outings their pace wasn’t far off the leaders, specifically in Korea where Hulkenberg was able to take the fight to McLaren.

2013 will be an interesting season for Force India and their VJM06.

Photos courtesy of Force India.