Gone are the days of high profile F1 car launches. With limited time between two seasons, teams prefer to give their cars extra development time and keep their launches straightforward.
All but two teams that competed in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship last year revealed their 2015 challengers while eight have made the trip to not-so-sunny Spain to iron out the bugs from their cars as much as they can before the Australian Grand Prix on March 15.
VETTEL STARTS FERRARI ERA IN EARNEST
Sebastian Vettel has started the first pre-season test at Jerez in the same fashion as Kimi Raikkonen did last year, by putting a scarlet car on the top of the timesheets although Mercedes impressed with Nico Rosberg completing 157 laps of the 4.428 km Circuito de Jerez.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton also impressed with his lap count (91) on the second day of testing yesterday before a water leak on the W06 put a halt to his schedule, which was followed by heavy rain towards the end of the day.
While pre-season testing times are largely meaningless - with reliability most sought after by teams - it is worth noting that the 2015 machines have been noticeably more rapid than last year's cars at a similar point. Vettel's fastest time of 1:22.620 on Sunday was almost five seconds faster than Raikkonen's best time on the opening day of testing in 2014.
The former four-time world champion went even faster yesterday with a 1:20.984. The fastest time that any driver could manage at Jerez last year was a 1:23.276, while more importantly, the number of laps that Rosberg managed on Sunday (157) is almost as many as the German managed throughout the entire first pre-season test last year (188). That is an indication of engine manufacturers and teams having a far better understanding of the radical new technical regulations that were introduced last year, with the almost irrelevant 2.4 litre, normally aspirated V-8 engines being dropped in favour of 1.6 litre, turbocharged, V-6 engines mated to a potent Energy Recover System (ERS).
FORCE INDIA PLAYS THE WAITING GAME
The only team that didn’t follow the bandwagon was Force India which travelled across the Atlantic in Mexico to unveil their new dynamic livery(albeit on their 2014 car). Black and silver have emerged as the new predominant colours with traditional saffron and green also retained on Silverstone outfit’s latest offering.
Having recently shifted to Toyota’s state of the art wind tunnel in Cologne, the team has decided to skip the first pre-season test in Jerez. It is not yet clear whether skipping the first test is a calculated approach by Force India or if there is credence to the rumours of the team being unable to pay their bills for this season, which caused a delay in the delivery of the VJM08's monocoque.
MEANWHILE, AT JEREZ
Lotus F1 which was absent from the Spanish venue last season are now on schedule, having unveiled their latest challenger online a few days ago, although they ended up missing the first day of pre-season testing. The team endured a dreadful season last year with only three points finishes. A switch to Mercedes engines, however, brings new hope to the Enstone based squad.
Speaking of the works Mercedes team which dominated the proceedings last season, the team took their W06 Hybrid to Silverstone as part of a filming day. Pictures from the shakedown were subsequently released online with a formal launch held just before the start of today’s test.
Williams - which many a times was Mercedes’ closest challenger - showed first glimpse of their new car on the cover page of UK’s F1 Racing magazine. After several year in the wilderness, the team would be looking to capitalise on last season.
Ferrari who are accustomed to big launches at their factory in Maranello also preferred to keep it simple this time around. The SF15-T was unveiled online this week and the newly announced team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has set modest targets for 2015. The Italian brand needs to make major strides on the power unit side to even have an outside chance of winning a race this year.
Sauber, the only Ferrari powered team, apart from Scuderia, of course, features a new blue and yellow colour scheme backed by Brazilian sponsors of new recruit Felipe Nasr. The team has an all new line up with Marcus Ericsson joining the former GP2 driver from Caterham. 2014 was a watershed for the Swiss outfit and if the team doesn’t improve this year, it fears finishing at the bottom of F1’s shortened constructors table.
MCLAREN EMBARK ON NEW(OLD) ERA
Coming to the most awaited launch of the year, McLaren unveiled their first Honda powered car in nearly 20 years on their website on the 29th of January. The livery remains mostly unchanged with the addition of red colour that streaks from the nose cone to the rear of the car in two symmetrical curves.
Fans were disappointed not to see the team return to its iconic red and white livery that had more to do with their then title sponsor Marlboro than Honda. The team's boss, Ron Dennis, however indicated that the car's livery is set to change although it cannot yet be revealed when it might happen.
McLaren have also rekindled their partnership with Fernando Alonso who left the team in acrimonious circumstances after the 2007 season. The Spaniard - widely regarded as the best driver on the grid - admits that 2015 will be a learning year for the Woking outfit and its Japanese partner.
THE BULLISH ONES
Toro Rosso - one of the only two teams housed outside of UK - unveiled their STR10 in Jerez on Sunday. The Faenza based outfit has an all rookie lineup in form of 17 year old Formula 3 graduate Max Verstappen and Formula Renault 3.5 champion Carlos Sainz Jr.
Red Bull were the last team to take the covers off their 2015 challenger. And the last Adrian Newey designed F1 car did itself well enough to hide important features of the cars with its camouflage white and black test livery.
On the drivers front, Daniel Ricciardo takes the senior role following Sebastian Vettel’s surprise departure to Ferrari. Daniil Kvyat will partner the Australian after just one season at Toro Rosso and doesn’t seem to be daunted by his graduation to the flagship Red Bull outfit.
Two of the four days of the first pre-season test are already in the books before it concludes on Wednesday. Two more pre-season tests are scheduled in Barcelona before the lights go out in Melbourne for the first race of the 2015 season.
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