The new McLaren MP4-27

McLaren are the second team to unveil their 2012 challenger, called the MP4-27.

Interestingly, the car does not feature the odd nosecone design that most teams seem to have been developing. Caterham, the only other team to have launched their car so far, incorporated the new innovation into their CT01, with mixed reactions regarding its appearance.

At the launch, Jenson Button noted that the MP4-27 was a “beautiful car”, but “many you see will not be”.

Lewis Hamilton talked about the redesign at the back of the car:

"Particularly the back of the car is a lot neater than it was last year. It’s
much, much tighter. The focus is making it as snug as possible at the back to
improve aerodynamics. It’s just refinement.

The rear wing is a bit better in terms of dropping drag. We’re trying our best
to improve the rear flow especially with no blown diffuser this year it’s going
to be very tricky for us. You’ll lose a lot of downforce without the blown diffuser.

When we were off-power last year we had a tremendous amount of downforce just
coming from the back floor with the exhaust-blown diffuser. We don’t have that
this year which is really the biggest loss for us.

It’s about finding the balance last year we obviously had a lot of weight and a
lot of downforce on the rear of the car and we had to try to balance it with
getting enough front end. This year I think it will be the other way around:
having too much at the front and trying to find more rear."

A frontal view of the McLaren MP4-27

Lewis also joked: “We’ve changed the mirrors, we’ll be able to see a lot better. Felipe [Massa] will be very happy with that!”

Instead of incorporating drastic changes in height on the nosecone, McLaren have opted to lower the front of their car, to cope with the lower front wing technical rule change this year.

Compared to the MP4-26, the car is tighter at the back for improved airflow. The U-shaped sidepods have been replaced with a more conventional design (which McLaren claim was a cause of the FIA banning exhaust-blown diffusers), while a revised cooling system now directs air to the gearbox oil cooling system.

Force India and Ferrari are next up to reveal their cars, both launching in two days time.

The incident occurred in a nightclub in Shanghai after the Chinese Grand Prix in 2011, and Sutil was alleged to have assaulted Lux with a champagne glass. Adrian’s counter-claim was that he only meant to spill his drink over the CEO.

Genii Capital are the owners of Lotus (Renault), and since the incident Lux has reportedly chased Sutil for an apology and financial reimbursement for the 9-inch cut to Eric’s neck. On the other hand, Adrian has claimed that Lux made “strange offers” involving “a lot of money” as long as he volumtarily left the sport. He also claimed:

"He [Eric Lux] threatened me with 'destroying' me and ensuring that I go to prison
for a long time."

Today Adrian was handed a suspended sentence along with a €200,000 fine for causing grievous bodily harm to the Genii boss. Lewis Hamilton was due to testify as a witness for Sutil (as he was in the nightclub during the incident), but was unable to make it to the trial.

Sutil is currently out of a drive for this season, having been replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Force India.

Pirelli have introduced 4 new tyre compositions

Following the first look at the Caterham CT01, Pirelli have also revealed the rubber that all 12 F1 teams will be running on this season.

The Italian manufacturer has constructed brand-new soft, medium and hard compound tyres, with the super-soft formula being carried on from last year. There is also a new extreme wet tyre to be used.

The new tyres will be of a softer composition compared to last year.

The colour coding for the dry tyres remains roughly the same, except the hard tyre is now a much lighter silver colour, and it is expected to be almost invisible at high speed.

The intermediate tyre is now coloured green, while the new extreme wet compound is blue.

All 6 variants of tyre contain slightly wider contact patch than 2011, to counteract the loss of downforce from the banning of off-throttle diffusers. Pirelli explained that they have incorporated less of a rounded shoulder on the rubber to improve grip.

They also noted that they intend to reduce the performance gap between the options and primes on race weekends, from 1.2-1.8 seconds last year to around 0.6-0.8 in 2012.

The Caterham CT01 features a "distinct" nose cone

Caterham are the first team of 2012 to release pictures of their race car for the year – the CT01.

The launch was planned for tomorrow, but pictures were released today by F1 Racing magazine. Caterham have since shown one of their official photos on their Twitter feed.

Caterham's official picture of the CT01

The rest of the launch and images will be on the Caterham site tomorrow.

The most striking part of the CT01 is undoubtedly the platypus-style nose cone, with much larger front suspension mounts, which are now raised above the nose. This is expected to become the norm this year, as the FIA seek to reduce the height of the nose cones, while teams seek to raise their suspension mounts as high as possible.

The sidepods are much slimmer than last year, and the all-carbon blade roll hoop has been replaced by a more conventional roll structure.

It is clear that these photos of the car include 2011-spec wings and vanes. The CT01 also seems to be more aerodynamically aggressive than its predecessor, which was deliberately conservative. The team are also running a KERS unit in the year’s model for the first time, which should help them challenge the midfield.

The car will make its track debut in Jerez next month when testing begins.

Jerome D'Ambrosio will join Lotus from Virgin

Former Virgin driver Jerome D’Ambrosio is to join the Renault/Lotus team as a reserve driver.

He made his debut to the sport in 2011, but was dropped at the end of the season to make way for new rookie Charles Pic.

When the team was known as Renault, D’Ambrosio was part of their young driver program, and tested their cars in 2009 and 2010.

Jerome had this to say today:

"It’s a great feeling to be joining Lotus F1 Team. It’s an exciting next step in
my career.

I contested a complete season in F1 as a race driver for a smaller team where I
learned a lot about Formula 1. Now, I have the opportunity to work with one of
the top teams with great potential for my future development.

With my recent race experience, I know I can make a valuable contribution. Of
course, I would love to be racing, but racing with a top team.

Being associated with Lotus F1 Team should be more beneficial and this is the
choice I have made. This opportunity is one I couldn’t afford to miss. My desire
to get back in a race seat in the future is motivating me to do the best job
possible in my new position."

The FIA’s decision was announced yesterday by Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan, who had received a letter from Charlie Whiting regarding the matter on Friday.

The FIA’s head of F1 communications, Matteo Bonciani, confirmed the news yesterday:

"We have been investigating that type of system for a while. It is obviously
[creating] an impact on the aerodynamic platform of the car.

Anything that gets the ride-height lower, particularly the front ride-height
lower, is beneficial from an aerodynamic perspective."

This ride height adjustment device would appear to break Article 10.2.2 of the 2012 Technical Regulations, which states that “any powered device which is capable of altering the configuration or affecting the performance of any part of the suspension system is forbidden.”

In addition to this, Article 10.2.3 bans any “adjustment … made to the suspension system while the car is in motion.”

Bruno Senna will replace Rubens Barrichello at Williams

The Senna name has finally made a return to the historic Williams team, as Ayrton’s nephew Bruno Senna has been confirmed at the team for the 2012 season.

Bruno’s uncle was killed in his third race for the team, and his name has been carried on the FW series of cars ever since. Today’s confirmation is made all the more memorable seeing as the Williams team are making a return to Renault engines, the same supplier when Ayrton raced for them.

Bruno’s F1 career has been stunted to say the least, being shoved out of his HRT seat to make way for Sakon Yamamoto. He drove for Renault in the second half of 2011, but failed to retain his race seat for 2012.

With this news, it is almost certain that we will not see veteran Rubens Barrichello racing next year.

Senna was full of praise for his new team today:

"I feel very privileged that Williams has selected me as one of their race
drivers. The team has a great heritage and I hope I can help write a good
chapter in their history.

The evaluation process has been intense and methodical but the time I have
spent in the factory has demonstrated that the team has great people and all
the resources needed to achieve better things this season."

In his last race for the team in Brazil last year, Barrichello wore a tribute helmet to his late idol.

This means that the only race seat available for this upcoming season is alongside Pedro de la Rosa at HRT.

The reactive ride height system has already been developed by Ferrari

After details of Lotus’ reactive ride height system emerged in recent days, it has also been reported that Ferrari have developed their own interpretation of the technology.

The new innovation stabilises the front of the car – mechanically and aerodynamically – under braking, by lifting the front of the car by several millimetres.

Lotus’ version had already been approved by the FIA back in January 2010, and Ferrari have since written to the organisation to seek approval of their system. This was confirmed yesterday by team principal Stefano Domenicali:

"What you are talking about, is more related to having stability under braking. It
is a system that I know there have been some documents in writing between the FIA
and the teams.

We are waiting for the final confirmation if this kind of devices will be acceptable
or not. But for sure we are looking around these sorts of devices to see if they
contribute to a performance. But we need to wait and see what will be the reaction to
the FIA on that."

If the device is approved by the FIA, then it is almost certain that Ferrari will be able to test the system at the first pre-season test in February.

A detailed look at Lotus' reative ride height innovation

The must-have innovation of 2012 has been leaked in recent days, with Lotus Renault reported to be running a “reactive ride height” device on their cars.

The system was spotted by seasoned technical journalist Giorgio Piola at the Abu Dhabi young driver test in November, and reports suggest that this device had been given the green light by the FIA as early as January 2011.

The objective of this innovation is to stabilise the front end of the car under braking, which generally dips by several centimetres. With a small hydraulic device in the brake cowling, the car can lift itself to counteract the dip under braking. This ensures a consistent generation of downforce from the front wing.

It is also possible that the reverse situation could apply under acceleration.

One of the smaller technical changes that was passed over by many – including myself – was that the maximum height of the nosecone was lowered from 62mm to 55mm. This has, in part, prompted this new design from Lotus.

Gazetta Dello Sport suggested that this device was to be operated by the driver via a pedal, similar to the F-duct. However, Article 3.15 of the F1 Technical Regulations seems to have covered that loophole:

"With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in
Article 3.18 [the DRS], any car system, device or procedure which uses driver
movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car
is prohibited."

Seeing as the system has already been approved by the FIA, it would be assumed that the device is operated by the car automatically and not the driver.

Predictably, many of the top teams have already begun to research and design their own version of this ride height stabiliser.

Kubica's return has been delayed again

Robert Kubica’s already fraught return to the Formula 1 paddock, after the Polish driver broke his leg in a fall today.

Reuters claims that the 27-year-old slipped on a patch of ice in the town of Pietrasanta in Tuscany, Italy. He was taken to the local hospital for a scan on his right leg, which had suffered in his rally crash almost a year ago.

He then requested to be moved to the Pietra Ligure clinic, where he was rehabilitated after his horrific crash in 2010.

Although there has been no official statement from Robert’s manager Daniele Morelli, Autosport claims that the Pole has re-opened a fracture in his right tibia (bone below the knee).

After being ousted from his seat at Renault, and being left with no drive for the 2012 season, I fear that it is improbable that we will see Kubica back in F1 this year.

If he is to return any time soon, it has been rumoured that Ferrari are willing to test him in their 2010 or 2011 F1 car later this year.

Update: BBC reports that Kubica will need a metal screw inserted just above his ankle, and faces another month with his leg in plaster.