Ron Dennis steps down as McLaren unveil MP4-24

McLaren-Mercedes team boss Ron Dennis will step down from his role of team principal before the start of the 2009 season and turn the reigns over to the current CEO, Martin Whitmarsh as of March 1st. However, Dennis made it clear that he is not retiring, but will instead focus on other commitments related to the McLaren Group which involve the racing, automotive, marketing and electronics wings of McLaren in addition to McLaren's Applied Technologies. This is not a complete surprise as Dennis hinted that his role within McLaren might change in November.

Nevertheless, amidst this news of transition, McLaren unveiled their new challenger for the 2009 season, designated the MP4-24. Considering the rules package, this car looks very nice; and aesthetics is something McLaren were sure to consider in the design fundamentals of the MP4-24. During the launch, Dennis expressed that "the extensive rule changes require extensive amount of work. That requires the technologists in our organization, they are not just engineers but scientist with high qualifications, to go back to a plain piece of paper and conceptualizing what the fundamental requirement are for the regulations. It is there you can get it wrong because if you get it wrong no amount of development can sort it out. What you see in the MP4-24 is a car correctly conceptualized."

"At the same time you are trying to make a good looking car, that is a value we put high, if it looks good it goes good, so what you see is a tremendous outcome from a lot of people, it is a credit from not just the technologists but the other people, this is a fully running car that can run on a circuit tomorrow."

McLaren have usually been on the forefront of front wing aero development and it appears that the MP4-24 initial design reflects this. The overall design shows an evolution from the MP4-23 even with new the rules. McLaren have fully utilized their technological resources as the car that was unveiled today was the 2nd of the new 2009 cars. The first car is in Portugal ready to hit the track.

photo courtesy of McLaren: http://www.mclaren.com/

Toyota launch via Internet: Toyota TF109

Toyota have unveiled their new F1 challenger during a special 'virtual' launch on Thursday morning. The new Toyota designated the TF109 is the 8th racing car Toyota will use in Formula One (Yes, that math is correct. The first Toyota, the TF101 was a test vehicle). Given the rules package, the car is actually a pretty nice looking piece and appear to have done a good initial interepetation of the rules. We will see if the car runs as good as it looks. Given Toyota's performance the last several years they certainly need to be become a race winning team.

Other than the changes for the 2009 rules package, the most noticeable aesthetic change for me is the sidepods. They are very undercut and tight as opposed to previous Toyota F1 cars and are very aggressive. It was announced that the car will have a battery storage KERS system developed for it, although this will not be ready for the season's start potentially putting the team at a disadvantage to teams with KERS systems in place. However, given the testing ban Toyota may be ahead of the game in terms of reliability in the early races.

courtesy of Toyota F1: http://www.toyota-f1.com

Ferrari first to debut new car: Ferrari F60

The 2009 Formula One season edges ever closer and there is no better evidence for that then Formula One team car launches. In the past, these car launch events have been very elaborate and the epitome of opulence and excess. However, the economic times that the sport and the globe face have severely curtailed such events put on by F1 teams.

Today, Ferrari debut their new Formula One challenger in a low key unveiling and have designated their new car the F60, which is a departure of the previous designations of F2008, F2007 and 248F1 (in 2006). The F60 name is derived from the fact that Ferrari are the only team to have competed in each of the 60 years of the Formula One world championship.

Due to the major rules changes in F1 for 2009, the car looks somewhat different that previous cars however clearly carries over some ques from the last generation of Formula One car and their F2008.

Team will be cars in the next several months, however the bulk of teams with be launching their new cars in January. Below is the schedule for F1 teams:

Toyota- January 15th

McLaren- January 16th

Renault- January 19th

Williams- January 19th

BMW-Sauber- January 20th

Reb Bull- February 9th

Force India- March

Toro Rosso- TBA

We will see if the remnants of the Honda team are about to get up on the grid in the coming weeks.

Photos provided with permission: http://www.f1technical.net/

Ferrari and Peugeot 908 Program as KERS partners?

According to Mulsanne's Corner, Ferrari and Peugeot have entered into a relationship where Peugeot will run Ferrari's F1 KERS system on a 908 development car. It is reported that Ferrari are very worried and preparing for the possibility that their KERS system will not be ready for the first race in Melbourne.

With the F1 testing ban set to go into effect, it is understood this partnership was hatched in order to further debug the KERS system in the back of a Peugeot 908. Therefore, making an end run around Formula One's test ban.

Ferrari is not new to the game of finding ways to circumventing the spirit of rules (no F1 team is for that matter) and if the reports are to be believed, it certainly speaks to Ferrari's very public KERS development woes which have been discussed here in several posts. However, it may also speak to Ferrari making a KERS system available to racing teams in other series in the future. Sticking a KERS system in the back of the sportscar prototype may address installation issues for future prospective customers. As in Formula One, Sportscar racing (generally speaking American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and Automobile Club de l'Ouest or ACO) has car manufacturer and private team participation. Also as in F1, they are looking to cut costs and are developing and using 'greener' technology such as diesel, E85, and hybrid technology. It certainly would be a cost saving to some manufacturers and teams if they were simply to purchase an install a hybrid system as opposed to trying to develop one.

Whatever you think about Ferrari and the bending of rules, I certainly appreciate Ferrari thinking outside the box.

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsnov08.html
http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2008/11/ferrari-kers-complaints-ominous.html
http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/kers-development-is-challenge.html

Honda rescue close to being finalized

The following is are excerpts from a report on Autosport.com. I have been burned once already thinking Super Aguri was going to be saved but then their world fell to pieces, so we will wait until ink is to paper.

Honda Racing are in talks with four potential buyers including wealthy Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, autosport.com has learned, but no deal has yet been completed. Reports emerging out of South America on Saturday suggested that Slim, ranked as the world's second richest man behind American investor Warren Buffett, had actually finalised a contract to take over Honda.
Italian newspaper La Stampa also wrote that Slim had agreed a deal that would see the team line-up on the grid in 2009 with Jenson Button and Bruno Senna as their drivers.

Sources have told autosport.com that there are four parties considering getting involved - with Slim believed to be heading the running at the moment. Although the identity of the buyers has not been confirmed, it is believed that apart from Slim they are Prodrive boss David Richards with the Kuwait-based Investment Dar Company (TID), Greek shipping magnate Achilleas Kallakis and an unidentified Swiss group.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72581

As mentioned in a previous post, the purchase of Honda by prospective buyer David Richards of Prodrive would be rather ironic. Richards was the team principal of the previous iteration, BAR (British American Racing) from 2001 to 2004. Given that earlier this month Suburu has pulled out of the World Rally Championship it leaves some Prodrive employees looking for work within the company or elsewhere. Richards has stated that he will redeploy his WRC workforce. Suburu's decision has certainly freed up technical and intellectual resources at Prodrive that would make a Prodrive entry very logical provided there is money available from the Kuwait-based backers/partners. I wonder if Ferrari would still be looking to secure another engine deal or if Mercedes would look to revive a failed prospective deal with a previous Prodrive attempt in get into F1.

However, all signs point to Carlos Slim being the new owner of a Formula One team which is what was needed to save this race ready and experienced team from being liquidated.

2009 Pre-Season Testing: Teams at Jerez & Algarve

Team were active in Portugal and Spain as Formula One made its official testing debut at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, where Ferrari and McLaren kicked off their final test of the year and Red Bull, BMW and Williams continued their work at Jerez. McLaren's Gary Paffett and Ferrari's Felipe Massa were on hand at Algarve was Paffett was the fast man with a 1:31.788 and Sebastien Buemi continued to be the man at Jerez once again topping the timesheets with a 1:17.704. This time he was at the wheel of a Red Bull chassis instead of the Toro Rosso chassis he had been using.

Jerez Test Times

1. Buemi 1.17.704
2. Heidfeld 1.19.223
3. Hartley 1.19.586
4. Klien 1.19.655
5. Hulkenberg 1.20.704

Algarve Test Times

1. Paffett 1.31.788
2. Massa 1.32.926