McLaren boss Ron Dennis has spoken out about the importance of loyalty in the wake of the departure of Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes and the ongoing discussions with technical director Paddy Lowe over his mooted move the same way. Speaking to the Financial Times’ Roger Blitz, Dennis said that loyalty has always been a first order priority in his organisation, “You cut yourself, you bleed McLaren,” he said. “We’re about winning, we care about how we win . . . We want to win with the right principles, the right values. If people don’t want to be part of that and want to go More…

As the F1 testing got underway in Jerez, three more teams launched their new cars, leaving only Williams to produce a 2013 model, which they will do at the second test on February 19th. All three teams under performed last year for different reasons and all need to raise their game this year. They have gone about it in different ways as we shall see. Here we take a look at each of their situations and former Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan looks at the changes to the cars and what they mean. Toro Rosso Toro Rosso revealed its More…

There are three tests before the start of the season, the first starts this morning in Jerez. So what are we going to see this week and will these first four days have any relevance to the 2013 season as a whole? This week’s initial four day test is where the basic launch cars circulate, doing the initial checks on cooling, brake systems and so on, as well as taking aerodynamic measurements that are essential with any new car and over the next few days working on understanding the new Pirelli tyres. However the chase for performance will follow at More…

Bernie Ecclestone has been in Dubai in recent days putting the final touches to a giant sponsorship deal with Emirates airline. According to the Financial Times, the deal is worth $200 million over 5 years. This follows from the Global Partner deal struck with Rolex just before Christmas and the arrival of Blackberry yesterday with the Mercedes team on a $36 million 3 year deal. The Emirates deal was announced this morning in Dubai and will cover most of the races, excluding the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi races which are sponsored by rival airlines Gulf Air and Etihad. Emirates is More…

Mercedes rolled out its new car today, the F1 W04. A lot of work has gone into this car, especially around the cockpit area and on thermal management. We are yet to see what they have in mind on the front and rear wings, but it looks like a lot of careful detailed work has been carried out by Aldo Costa and his team, so here is our analysis of what’s been done and what it will mean for Mercedes’ chances this year. Background Mercedes went down a high tech route last year with the double DRS and paid a More…

The new Mercedes broke cover this morning in Jerez, as Nico Rosberg shook it down ahead of the launch this afternoon and testing tomorrow. The car, known as the F1 W04, is described as a “sophisticated evolution” of last year’s model and was officially launched this afternoon with Team principal Ross Brawn promising a “step change in performance” compared to the disappointing 2012 car. “The restructuring we undertook at the team over the past 18 months are now growing in maturity and this is reflected in the F1 W04, which is a clear step forward in design and detail sophistication More…

Red Bull launched its new 2013 challenger the RB9 today in a ceremony at the team’s base in Milton Keynes, near Silverstone. But we will have to wait until testing starts next week to see what changes and evolutions the team has made as the launch car gave little or nothing away. It’s going to be a tough season for all the top teams and Red Bull know that the successes of the last three years mean nothing when the new season starts. If anything, maintaining the astonishing work rate and inspiration gets harder with each passing year and keeping More…

The Sauber team today unveiled its new car and two new drivers; Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez at a ceremony in Hinwil, Switzerland. Sauber had a great year in 2012 and this will be an interesting year for them, with two new drivers to bed in, but a sound technical platform on which to build. Like other teams in the “squeezed middle” they will have to be careful to manage their limited resources, developing the 2013 car for a short while, but leaving enough capacity to make sure they produce a competitive car for 2014, when the rules will change More…

Top F1 photographer Darren Heath is launching his 2013 photographic exhibition; ‘Formula 1 – A Passion’ at Collyer Bristow’s central London gallery, opening on Monday February 4th and closing on Thursday 28th. Following on from last year’s successful exhibition at the same venue, this year’s event showcases Darren’s best work spanning the years 1991 to 2012, including some stunning A2 and A0 framed artwork of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Damon Hill. All work is available to purchase in limited editions. The gallery is open during office hours and all are welcome More…

Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali believes that this year’s car, the F138, must be on a par with its competitors from the outset in order to give the Maranello based squad their best chance of winning their first Formula One Championship since 2007. Speaking at the launch of the car at Ferrari HQ today, Domenicali says that they must make amends for a slow start last year, which cost them Championship points in the early stages of the season, and hit the ground running in order to compete with McLaren and Red Bull. “The key objective that we must have More…