The new Marussia finally appeared on track today
The Marussia MR01 has been shaken down at Silverstone today after the team failed to make the Barcelona test.
The car failed the 18th and final FIA crash test, which forced the team to skip Spain and instead run it on a filming or promotional day, and on demo tyres.
The car has been designed by a revamped team after the departure of Nick Wirth last summer. It has also benefited from the team’s technical relationship with McLaren.
“We are very pleased to be running the new MR01 for the first time this morning,” said team principal John Booth. “It has been a long and frustrating wait for everyone in the team but we can now get back on track – literally – and start working towards the first race of the season in Australia next weekend.
“Today is the first of two promotional events, so while the drivers will be able to get a feel for the car, they won’t be able to draw any real conclusions until we start running in anger in Melbourne. Nevertheless, this is an important day for us and we’ll enjoy every minute on track with the new car.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Adam, I read in Autosport that the car has yet to pass the official FIA crash test it failed last week. Pat Symonds is saying it has only passed an ‘unobserved’ test. Any idea what that means?
So Marussia & McLaren are the only teams with ‘non-stepped’ noses. Either McLaren is on to something or that wind tunnel in Woking needs recalibrating…