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Red Bull has shown the new RB8 online, and not surprisingly, it features a stepped nose, albeit with a different take from what we’ve seen on other cars.

Sauber says that dissatisfaction on both sides led to last week’s surprise announcement that technical director James Key was leaving the team.

Key will not be replaced, and instead the team will rely on its existing structure, with chief designer Matt Morris taking on the role of spokesmen at today’s launch of the C31.

“For a while both sides have been feeling that things have not really been working out, and also not the way both sides expected it,” said Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn. “So I guess this situation is now the result of that. James Key joined us at a time when we were in the transformation from a works team to a private team, and his contribution was very valuable to the team.

“We’re thankful to him for that. We now have a structure in place that we are confident about, that is the right one for the team to go ahead. So it’s not any short term solution for us, but a long term structure.”

Key has already said that he will be taking up a job in the UK. Asked by this blog to clarify when he decided to leave and his gardening leave situation, Kalternborn said: “Like I said before, for a while both sides have had the feeling that the expectations are not just coming in.

“About gardening leave, these are details we will not discuss in public, but we will now be very shortly maybe saying something about it, or he will. He is still in the company, and we will decide on the details.”

Another contender in the nose of the year contest... Photo: Cooper

Sauber took the wraps off its new C31 contender at a sunny but chilly Jerez this morning.

The car was designed and built under James Key, but the Englishman left his role as technical director last week.

Chief Designer Matt Morris said: “The C31 is revolutionary where we had fresh ideas, particularly at the rear of the car, and it is an evolution where we knew we could carry over certain approaches. We had to improve on the weaknesses we identified on the C30, but at the same time we wanted to maintain its strengths.

“The current plan is to launch a fairly basic roll-out version of the car, which was defined quite some time ago. We will then be testing development parts during the upcoming weeks with a late upgrade for the first race on 18th March in Australia. Therefore the car will look quite different in Melbourne compared to the roll-out car.”

Surprise, it has an ugly nose! Photo: Cooper

The Lotus E20 sees the end of the front exhaust concept

Lotus technical director James Allison is the man behind the new E20. Here’s some interesting insight from him provided by the team.

How different is 2012 likely to be from 2011?

If you casually flicked through the regulations you’d be forgiven for thinking that there aren’t many differences from last year, however nestling in there are some fairly profound changes. The most notable changes relate to the exhaust. The teams decided around Silverstone in 2011 that we were going to get rid of exhaust blown rear diffusers, and that point alone requires a very different design concept. Recent car designs have been heavily influenced by their rear exhaust configurations, and the intent of the rule is to stop that happening. The rules on the exhaust geometries themselves have been reinforced by some engine operation rules which don’t sit in the technical regulations, but which arrived by Technical Directive quite late last year. The exhaust issue, although agreed in principle at Silverstone, continued to unfold as late as mid-November, so the challenge has been to roll with the punches as the detail emerged over a fairly extended period – trying to make the best of each version of the rules as they’ve come out, whilst trying to anticipate where the end position is going to be. It’s certainly been an area which has preoccupied us and I imagine the rest of the grid too.

How much will the new regulations affect what we see on track?

Last year’s cars had quite a variety of exhaust layouts, with differing levels of success. If the latest rules really have been successful in resetting the power of the exhausts to a much lower level, then that’s an opportunity for a reshuffle of the pack.

What are your feelings on working with two new drivers for 2012?

Romain put in two very promising sessions at the end of last season, having not driven an F1 can for more than a year. He jumped in the car and was immediately competitive with our race drivers at the time, in a quite impressive fashion. I think that has gone a long way to getting him the ride for this year. So we’re looking forward to a strong start with him. Kimi’s recent test in Valencia with the R30 showed that he has lost none of his speed and that he is full of appetite for the season ahead. It is going to be great for us to work with a driver of such clear quality.

What is completely new and what is more familiar on the E20?

Depending on where you look, some parts of the new car are a ground-up redesign and in other areas we have further optimised the best bits of the design philosophy we’ve adopted for several seasons. As far as the exhausts are concerned, our forward exhausts would now be illegal under the new rules and didn’t live up to our expectations in any case. So that part of the car we say goodbye to and welcome in a complete re-design. The front and rear suspension layouts are substantially revised to try and give us better aerodynamic opportunities. The front wing is a continuation of the concepts we have worked on since the 2009 rules were published. The rear wing system, we’ve continued to try to work on having a satisfactory level of rear downforce stability, whilst having a maximum DRS switching potential.

How much help is the team’s enhanced 60% wind tunnel for developing the E20?

The 60% wind tunnel has allowed us to expand dramatically the realism of the tests that we perform in our wind tunnel, so we get the car to more realistic steer and yaw values. Those are pretty fundamental things. That hopefully means that the car will be more tolerant of a wider range of cornering conditions.

How do you expect the E20 to perform?

We’ve worked hard and long on the car. We have tried to react to the regulatory picture as it’s unfolded, but we will only really start to be able to judge how well we have done once we start to run the car in pre-season. Even then we won’t really know until qualifying in Melbourne.

The testing schedule is rather different this year – nothing till February, then three tests followed by an in-season test at Mugello – does this make a difference?

The testing schedule with Mugello later on for this year gives us a fairly clear target mid-season. If there is anything particularly ambitious that we can’t achieve at the start of the year, that is the point to aim for because it’s our one opportunity to get a controlled test of an upgrade, rather than the type of compromised test when you run on a Friday.

There are 20 races scheduled and a test part-way through the year – how much of a challenge is this intensity for the season ahead?

The main challenge of 20 races is finding the stamina to keep up with such a gruelling schedule. We are sized appropriately for the current regulations of test bans and no test teams, and so all of the resources that we have to go racing come from the race team. Those 20 races, which kick-off with three pre-season tests that start in February, then go on to late November. With the exception of a brief window in August, where racing stops for a short while, it’s an unrelenting grind for the guys who are the travelling teams. The challenge is to keep your energy up during what is now a very, very long season.

It’s the second season of Pirelli’s return to F1 – what can we expect from the 2012 rubber?

We ran the new Pirelli tyres in the Abu Dhabi test last year. It’s fairly difficult to draw a clear conclusion, because you are not using your regular drivers and this makes it difficult to see the underlying performance of the tyres. But from what we could tell from our instrumentation the 2012 construction was not substantially different in its performance to the 2011 tyre. It remains to be seen how aggressive or otherwise Pirelli will be with their compounding. I’m not expecting big changes.

2012 will also see the second season of DRS can we expect any changes here?

Many teams, including us, spent a lot of time last year trying to find the right balance between stability and drag step. It will be slightly easier a year on to get that balance right. For the FIA, who have the responsibility of selecting the DRS switching point on the circuit, each track last year was a new venture for them A year on it will be much less of an adventure or the FIA to choose exactly where to put the DRS line for best effect. In places where by common consent overtaking was too easy last year they will make an appropriate adjustment to get a better result in 2012.

The Lotus E20 was revealed online today

Lotus has shown the first images of the Lotus E20, the car with which Kimi Raikkonen will make his comeback this season.

The 20th car from the Enstone factory – hence its name – it has been overseen by technical director James Allison.

The car has a stepped nose, albeit not as dramatic as those seen on other cars launched thus far.

Dutchman Giedo van der Garde has been named as reserve driver for Caterham.

The GP2 veteran, who has been associated with Renault and McLaren young driver programmes in the past, had been a contender for an HRT race seat. He will do some Friday FP1 sessions with Caterham.

Tony Fernandes said: “He is a very exciting prospect that we have been monitoring since the early days of our team, and we are all looking forward to seeing how he can help us develop throughout the season as we take our next steps towards the established midfield teams ahead.

“His performances in GP2, particularly in 2011, mark Giedo out as one of motorsport’s brightest prospects, and securing him as Reserve Driver is a real coup for our team. I am sure he will flourish on and off track, and we wish him all the best as he takes the next step into Formula 1 with us.”

Giedo van der Garde said: “The team is fresh, with some fantastic people here. Tony Fernandes is extremely ambitious and he has brought in a lot of very good people in to help grow this team for future success. I’m looking forward to learning and moving forward with the team, in and out of the car.

“It’s great for Holland that we again have a Dutch driver who is connected to Formula 1. Being the only Dutch driver now is very good for the sport in Holland, as the interest was perhaps on the decline since the Verstappen years, however I hope to generate the same excitement for my country and really bring Formula 1 to them.

“I feel that the team as a whole is very ambitious. They appear to be very positive people and I think they are building up, growing and developing very quickly. I think this year they will be strong contenders! We’ll see after the test but I really have a feeling that it’s a big family here and they are pushing very hard to move up the grid.

“I feel very strong now, I’m fit, and I’m mentally ready. Of course I’ve spent a lot of time driving with guys who are now in Formula 1 and I feel I’m ready for this. I’d like to thank McGregor and everybody who has supported me in my career and for helping me take this next exciting step.”

Sauber technical director James Key has left the team to take up a new job in the UK.

Key, who previously had a similar role at Force India, played a big part in the rebuilding of Sauber after its split with BMW.

His departure comes just three days before the launch of the new car. The team says that its development will be led by the department heads for Aerodynamics, Design, Performance and Operations.”

Key is highly rated by his peers, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

“I’ve enjoyed the past two years working at the Sauber F1 Team,” said Key. “It has been a very intense and interesting time, in which we had to manage the transition from a much larger team to a smaller one, and everybody handled that very well. I think the team is now well set for the future and I wish it the very best. I have been offered a new role back in the UK, which I decided to accept.”

Team boss Peter Sauber: “A qualified team shares the overall technical responsibility. This structure has proved to work well at other racing outfits. Over a period of almost two years, James has accomplished a lot for our team.

“Especially in the difficult transition period from a manufacturer team into a private enterprise, he contributed significantly to ensure the team regained stability. We would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best for his future.”

Di Resta gave the VJM05 its first installation laps this morning

Paul Di Resta has given the new Force India VJM05 its first installation laps at Silverstone, after its launch this morning.

Heading into the new season Di Resta says he’s happy with the way the new car has turned out, having had more input into it than he had with its predecessor.

“It’s looking quite good, the seat fit went very smoothly, very comfortably,” said Di Resta. “The issues I had last year were obviously considered in the design, and I think as in any second year as part of a team, that’s the sort of thing that becomes a bit easier. Things start to develop around your input. I wouldn’t say the cockpit was tight last year, but I just couldn’t get low enough in the car, where I wanted to be.”

“The target is just to go forward really, from where we left off at the end of last year. We’ve got to start a bit stronger than we did last year – that will be a key. There’s a bit of a different philosophy again, we’ve developed something that we’ve tried last year, but didn’t go quite as well we hoped. We strongly believe now that it’s the way forward. I’m not going to say what is it, but you’ll see it as soon as the car hits the track!”

Di Resta says he feels stronger than this time last year.

“I’ve been training as hard as I ever have, really putting a big push on for the last few weeks. As I said I’m getting myself into that routine and just pushing the body to another level. For some reason my life is just a lot more stable – it just lets you concentrate on the bits you need to as and when they come in.

“The other benefit is I have a year under my belt. Whether it’s making decisions on travel arrangements or just analysing your time, you can really see what you didn’t like last year and what affected you, and just put it right.”

He says he’s looking forward to working with Nico Hulkenberg.

“Obviously Nico was already part of the team last year. I’ve known him a lot of years, and I’m sure we will work together. At the same time you do have that bit of competitive nature, and you bounce off each other and push the team to that little bit of an extra step. But we have to respect each other, because we’re representing Sahara Force India.”

Ferrari’s new car was unveiled online today after snow forced the cancellation of the official launch.

The car is to be called the F2012, although its internal code number is 633. The project has been led for the first time by British technical director Pat Fry. Like other cars seen so far, it has a dramatic stepped nose.

Launching the car, the team gave an interesting detailed description of its development:

“Practically every area of the car has been fundamentally revised, starting with the suspension layout. Both the front and rear feature pull-rods, aimed at favouring aerodynamic performance and lowering the centre of gravity. The front wing is derived from the one introduced on the 150º Italia in the final part of its racing life and has been evolved from there. Further evolutions are planned in this area for the opening races of the season.

“The nose has a step in it that is not aesthetically pleasing. With the requirement from the regulations to lower the front part, this was a way of raising the bottom part of the chassis as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons. The sides have been redesigned, through modifications to the side impact structures, the repositioning of the radiators and revisions to all aerodynamic elements.

“The lower part of the rear of the car is much narrower and more tapered, a feature achieved partly through a new gearbox casing and a relocation of some mechanical components. In recent years, the area of exhausts has been crucial in terms of car performance and much effort was expended on this front, based on changes to the regulations introduced this year.

“The rear wing is conceptually similar to the one used in 2011, but every detail of it has been revised and it is now more efficient. Naturally, it is still fitted with DRS (a drag reduction system,) which is operated hydraulically. The front and rear air intakes for the brakes have been redesigned and work was carried out in collaboration with Brembo to optimise the braking system.

“The engine in the F2012 is an evolution of the one that powered last year’s car, which is inevitable given that the technical regulations forbid any modification to internal components aimed at increasing performance. Furthermore, much effort has gone into improving its installation in the new chassis, so as not to penalise the aerodynamics of the car.”

Here's the new Sahara Force India - with another interesting nose

Sahara Force India has revealed its new VJM05 at Silverstone today, and the car has another distinctive nose.

It’s the second car produced under technical director Andy Green. The team operates an alternating system of Project Leaders, and the VJM05 is thus the responsibility of Akio Haga, Ian Hall having overseen last year’s car.

For a fourth year the team is using a Mercedes engine and a gearbox supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies.

“I would say that the car looks a lot more refined than previous cars produced here,” said Green. “It does a look a lot racier and a lot more purposeful. You can start to see the aerodynamic concepts coming through now. It looks quite a bit different to the previous years, which is good.

“And so far the performance in the tunnel has been extremely encouraging, so we’re reasonably happy with where it sits. It’s just that unknown of where everyone else is – and we won’t know that until Melbourne.

“The nose height regulation has led to the biggest visual change in the car, and then there’s the exhaust regulation. The rest of it is very subtle.”