Adam Cooper F1

Pic and Van der Garde with their new toy in Jerez this morning. Photo: AC

Caterham unveiled its new Caterham CT03 in Jerez this morning, just minutes before the start of official testing.

The car is called 03 because 02 was allocated to a road car project.

The car has a new colourscheme with prominet branding for Renault, Airbus, GE and Giedo van der Garde’s sponsor, McGregor.

It has retained a prominent step on the nose, the team preferring not to go for a vanity panel.

New Marussia looks a lot tidier than previous cars. Photo: AC

Marussia unveiled its new MR02 at a chilly Jerez this morning, just prior to the start of official testing.

The new Marussia was unveiled today. Photo: AC

Lewis Hamilton said today that he laughs at criticism of his decision to leave McLaren for Mercedes.

Hamilton has faced ongoing negative comments from former F1 drivers and media pundits since his move was announced in September, with the likes of Jackie Stewart and Allan McNish among the more recent contributors to the debate.

“It makes me laugh just to see other people’s comments,” he said when asked about it by this blog. “Everyone’s got an opinion, which is fair enough, but you should just keep it to yourself in general. As for me, I’m just trying to focus and remain positive about it. It’s my decision, it’s nothing to do with any of these people that are commenting on it.

“It’s up to me. My family’s supportive of it, I feel good about it, and that’s all that matters. We all get to make choices in our lives, and as long as you feel comfortable about it in your heart, and in your mind, then that’s all that matters.”

Meanwhile after his brief run in the W04 at Jerez today Hamilton was reluctant to make too many comparisons between the new car and the McLaren he drove last year.

“It just feels like an F1 car still. It’s got downforce and wheels just like the previous car had. The tyres that I’m driving are demonstration tyres, so I’m not really taking too much from that drive. It’s a Mercedes engine, so it’s still got all the power that I normally have.

“But at the moment it’s got lots of different switches and buttons that I have to get used to, all the different procedures and all the different things that they’re talking about, all the different terminology that they are using, that’s really what I’m focussing on mostly.”

The new Toro Rosso has been unveiled in Jerez: Photo: AC

Toro Rosso technical director James Key admits that the timing of his arrival at the team and the need to look ahead at 2014 means that the new STR8 is not a radical departure from last year’s car.

The new car, which still features STR’s trademark undercut sidepods – albeit not as pronounced – was unveiled at Jerez on Monday evening.

Key arrived at the team in September, which limited the opportunity to put his stamp on the car and in effect introduce some Sauber influence.

“I’ve done quite a lot with the guys in 2014 to try and get the programme underway,” he told this writer. “I think we clearly want to make STR8 a good step, and that’s certainly a big priority for most of the people at the moment, so we’re concentrating on STR8. We haven’t got the luxury of saying let’s not worry about this year. We’re having to mix and match a little bit with a bias towards this year right now.

“But I think to a certain extent at the time of year I arrived it simply wasn’t possible to do that anyway. It was a case of going though with what we had, which I think was fine anyway, to be honest.”

Key said that many of the key parameters were fixed more or less at the time he arrived.

“For me it’s been a case that September was a really tricky period with the car, because it’s the definition period for all the big bits, and that was happening when I arrived, although everything from what I could see was a pretty big step. So for me it was ensuring that we understand how we can use the new mechanical designs we’ve introduced, all of which are pretty flexible. And then really concentrate on the aero side as much as we can.

“I think where were we are with the car that’s been launched today it’s not the final product by any stretch. It’s pretty close to the mechanical final product, but from an aero point of view, it’s a long way off what we’ll develop towards during the year.”

The new Toro Rosso has been unveiled in Jerez: Photo: AC

Toro Rosso took the covers off its new STR8 in the Jerez pit lane late on Monday, appropriately becoming the eighth team to show a 2013 model.

Team principal Franz Tost made it clear that the target of the Italian outfit is to finish sixth in the World Championship this year.

The car is the first designed under new technical director James Key, who joined in the middle of last season after creating the successful Sauber C31.

Williams technical director Mike Coughlan says that the team is well on schedule with the FW35, which will be launched in Barcelona on February 19.

Coughlan stressed that the team opted for a late shakedown in order to gain two extra weeks of wind tunnel development. The old FW34 will run this week in Barcelona.

“As part of our preparations for the 2013 season, we took the decision to launch our FW35 in Barcelona for a number of reasons,” said Coughlan. “We have already spent a great deal of time rig testing key areas of the new car for reliability, including doing over 3000kms on the gearbox and rear suspension and 7000kms on our 2013 KERS, and we are happy with the results we have seen.

“Our cars also passed all mandatory crash tests for 2013 and so were fully FIA homologated earlier this year. Our focus for track testing is to work on developing our aerodynamic package with extra time and resource now being available in the wind tunnel for a further upgraded race package ahead of the Australian GP.”

Meanwhile the team has promoted Pastor Maldonado’s former engineer Xevi Pujolar to the new role of chief race engineer. The team says he will oversee “all aspects of race car performance within trackside operations,” and thus in effect replaces the departed Mark Gillan.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg do a spot of PR for their new sponsor…

Lewis Hamilton emphasised his optimism about 2013 by saying that Mercedes ‘doesn’t know how to lose.’

Hamilton makes his first proper public appearance as a Mercedes driver as testing kicks off in Jerez this week.

“It’s a very special day for me to officially present our Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow to the world,” said Hamilton. “There is no company with a longer history in Grand Prix racing than Mercedes-Benz and it is an honour for me to tread in the footsteps of legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Sir Stirling Moss and Michael Schumacher.

“It’s the start of a new chapter for me, a new adventure, and when I walked through the doors in Brackley, I was so excited to get down to work. I’ve been at the factory for a few days now, getting to know the guys, meeting my mechanics and engineers, learning myself into the team and I have never seen a group of people that is hungrier for success than this one.

“They have been flat out this winter trying to pack more performance into the new car and I can’t wait to drive it and see where I can make a difference to help push the team forward with Nico.

“This is a new start for me with the team in Brackley but I have worked with Mercedes-Benz for a very long time now, and I learned one thing most of all: Mercedes-Benz doesn’t know how to lose. We are playing a long game here but I know we will have success together and I’m excited to be a big part of making it happen.”

Ross Brawn joins Toto Wolff and the Merc drivers. Photo: AC

Ross Brawn says that the new Mercedes W04 represents a clear step forward relative to last year’s car, which won a race but ultimately proved disappointing.

“2013 marks the start of a second era for our Silver Arrows works team,” said Brawn. “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 over its predecessor.

“Many thousands of hours of work have been invested by our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth to ensure that the new car delivers a step change in performance compared to last season. We are also hugely proud to welcome Lewis to the team as a works Mercedes-Benz driver.

“With Lewis and Nico, we have what I believe to be the strongest driver line-up in Formula One and I know that a healthy level of competition between them both will help drive the team forward.”

Nico Rosberg gave the Mercedes its first laps this morning. Photos: AC

Nico Rosberg gave the new Mercedes W04 its first laps this morning at Jerez, ahead of this afternoon’s formal launch.

Rosberg was being filmed as Mercedes has the Spanish venue to itself, prior to the official start of testing tomorrow.

The team has taken advantage of the new ‘modesty panel’ rules to incorporate a smoother nose than last year’s, giving the car a much neater overall appearance.

The car also carries the logos of the team’s new partner, BlackBerry, which was announced this morning.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber say they are raring to go ahead of the test debut of the new Red Bull RB9 in Jerez on Tuesday.

Webber will drive for the first two days before handing over to the triple World Champion.

“We had a very strong finish last season,” said Vettel. “But it was hard as the season was so long – it was important for me to enjoy being home. Pretty soon though I started training again, preparing for the new season and I’m very excited because this is the first time I’ve seen the car in one piece.

“I’ve seen little bits, but it looks very nice, so now we’ll get to see if it works as expected. I’m excited to get going again, to get back in the car, start testing and then go racing. Then, we’ll finally find out where we are.”

Meanwhile Webber is in optimistic mood having shrugged off recent criticism from Red Bull’s Helmut Marko.

“The fact that this is my seventh season with the team is a massive advantage,” said Webber. “I couldn’t have envisaged it when I joined and it’s hard to believe that you could be with the same Formula One team for seven years, as continuity is not always easy to achieve in this sport.

“I think the way we keep people excited and motivated here is important. It’s quite a small operation, but obviously we’re big on ambition and desire and that makes us perform very well. I’ve really enjoyed the years I’ve had here so far and I can’t wait to get going this season.”