2014 - The Formula 1 Tsunami

No doubt by now you've heard me bang on about the regulation changes to the current engine formula (that has been in place since 2006) which will make teams reinvent the way Formula 1 cars are designed in 2014. Lotus technical director James Allison has provided further insight into why the 2014 season is going to be such an important milestone in Formula 1 history.

"2009 changes were a ripple compared with the tsunami in 2014" - James Allison

Allison was talking specifically about the most recent set of regulation changes which impacted aerodynamics involving altering the levels of downforce to improve the chances of overtaking.

The brains behind the new Lotus E21 also stated that work on the 2014 challenger began as early as mid season 2011.

"Most of the way the 2014 championship will be was laid out sometime ago and you deal with a huge change like that by not leaving it to the last minute before you think about it."

Allison also believes that Renault (the team's engine supplier) will not prioritise championship team Red Bull over Lotus.

"They (Renault) offer an even-handed approach but they are also extremely conscious of the fact they need to make a car that works well in 2014, not just an engine."

Even though Red Bull are the works team, Lotus was still Renault for years. In my eyes the supplier will always be closer to Lotus than Red Bull.

Lotus E21

The E21 has got off to a flying start in Jerez for pre-season testing with Romain Grosjean running the car for the first two days and 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen taking over for the final two.

Final Lap Times For The E21 So Far:

Day One: Romain Grosjean 1.19.796s (3rd fastest on the day)

Day Two: Romain Grosjean 1.18.218s (fastest time of the day)

Day Three: Kimi Raikkonen 1.19.200s (4th fastest on the day)

W04 / MR02 / CT03

Yet another triple review for you today! The last three cars have finally been revealed, Williams have yet to officially launch their FW35, but at the test in Jerez they ran the 2012 car, only in the 2013 livery with some 2013 parts so they will get their own review at the end of the month when they launch on the 19th February.

The first test is well under way at Jerez, I'd like to take this opportunity to mention that I will be publishing a full review of the four days after the first test is over. Keep up to date on Twitter @Houston60 for more info!

W04

I covered the launch for Let's Talk F1, including a comprehensive review of the launch, my thoughts on the car and provided lots of photos of the Mercedes F1 W04. Click here to read it. 

Feel free to check out the rest of the site and get in touch with us at @LetsTalkF1.














MR02

Marussia have came back from an okay 2012 campaign that saw them nearly get that very valuable 10th place in the constructors championship.











Right after their last race, they saw rookie Charles Pic leave them for Caterham and recently tsaw veteran Timo Glock depart for the DTM. Before Glock left, Marussia had confirmed the signing of GP2 ace Max Chilton and the line up was not fully completed until today when the team announced they had signed another GP2 name in Luiz Razia.

The MR02 essentially looks nearly the same as the previous model, maybe a design change but nothing clearly visable. 

The car has adorned the optional vanity cover that is used to hide the ugly boxers nose of 2012 regulation changes. There is still a visible slope but it is nowhere near as bad as last season.

The technical aspects of the car remain the same although with the dissolution of HRT, they are now the only team on the grid to run the Cosworth engine. Throughout the year they may look for a better engine deal in order to prepare for the 2014 season where the sport undergoes a massive regulation change. I'll speak more about that at the end of this post.

What Marussia have done is introduced the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) to their car, a first for the team. This will close the gap between them and fellow back runner team Caterham who were already equipped with the technology.

The team have all the mechanical components for success, but after allowing a driver like Timo Glock to slip through their fingers, they lack that experience. But I have faith in young Chilton and I believe that this is the season where they overtake Caterham in the pecking order.



CT03

Caterham have seen a reshuffle of members including two new drivers and a new team principle. Giedo Van der Garde completes the driver line up for this season.











First of all, the car looks FANTASTIC. I love the brighter shade of green and having always wanted to own a Caterham car, I am naturally drawn to the colours. Because of Tony Fernandes's departure from the game, the stupid soccer ball team logo is removed from the car. Soccer ball doesn't belong in a real sport like F1. 

If you're not a regular reader (you should be it's great) you would have known that I made a prediction about the Caterham having the stepped nose and why. In my Mercedes W04 review, I stated that it might have something to do with the Renault engine. So far, all the Mercedes powered cars, all the Ferrari powered cars and the one Cosworth powered car have opted to cover up the stepped nose. Lotus's E21, Red Bull's RB9 and now Caterham's CT03 (all Renault powered cars) have all decided against using a vanity panel, citing performance over beauty. Is there maybe a cooling issue with the Renault engine or other components that deem a vanity panel unnecessary? Lotus cited a weight issue, but if the majority of teams have added it to their cars, surely it doesn't mean a thing? It's a disappointment to know that we're going to have a very stupid looking field next season, but what's worse is that if the panels mean lesser performance, the covers will all be dropped meaning one more season of the disastrous looking noses!

NOTE

"The technical aspects of the car remain the same although with the dissolution of HRT, they are now the only team on the grid to run the Cosworth engine. Throughout the year they may look for a better deal in order to prepare for the 2014 season where the sport undergoes a massive regulation change."

I recently purchased Jenson Button's book "A Championship Year" and I must say it is a fantastic read, loving every word. The reason why I brought it up is because of how he describes how the Brawn car was so successful in the opening races. In 2008, Honda stopped developing their current car because it was a lost cause, and also because there were big regulation changes coming in 2009. They started work straight away and financial issues aside, they (after become Brawn) developed a championship winning car for 2009. This is because they got ahead of the curve.

Why is this so important? What can be learned? If Caterham and Marussia both separately sat down and said to themselves; "let's do a Brawn" and started focusing their energy on 2014, they could seriously turn things around! I'm not saying they'll have a Brawn story or anything but if they just got over themselves and focused on the important issue, they could find themselves with a bit more respect next season and a status shift from back markers to a midfield team. Brawn done it on a budget, there is absolutely no excuse why these two can't. And who knows, maybe Scorpion Racing (HRT) may have already got the jump on us all. Food for thought right there.

F138 / VJM06 / C32

I have a triple threat package for you today! In the past couple of days we've had releases in Italy, Switzerland and Silverstone! 

F138

Runners up to both the drivers and constructors championship last year, all eyes were in Maranello to see if the F138 was the car that can deliver Fernando Alonso his 3rd title.



Immediately the first thing I noticed was the amount of black on the bottom of the car! If you read my live coverage of the E21 launch you'll see how much I commented on the addition of the red and how much I disliked it. It now appears that Lotus stole Ferrari's red, and Ferrari stole Lotus's black! Only I really like the black on the Ferrari, it's the biggest addition of colour to the traditional red since the white on the wings which they have also kept.

Even though teams should be planning for the huge design process of 2014, Ferrari must focus on this seasons testing due to the embarrassing performance last year . Even though Fernando managed to squeeze every drop of performance to salvage a miracle second place finish, the team will be looking to hit the ground running considering the teams around them and their ambitions; McLaren will surely back Button in the early stages, Lotus are looking for a top three finish with Kimi in contention for the championship and somebody needs to catch the Bull, Alonso looks to be the closest to do it.

The suspension is the same as last year providing the smooth drive that Fernando craves. Most of the changes have occurred at the rear of the car. 

Fernando will not be the only one benefiting from the F138's changes. A revived Felipe Massa will be hoping that this is the car that shows his team that he can drive as well as Alonso on his best day. Was he the best man for the seat? That's honestly your opinion. For me, I would have had someone different, but 2012 was the season where I seen Massa for who he is, a fighter. I just want to see more of it.

The F138 is the second car released without the exposure of the stepped nose. The vanity panel reminds us of the shape we know and love. Ferrari definitely had one of the ugliest boxers nose last year so this is certainly an extremely positive feature. It's a really beautiful looking car and I dare say the best looking yet.

VJM06

If Force India don't have the common decency to announce a second driver, then I don't have the time nor want to write up a decent report. It's still orange, green and white. It's got a vanity panel. Love Paul di Resta. Get it sorted guys.








C32 

So far from all of the launches, this is by and far the most developed car both in terms of livery and technical aspects.

The side pods have been completely re-imagined. Chief designer Matt Morris stated that the side pods have been made smaller and narrower following findings after they examined the wreckage of Sergio Perez's 2011 Sauber at Monaco where he had a devastating crash during qualifying.

Following a more than impressive campaign that saw four podiums and a young driver head to one of the top four teams, Sauber have gone on a development rampage, creating a brand new braking system, making the chassis lighter and of course designing an all new colour scheme. Not the most important aspect of a car, but I'm a guy who is particularly fond of the livery's as you may have already gathered! It is a very beautiful scheme, hard to pull off with a grey-ish colour but it really looks the part here!

Sauber have also followed suit by adding a vanity panel, or a cover for the stepped nose and they desperately needed it. I maintain that Sauber had the worst stepped nose last season, it was like two 90 degree angles. Absolutely horrible! This means Lotus are still (at the time of this blog) the only team to keep the ugly stepped nose, a design that is supposed to add more aero performance. My issue is, if the other teams are adding these vanity panels, then surely there's no performance to lose?! Get the bloody thing off [James] Allison!

With an all new driver line up in GP2 ace Esteban Gutierrez and future racing superstar Nico Hulkenberg, first ever female F1 boss Monisha Kaltenborn will be praying that the extreme design changes will raise the bar first set by their 2012 season.