Well, we finally did it. This time next week Bahrain first free practice will have been and gone and now we finally know who will be driving what during it. Just twelve of the fourteen made it (oh yes, we lost Toyota on the way too) and a fifteenth failed to climb over the catchment fencing and sneak on to the grid by the back door.

After all the big promises, it was USF1 who fell by the wayside while the other three new teams kept their nose to the ground and eventually delivered, all be it in a round about way in the case Hispania Racing, née Campos Meta 1. It’s been a prolonged old drama in order to end up with a grid extended from last year’s by just four cars. With the FIA planning to reopen the entry process in order the fill the thirteenth grid slot next year, I can only hope they have learnt something from the 2009-10 process.

Hispania it is then. Or HRT if you’re the FIA, just to confuse things. Bruno Senna survives the team name change and is joined by Karun Chandhok. It’s an interesting pairing as they will know each other well having already been team mates in 2008 for iSport International in GP2.

“I am excited by our driver line-up and the amazing effort and passion I have witnessed from our entire team to get us to this point. We have all tools in our hands to become the most successful new team in the F1 paddock this year.”
Team principal, Colin Kolles

Senna won that battle convincingly, claiming double the points total of his team mate to finish as the series’ runner-up. Still, with no testing ahead of Bahrain, Chandhok may be the best prepared following a third season in GP2 while Senna was left out in the cold by the demise of Honda, eventually filling in his year in sports car racing.

The car itself is very simple, with little in the way of sponsors, an uninspiring livery and, for now, not even a chassis name. A lack of testing might not impact too much on the car’s speed although their drivers are going to have to work well together to get the car set up in Bahrain with no prior experience of the car. Certainly, the Dallara built chassis could easily be quicker than that of Lotus and Virgin. The big question is going to be one of reliability – early problems, as experienced by their fellow newcomers, could be more than a little problematic.

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The second of the new teams, and the eleventh overall, Lotus F1 Racing have joined the party with the T127. Unveiled in London, the car carries the classic Lotus colours of (almost) British Racing Green with gold stripe down the centre despite the current team actually being Malaysian.

The big surprise is probably how complex and ‘finished’ the front wing looks – contrast that with the rather stubby nose which now seems a bit dated. In fact, beyond the front wing, the T127 is a rather conservative design.

“This one is very special for me personally for two reasons – firstly the Lotus name coming back into F1 is something very special. But also it is the challenge of bringing a new team and a new car into F1 in such a short space of time.”
Mike Gascoyne

Despite being heavily undercut, the sidepods are a very simple design, with a ‘boxy’, horizontal upper surface without the tightly-packaged, tapering designs seen on others including Virgin. Even the raised cockpit sides are very utilitarian, sticking to the letter of the law. The sidepods also feature exceptionally large inlets too, perhaps indicating a lack of confidence in the team’s ability to handle cooling requirements – of course, the old mantra about first finishing is still important.

The rear wing is supported entirely on the endplates, but again, the endplates are very simple with none of the cutaways that everyone else employs. However, the T127 does feature a relatively large double diffuser, which should sit it in good stead.

The T127 in one word: “conservative” but then with less development time than anyone else that is not surprising. The main thing is that it is a good base point on which the team can grow.
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Click thumbnails for large images | images courtesy of Lotus F1 Racing

Adrian Newey’s RB5 has acted as inspiration to many of the team’s 2010 designs therefore it was little surprise that the RB6 itself should follow the lead of its elder sibling. 2010 sees the team’s first chance to design around a larger, two-tier diffuser, which the team found difficult to package last year. However, despite that, the RB6 continues the RB5’s low-ended design philosophy with even the rear pull rod suspension retained.

While Newey’s ‘V’-nose concept has been taken on by several others this year, the RB6 has taken it a step further, raising the ridges even higher giving the impression of raising the nose. However, from there backwards it’s very much the 2009 car, all be it extended to incorporate the larger fuel tank, with the sidepods and engine cover “borrowed” from the RB5. In fact, it is such a derivative of the RB5 that it makes you wonder why the team needed an extra week to prepare. The changes are instead subtle: the rear suspension is still high and a pull rod configuration but the gearbox has been moved, presumably to allow a larger diffuser; the dorsal fin is retained but with an even larger surface area as it extends back to the rear wing.

“The car is very much an evolution of the 2009 car – there is a big family likeness. We tried to refine and evolve it rather than go to new concepts. As such, the car looks similar with elements such as the chassis and pull-rod rear suspension retained.”
Adrian Newey

So it seems that while others have been copying the RB5, Red Bull have concentrated predominantly on the diffuser, and they’re keeping quiet about that for the moment. Until we see that, we won’t see the real RB6.
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Click thumbnails for large images | images courtesy of Red Bull Racing

The VJM03 is here although the message from Force India is more one of progressive change than aggressive redesign. Even the livery is little changed from last year, with the patriotic orange, white and green retained. Perhaps that is not surprising given the team’s turn of speed on the high speed circuits of Monza and Spa. Still, there are a number of significant changes ahead of testing in Jerez this week.

At the front, more streamlined uprights rise up to meet a nose that is slightly deeper than last years. The tip is similarly located but the upper and lower surfaces both bow outwards more to produce a more bulbous nose. This has resulted in the suspension being mounted higher. The front camera mounts have also been moved backwards to the point that they’re not visible in a side on view, and presumably help to act as flow conditioners for airflow coming off the front wing.

“The VJM03 is definitely an evolution of the VJM02 in terms of the design philosophies we have developed at Force India over the last year. We are very happy with the direction, therefore we have opted to evolve the car rather than significantly revise.”
Mark Smith, Design Director

The sidepod inlets are very similar to the VJM02, however, the team have switched to outboard mirrors mounted on the sidepod wings. This has freed up space around the serrated fins that were introduced on the side of the cockpit late last year. The sidepods are relatively low lying compared with the opposition although featuring a significant undercut.

The airbox is narrower than on last year’s car, and the structure is opened up similar to McLaren. The rear of the car is more shaped than the VJM02 and in the launch shots at least, sporting a shark fin which Force India adopted late last season. There also appears to be a vent on the ridge of the engine cover just where the shark fin starts. For now, the team are keeping the rear diffuser hidden but the rear crash structure hints at a high but relatively narrow diffuser.

Force India sprang a bit of a surprise last year but with potentially the best engine on the grid, can they continue their climb up the standings?

Note: in the comparison picture below, the two images are taken at different angles and do not provide a good comparison of wheelbase.
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Click thumbnails for large images | images courtesy of Force India Formula One

Virgin Racing’s virtual launch didn’t exactly go to plan (see end of article) but the resulting car is a very sleek combination of black and red – 2010 is shaping up to be a very colourful grid. The ground-breaking VR-01 will be the centre of much attention through the coming season as it is the first Formula 1 car to be designed relying entirely on CFD. However, it still takes plenty of inspiration from the opposition.

“I have absolute belief in the digital design process and the opportunity to put the all-CFD approach to the test at the highest level – to demonstrate that this could be the way for the future of F1 – is very, very exciting.” Nick Wirth

The VR-01 features a long, tapered nose rising up to a short section that follow’s Adrian Newey’s trend setting ‘V’-nose concept although it sits much lower than on most of the other 2010 cars to have broke cover so far. On the images released so far, the front wing is very basic and it remains to be seen how much it will have been developed prior to the season opening race in Bahrain. Despite a relatively low nose, the front suspension is very low lying, employing a single-keel.

The sidepods are fairly conventional, without the tight packaging we have seen on several of this year’s cars, although employing relatively small, rectangular openings similar to the McLaren MP4-25.

Overall, though, a very simple design as may be expected from a new team. The VR-01 takes to the track at Silverstone for a shakedown over the next two days with the team intending to be at the second group test at Jerez on 10th February.

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Click thumbnails for large images | images courtesy of Virgin Racing

Scuderia Toro Rosso unveiled the TR5, the first car that the team has designed itself as it establishes itself as a constructor in its own right. However, the car’s ancestry is still visible, with more than a hint of last year’s Red Bull RB5. That’s not surprising given the size of the team working on the car.

“2010 is a landmark year for Scuderia Toro Rosso as the new regulations demand that we go it alone in terms of designing and building our car in-house. After four years of working in collaboration with Red Bull Technology, the TR5 is the first car that is one hundred percent down to our own endeavours.” Franz Tost

The car features the fully updated diffuser that Red Bull were enjoying by the end of the year but the rear of the car remains largely unchanged in form. However, there is a sharper nose than Red Bull had been using. It’s a start but it remains to be seen where the team goes from here.

Being recognised as a Constructor involves owning the intellectual property rights to what are defined as the listed parts: the monocoque, all the safety structures that are subject crash testing such as the front, rear and roll-over structures as well as the complete aerodynamic package, suspension system, fuel and cooling systems.
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Click thumbnails for large images | images courtesy of Scuderia Toro Rosso