McLaren, Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Sauber F1 Team & Renault Sport F1 unleash their contenders

 

 

McLaren-Renault MCL33

 

McLaren has returned back to it’s original “papaya” orange livery as in it’s early days of founder Bruce McLaren with the launch of their new contender for the 2018 season, the MCL33.

 

After weeks of teasers and speculation on the team’s new look, the car was launched online on Friday morning featuring it’s iconic “papaya” orange. Last year’s MCL32 had a darker orange with a lot more black. The MCL33’s livery is similar to double World Champion Fernando Alonso’s Andretti Autosport McLaren-Honda IndyCar which was used in last year’s 2017 Indianapolis 500.

 

McLaren for the first time in it’s 52 year history switched to Renault power after a horrific partnership with Honda, which was cut short last year. The Woking-based outfit hopes it’s MCL33 will be the one to propel them back fighting at the front with their last podium coming at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, or won a race at the season finale in Brazil 2012.

 

The MCL33 will be driven by the aforementioned Alonso who once again will partner Stoffel Vandoorne with Lando Norris being the team’s reserve and development driver.

 

“The McLaren team was created by a brave pioneer, and has had bravery at its core ever since.” explained McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown. “Whether it’s been with brave drivers, brave leaders or brave fortune, this team has always fought back.”

 

“And we definitely view 2018 as the year when McLaren will move closer to the front, fighting teams and drivers as we improve our fortunes.”

 

The car will be run in a filming day today at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya before eight days of pre-season testing gets underway next Monday.

 

Scuderia Ferrari SF71H

 

 

Scuderia Ferrari have unleashed their new 2018 challenger, the SF71H at the team’s Maranello base fours days before pre-season testing begins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

 

Ferrari returned to it’s full traditional red livery with white mostly absent from the SF71H in contrast to it’s predecessors from 2010-2017 which featured former sponsor Spanish bank, Santander.

 

Ferrari retained it’s same driver line up for their 2018 campaign with their most recent champion Kimi Raikkonen and four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel teaming for a fourth consecutive season.

 

Both were present at the teams launch, including the new development driver Daniil Kvyat and the Scuderia’s Sauber-loaned reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

 

The SF71H’s predecessor, the SF70H, was the Prancing Horses most competitive car in years, helping Vettel score five victories.

 

It put up a great title challenge against the 1.6L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid era’s most dominant force Mercedes for most of the season before second half of the season accidents and being plagued by reliability problems allowed the Silver Arrows to run away with both championships.

 

Last season, the difference between both Ferrari and Mercedes were it’s design concepts, but the Scuderia have leant towards a longer wheelbase like it’s arch-rivals.

 

On the power-train side, Ferrari will begin it’s 2018 campaign with an evolution of last season’s design, with the team focusing on reliability as it’s core, due to last year’s problems and the sport limited to just three engines a season.

 

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – W09 EQ Power+

 

 

World Champions Mercedes have launched their new W09 EQ Power+ on Thursday at Silverstone which hopes will deliver them it’s fifth consecutive Driver’s and Constructors Championships since the 1.6L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid era began in 2014.

 

The car was unveiled by the Silver Arrow’s two drivers that will pair for the second time including World Driver’s Champion Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

 

“This is the most exciting part of the year to this point, to see the whole car come together,” explained Hamilton. “I’ve seen the development of the car for the last eight months and so to see all the pieces come together it’s a work of art.”

 

The W09 still features the same longer wheelbase as last year’s car, a tightly packaged rear and a slightly higher rake than it’s predecessor, a change that could help relieve some of the deficiencies the W08 Hybrid had and was famously called a “diva” by team boss Toto Wolff at some circuits.

 

Mercedes’ 2018 challenger has a lot to live up to as the Silver Arrows aim to become the second team after Ferrari (2000-2004) to achieve five consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors Championships.

 

2017 World Champion Hamilton is aiming for his fifth World Championship crown, while team-mate Bottas is pushing for a more consistent challenge to the grid’s big guns after scoring three victories in his debut year for the Brackley-based squad last season.

 

Mercedes last season were faced with their toughest challenge yet with Ferrari making a huge step forward while Red Bull improved and took a surprise victory in Baku and a couple in the latter half of the season in Malaysia and Mexico courtesy of Max Verstappen.

 

Toto Wolff believes that with a stable rules set for 2018, it is poised to deliver at least a three way battle for victories.

 

“We must not discount anybody,” said Wolff. “Today as it stands, it looks like Ferrari and Red Bull.”

 

“I am curious to see where McLaren and Renault come out. I wouldn’t write anybody off. The rules will stay the same so it could be a very competitive season.”

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team – C37

 

 

On Tuesday, Sauber unveiled it’s new challenger the C37 which marks the beginning with it’s title sponsor and iconic Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo.

 

The C37 features the same livery that it launched when it formally announced the Alfa Romeo deal at the company’s Museo Storico Alfa Romeo late last year.

 

The alliance is part of Sauber’s new and continued partnership with Ferrari, which includes a current spec engine, as well as commercial, strategic and technological cooperation.

 

The team has undergone a new design philosophy, which technical director Joerg Zander hopes will end the Hinwil-based outfits run at the back of the pack.

 

“The 2018 challenger is the result of the hard work that everyone in the factory has put in over the last few months,” Zander said. “Speaking about the C37, the car philosophy is much different to that of the C36. The aerodynamic concept has changed significantly and the C37 has several new features in comparison to its predecessor.”

 

“We are positive that the new concept offers us more opportunities and will help us to make improvements during the course of the season.”

 

The C37’s side pod inlets are split by the car’s side impact structure, which should help channel airflow underneath the side pods to the rear of the car.

 

The team has kept it’s blade-style roll structure and airbox design as well as adding an aero piece to the halo to direct airflow around that part of the C37 racer.

 

Another notable change is a new front suspension, that see the wishbone mountings raised higher on the chassis to assist airflow underneath. It follows an approach that World Champions Mercedes and Toro Rosso took on last year and features this year on Red Bull’s RB14.

 

The deal sees the Fiat-Chrysler Automobile-owned Alfa Romeo brand return to the sport of Formula 1 for the first time in 33 years, The iconic manufacturer won the first two Formula 1 World Championships in 1950 and 1951 courtesy of Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio respectively but failed to repeat that success later on, pulling out in 1985 after a few years as a works team.

 

Marcus Ericsson is retained by the Hinwil-based squad and will be joined exciting Ferrari protégé and 2017 Formula 2 Champion Charles Leclerc while also Ferrari-backed Antonio Giovinazzi is the team’s reserve driver.

 

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team – R.S.18

 

 

Renault unveiled their new 2018 contender, the R.S.18 on Tuesday and were the fifth team to reveal their car for the upcoming season.

 

The R.S.18 racer features a revised livery with a more brighter yellow and retains driver pairing Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull loaned driver Carlos Sainz.

 

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team’s Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul hopes that the R.S.18 will continue on from the good works of it’s predecessor, the RS17, which came sixth in last year’s Constructors Championship in the teams second season since returning as a full fledged works manufacturer.

 

“Last year was successful in many ways,” explained Abiteboul. “It was the second year in our rebuilding and a further step towards our long-term plans and aims.”

 

“2016 was all about recruiting, investing, bringing in new sponsors, new talents and building our brand. It was a quantified progression towards what we want to become and challenging the top teams.”

 

“Our headline target [for 2018] is to show continued progression through results. We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers. Everything must improve and we must continue to grow.”

 

“We want to demonstrate this in many different ways, from the teams we will be directly racing against, to the gap to the leaders, including also our fan base and the respect that our team will inspire in our way we behave on and off track.” Abiteboul concluded.

 

The team also introduced British Formula 2 youngster Jack Aitken who will be the Enstone squad’s third driver and will also compete for ART Grand Prix in the second tier series. Formula 2 runner up and driver Artem Markelov was also confirmed as it’s test and development driver.