Renault also rolled out their new car, the R30, today... and there are a few surprises.

It's the first of the 2010 racers to have a low-slung nose.  The idealist would suggest that they've found that it's better than the high nose.  The cynic, however, will say that all the prevaricating over coming back that Renault did last year prevented them from doing enough design work to discover the possible benefits of the high nose.  The sidepod air intakes are larger and lower than the other new releases as well.  The front wing is pretty generic, but that'd be easy to change.



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It was a low-key debut, but SauberF1 brought out their new car today.  I think they're a little behind schedule, however.

The aerodynamics have got to be awful.

Okay, okay, click below for the real pictures.

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Not a full F1 Pr0n entry as the car hasn't yet officially debuted, but the Williams took their new car, the FW32, out for a pre-test shakedown run at Silverstone a couple of days ago.  Y'know, "kick the tires, make sure everything stays in one piece, turn a few burn a few," that sort of thing.  It was supposed to be a secret thing, not for public consumption.

Autosport Magazine was there:


And two guys with a camcorder were there, too:

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Tah-dah!

From the front, McLaren's 2010 challenger doesn't seem too different from the 2009 car.  The nose is higher, but the betting line is that that'll be the norm this season (with the wider front tires last year, the lower nose allowed more ballast to be placed up front.  This season's narrower tires will require a better balance all-round, so the high nose won't hinder anything).

It's when you look at the side view, though, that you realize that we're looking at rolling artwork as much as high-speed racer...


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It's finally time!  The 2010 F1 rollout season is here, and as is traditional, Scuderia Ferrari has the position of honor.  They debuted their new chassis, the F10, this morning.  And here it is:

At casual glance, it looks pretty much like last year's car, but let's take a comparative glance at the 2009 F60, shall we?

The first thing that leaps out you is the sidepods.  On the F60, they go straight across the top, but the F10 is curved, bulging at the outsides.  The nose wing is subtly different as well.  The middle element on the new car, where the Santander logo picture is located, just stops when it reaches the inner limit.  On the F60, they slope down to the limit point.  The air intake has changed, with a more squashed appearance in comparison to the 2009 car.  Other changes are visible on the rear wing and where the sidepods meet the monocoque; look at the Ferrari logo and you'll see what I mean.



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Today, Mercedes-Sauber F1 debuted... their paintjob.

The idea behind the livery is that it's a throwback to the original "silver arrows" of Mercedes.  Back in the day-- if the day you're talking about is 1934 or thereabouts-- the Mercedes team was going to join the  Eifelrennen, but their car was too heavy for the weight restrictions.  So the night before, the team sanded all the paint off, leaving just the silver chassis behind. 

And a legend was born.  Today's paintjob is meant to pay tribute to that one (which really wasn't a paintjob).  The car is (obviously) silver, but has part of it "sanded off", revealing the black carbon fiber underneath (not really, it's just paint, but run with it, okay?).  The greenish-blue on the leading edges of the nose and other places is the color of Petronas, the team's major sponsor.

The chassis this paintjob (actually, vinyl decal, but let's go with paintjob) is on isn't the 2010 MGP W01, but last year's Brawn car.  We should be seeing the new car later this week, when the first FIA practice session begins.  So stay tuned!

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