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Formula 1

2015 Sauber C34 revealed

2015 Sauber C34

Well, hallelujah to Sauber! They’ve got no money, no hope and no chance of achieveing great things in 2015. But they’ve had a decent crack at livening up the grid with a new livery that, in some ways, takes us back to the halcyon days of Formula 1 with a hint of Williams-Renault.

The new C34-Ferrari will be at the first test in Jerez next week. It will still rely on some parts from the C33, with the team planning to introduce upgrades across the pre-season.

Sauber is F1’s perennial underdog, the team is entering its 23rd season and this year it’s with an all-new driver lineup. Swede Marcus Ericsson is back for his second year in F1 and he will be joined by Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr.

It’s difficult to not have a soft spot Sauber. The team had a disappointing season last year and we hope they return to form in 2015.

Go Sauber!

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

2015 Mercedes AMG W06 previewed

2015 Mercedes AMG W06

The Mercedes AMG F1 team has all but revealed its title-defending F1 W06 Hybrid with a couple of images first published to twitter. The official unveiling is not due until the morning of the opening day of testing in Jerez on Monday, 1 February.

Briefly on track for a filming day at Silverstone the 2015-spec F1 W06 managed to complete 18 laps with Nico Rosberg at the wheel before inclement weather brought a halt to proceedings.

From what we can see here, and below, it’s quite a nice looking and sounding car.

[Source: Mercedes AMG]

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Formula 1 Honda McLaren

2015 McLaren MP4-30 revealed

2015 McLaren-Honda MP4-30

McLaren luanched its 2015 Formula 1 car overnight, the MP4-30. The biggest development, of course, is the use of the Honda RA615H Hybrid power unit.

McLaren-Honda, there’s a lot of great memories in those two names. Cigarette sponsorship gave those cars from the late 1980s and early 1990s an evocative red and white livery. The marketing spin says the 2015 livery is an “evolved colour scheme that firmly contextualises McLaren’s brand in the 21st century.”

We don’t like it at all.

McLaren had a great opportunity to really leverage of the enormous goodwill from its first partnership with Honda by creating a new and unique livery that not only looked great but also stood out on the grid.

Instead we get this bland half-arsed attempt to blend two looks that was never going to work.

Thankfully, the car itself looks okay, and that horrible nose from the MP4-29 has been removed. Fingers crossed for McLaren, for Honda and for everyone in Formula 1 that the MP4-30 has a great year ahead.

It’s great to have Honda back!

The other big move for McLaren is the return of Fernando Alonso. His first stint with the team was a bit of a disaster in terms of fitting in with the team’s strong personalities. Alonso is a damn good driver, let’s see if he’s a truly great driver.

Waiting for you after the break is a number of videos, more photos of the new car and a couple of press releases for you to download.

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Formula 1 McLaren Video

Jenson and Fernando ham it up

Back to the racetrack

Someone at McLaren has forced Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso to play it up on camera for a pre-season promo. At least we hope they were forced to take part in this Back to the Future spoof.

It’s a bit of harmless fun, of course, and let’s hope the McLaren-Honda partnership is more than a nostalgic memory. Also worth noting the black and silver clothing worn by the leading men.

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Volkswagen WRC

Sebastien Ogier wins 2015 Rallye Monte Carlo

2015 Rallye Monte Carlo

The Volkswagen Polo R WRC may have a new look but it’s still the dominant force in world rallying as the team’s record-breaking clean sweep of the podium at the Rallye Monte Carlo proved.

Sebastien Ogier again showed he will be the man to beat in 2015, taking victory by almost one minute ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. While Andreas Mikkelsen finished third to make it a perfect result for Volkswagen.

In his one-off appearance for Citroën nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb showed the world he still has blistering pace. Loeb set the scene by going fastest on the opening stage and taking the lead of the rally. He stayed there until SS7 when Ogier fought his way in front.

Loeb’s chances of victory ended after he hit a rock on SS8, which forced him out for the day. He rejoined under Rally 2 regs and fought back to finish eighth overall. The French maestro also won more special stages than any driver during the event.

Mads Ostberg finished fourth for Citroën. Hyundai’s best result came from Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo, who finished fifth and sixth respectively. While Elfyn Evans was the best placed Ford driver in P7.

Rally Sweden is next up, taking place in mid-February.

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Ferrari Formula 1

Ferrari announces SF15-T name

2015 Ferrari SF15-T logo

Ferrari will be launching its 2015 F1 car this Friday, but before that the team has revealed the car will be called the SF15-T.

Last year’s car was called the F14-T (Ferrari, 2014, turbo). In 2015 we get the S for Scuderia at the start.

Perhaps part of Sebastian Vettel’s contract with team will be to put his finger away after each win and start waving his F15T?

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Porsche WEC

That’s gotta hurt!

Scene of Mark Webber's crash at 2014 6 Hours of Sao Paulo

These tyre marks were left by Mark Webber following his spectacular crash at the 2014 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. No wonder Mark had a “stinking headache”!

The image was posted to Instagram by Lucas di Grassi.

[Source: Lucas di Grassi]

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Formula 1 Lotus

2015 Lotus E23 revealed

2015 Lotus E23

The Lotus F1 Team has revealed these computer generated images of the E23, the team’s 2015 F1 car. You’ll recall last year the E22 had that shocking twin tusk nose. Thankfully, this season, it looks like we’re back on the way to having visually pleasing F1 cars once more.

Lotus will line up again with Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, which means the most significant off season change is the switch to Mercedes-Benz power.

Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO, says his team is ready for better things, after a disappointing 2014.

“The E23 Hybrid represents a new era for Lotus F1 Team,” said Carter. “Not only in the change to a Mercedes-Benz Power Unit, but also it is the fruition of a busy winter behind the scenes.

“Improvements within our Design, Aero and Simulation departments have all contributed to the development of a car which is a huge step forward.

“It is time to put the disappointment of last season behind us and benefit from 12 months of hard work; we are ready to return to our rightful place at the pinnacle of the sport.”

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Formula 1 Lotus

Ayrton Senna Monaco GP illustration

Ayrton Senna, Lotus 98T, illustration by Bruce Thomson

Ayrton Senna’s bright yellow helmet peeking out of the iconic Lotus 98T‘s black and gold livery is one of Formula 1’s most evocative images. Bruce Thomson has captured that perfectly with his digital illustration of Senna at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Thanks again Bruce!

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BMW Green Machines

BMW i3 wins 2014 Wheels COTY

BMW i3

The BMW i3 has been named the 2014 Wheels Car of the Year. This, we think, is a pretty cool thing.

Yes, it’s expensive for a city runabout. Yes, that makes it out of reach of most people. But, the i3 represents a step forward. It’s not just that it’s not a Prius, but that electric powered cars are still maturing and the technology developed for products like the i3 will benefit all of us as the years go by.

Glenn Butler, Wheels Editor, called the i3 “courageous and convincing,” before adding: “Other brands surely possess the know-how to have created something equally visionary. BMW had the bravery.

“This innovative and compact electric car combines expressive design, impressive engineering, exceptional efficiency and persuasive practicality with a good deal of driver appeal.”

The BMW i3 is the first electric car to win the Wheels COTY and the first BMW to claim the honour.

Also in the top five finalists were the Mazda 2, the Mercedes-Benz C Class, the Peugeot 308 and fellow electric car the Tesla Model S.

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Formula 1

2015 Williams FW37 images revealed

2015 Williams FW37

After the Williams FW37 broke cover yesterday we had hoped we’d be able to bring you a great selection of 2560px mega images to you this morning. Alas, we’ve got two new pics we’ve nicked from twitter, a dodgy video animation and a press release from the notoriously image shy Williams Martini Racing outfit.

However, Pat Symonds, Chief Technical Officer, does give us some insight into the FW37: “The notion for the FW37 was to look closely at the FW36 and its performances.

“We then went about recognising what had worked well and identifying and resolving the areas that we felt needed to be improved. Although the aerodynamics of the car were impressive there is always room for improvement particularly as we handle the new 2015 nose regulations.

“The desire to beat Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ in 2014 meant we pushed our development through to late autumn, but the size of the team is now at a point where it was able to sustain this development whilst still working on the FW37.

“We felt we came up against design barriers in the FW36 and so took the opportunity to remove those barriers for the benefit of the performance. The FW36 carried a reasonable amount of ballast, so we were able to make alterations to the design for added performance without the fear of adding excessive mass.

“The change in regulations offered us a slight headache. The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound. The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us.”

We’ll bring you more detail on the FW37 when we can.

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Formula 1

2015 Force India VJM08 revealed

2015 Force India VJM08

Ugly anteater noses begone!

The first full reveal of a 2015 Formula 1 car has been and gone thanks to Force India. As you can see the laughable nose of the VJM07 has been scrapped and the VJM08 looks altogether more stylish.

Part of that, of course, is due to the new silver and black livery, which, oddly enough, gives the best hint yet that McLaren will be having a red and white scheme in 2015.

Force India retains its 2014 driver lineup of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg. The team will run its 2014 car at the first test in Jerez (1–4 February), delaying the track debut of the VJM08 until the second round of testing, to be held in Barcelona (19–22 February).

A light and fluffy press release and more images are available after the break. More detail is available in the team’s 2015 press pack which can be downloaded below.

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