The new championship cars are out for F1 season

As you read this Formula 1 teams will be pounding their new cars relentlessly at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain, at the first pre-season testing.

Prior to that we were treated to a barrage of new car launches - modest affairs compared to some of the epics that characterised the sport a decade or so ago - with all teams bar Williams having unveiled their respective 2013 challengers.

From the outside, there appears to be little difference between this year’s cars and the ones we saw last year, although it is fair to say the current crop is prettier. Last year we were served with the ‘stepped nose’ eyesore that made the world’s fastest race cars look decidedly un-cool.

This year the FIA has allowed teams to cover the stepped nose with what is aptly called a ‘vanity panel’, which has improved the aesthetics of those teams who have opted to use the tweak to disguise their ugly noses. Formula 1 is very much in touch with its feminine side…

So why do the cars this year look so similar to last year’s? The first and main reason is the fact that the rules have hardly changed; sure there have been tweaks, but primarily the technical aspects remain pretty much the same.

At the start of 2012 it was decidedly different as the rule-makers banned the “off-throttle blown diffusers”, a concept which created downforce by forcing fuel through the engine to produce extra exhaust gases and directing it over the diffuser when the driver was not applying the throttle, which provided downforce even in slow sections of a circuit.

As a result it took teams a while to master the new restrictions and hence, remarkably, we had seven different winners in the first seven races of the season. But once the technical boffins in the big teams got their collective heads around the concept (or lack thereof), they dominated the second half of the season.

Fast forward to 2013 and looking into my crystal ball I believe that not much will change in the pecking order of how the teams were in Brazil, the final race of last season.

I would argue that the 2013 cars are essentially an evolution of those from last year, although most technical directors claim that theirs are new from the ground up. Perhaps this is true, but I will hazard a bet and say that the current bits were developed and evolved from their predecessors.

Looking at the final few races of last year, it will be safe to say that Red Bull and McLaren will probably be the teams to beat yet again with their RB9 and MP4-28 respectively. Ferrari have had a lot of work to do in the off-season to produce the F138 which needs to be vastly more effective than their ‘complex’ F2012 that served them poorly last year.

Lotus should have a handy package in their E21; Sauber C32 showed some innovation with slimmer sidepods and could again be the cat among the pigeons. It is a new dawn at Mercedes and their W04 must be competitive out the box if they are to be serious contenders; Williams and Force India will target maintaining the momentum they enjoyed last year with their FW35 and VJM06 respectively. The rest will provide an interesting sideshow.

Tech talk at all the launches has been about the ‘hidden’ bits and pieces that make the difference. It’s all under the skin claimed a guru during the Force India unveiling. The F1 design genius Adrian Newey cryptically informed the audience at the Red Bull launch: “The devil is really in the detail with this car.”

All this implies that teams believe they have found some areas to evolve their cars, but they are not telling and for sure they are not showing.

This makes me believe that the teams seeking success will need to provide a solid base model car which can be developed as the year progresses and, most importantly, it must be able to adapt to the Pirelli tyres which this year are being constructed to provide a greater challenge to teams – one stop strategies, for example, will be highly unlikely.

Testing marks the beginning of the season for real F1 aficionados. New cars, new drivers, different driver line-ups and, of course, all the hype and make this such an intriguing sport.

As I write, a wheel is yet to turn in the 2013 season, but already I can smell the fuel, whiff the scent of rubber and hear the beautiful shrill shrieks of V8 engines at full tilt. Bring it on!