january, the month of car launches

[2006 preview]

january is the month for 2006 car launches (well, most of the cars anyways). midland will be launched february, and red bull during march. mclaren hasn't launched a car officially for the past few years. and normally, the worst team on the grid (str) doesn't launch.

anyways, here are the new cars!

toyota tf106 - january 14th:


although they had an early launch before christmas, this is the official one with the engine specs and design revealed, and of course with all those press conferences. comments on the car are available here.

bmw sauber f1.06 - january 17th:


the bmw sauber livery is officially revealed amist a rather casual yet prestigious event. boasting new front and rear suspension designs, the focus of the bmw car is on aerodynamics and lowering the center of gravity. with the change of the engine to a smaller v8, many attention is given to reducing size while increasing efficiency. personally, there is nothing to shout about this standard-looking car, although i think it could well be the black horse this year. other than that, this car looked more like williams. slightly confusing sometimes.

mclaren mp4-21 - january 23rd:


mclaren revealed a platypus.

ferrari 248 f1 - january 24th:


other than the change from conventional name to '248 f1' (which stands for 2.4li v8), the car looks like it appeared last week, with the weird placement of rear view mirror, and also the sharp nose. addition to that, the bargeboards and suspensions look more extensive, the sidepod and chimney much smaller, and also the side wings appear to have been brought forward. there's a clear distinction to the rear wing, along with a fin-like engine cover. i have to say, overall quite a looker. but how does it perform?

honda ra106 - january 25th:


f1 cars are made more compact to take advantage of the space freed from the samller v8. no difference from the new honda, as the rear of the car is clearly smaller. i like the sidepod bargeboard, which looks quite outrageous. in my opinion, the front wing looks a little underwork, but interesting nonetheless. i wonder whether this car can finally give jenson his first victory, not that i care much anyways.

williams fw28 - january 27th:


although being of same colors, the williams car looks more beautiful than the bmw-sauber. this car has a higher sidepod and a no-keel design. nice looking nose, and the wings look pretty good as well, especially that sidepod bargeboard. too bad the drivers aren't anything to shout about, especially that overrated mark webber. i think the competition between williams and bmw will be very interesting to witness (i hope heidfeld continues to kick webber's butt).

renault r26 - january 31st:


the last car to be launched for january, the renault is a gorgeous looking car. like the other cars, the sidepods are smaller to take advantage of the decrease in engine size. furthermore, it improves on last year's aerodynamics and there are more obvious curves and wings. just take a look at this. definitely a championship contender and a car to look out for this coming season.





previous posts:
2005 season review 3
2005 season review 2
2005 season review 1

[tagged: mclaren, formula 1]