Last week, we discussed the launch of the first 2013 F1 car, the Lotus E21. Since then, McLaren, Ferrari, Force India, Sauber and Red Bull have lifted the wraps off their 2013 challengers. And by the time we gather for this week’s #F1Chat, Mercedes and Toro Rosso would have also unveiled their new cars. So without further ado, here’s what’s coming up on tomorrow’s #F1Chat…
We’ll begin with the new cars shall we? First of all, what are your thoughts on the cars which have launched so far? Which ones stand out the most? Red Bull join Lotus as the only 2 teams (so far, as of Sunday evening when I hit ‘Publish’ on the #F1Chat preview) to have kept the stepped nose design from 2012. Why do you think they have gone down this route and what are your thoughts on this? Sauber seem to have a half’n’half stepped nose/vanity panel design, they also have narrow side pods – what do you think of this?
We won’t really know who will be leading the way until we get to Melbourne in six weeks time, so rather than trying to pick apart the new cars and discuss which one could potentially be the best, let’s discuss looks… Red Bull have added purple to the 2013 paint palette, while Ferrari have reinvigorated their livery with a touch of black and white to go with their Ferrari red, and Sauber have opted for a slate grey colour which takes us back to the days of HRT in 2010. Which livery is your favourite and more importantly, if this were a beauty contest, who has the best looking car on the 2013 grid?
Perhaps the most surprising thing at any one of these launches was the lack of a second driver at Force India. When do you think we will hear who will be joining Paul di Resta at the team? Bruno Senna has been linked to the seat – can you see that happening?
Talking of drivers, after plenty of speculation over who would fill the final seat at Caterham, the team announced last week that Giedo van der Garde would be joining Charles Pic. Thoughts on this news? Meanwhile, over at Marussia there have been whispers that GP2 driver Luiz Razia could be lining up alongside Max Chilton – can you see this happening? If it does, that would mean the F1 paddock would boast four 2012 GP2 drivers in the form of van der Garde, Chilton, Razia and Esteban Gutierrez. What are your thoughts on this and what does this mean for F1? Do you think those who have lost seats (Kovalainen, Petrov and Glock) will ever make it back into F1?
Finally, let’s discuss Mercedes technical ‘blip’ on Saturday. Firstly, what did you think of the idea of opening their virtual garage door to reveal a sneak peek of the W04 after their fans trended #F1W04Reveal? And what did you think about its catastrophic fail? Should F1 teams not be geared up for website crashes at launch time? They chose a peak time to do it – a Saturday afternoon when many F1, and of course Lewis Hamilton, fans were dying to get a glimpse of another new car.
Join us tomorrow at the usual time of 4pm Eastern US, 9pm UK when we’ll be talking about this week’s latest F1 news – and don’t forget to use the #F1Chat hashtag to answer the questions – we’ll see you soon…
