[rajan_united]

Force India

"The new Force India is an evolution, but they have pushed the boundaries a bit. They started last season poorly and ended it quite strong. They need to maintain that form because they're very good at developing.
"The team have tidied the car up a lot. They've done a lot of work on suspension mechanisms to try and make the tyres perform both consistently and for longer.
"All these cars and aerodynamic surfaces sit on four bits of rubber, so if those four bits of rubber are not having a good time, it doesn't matter what you've got above it.
"The main detail for me is in around the coke bottle area at the rear. They've gone for the rear suspension system which has the rear driveshaft and the lower rear wishbone incorporated into one unit, which means less blockage of the airflow. That's a very important part because in reality that's what makes the front wing work.
"I don't see any risks in the overall concept. I would say they need to look at the front wing again, but that will happen before the start of the season. I think the rest of the car is a neat and tidy package and should be step forward from where they were at the end of last season."

[rajan_united]

Mercedes




"At first glance I can't see where the 'step change in performance' Mercedes are talking about is going to come from with their new car.
"There are a few changes here and there, but not necessarily in ways that look like they will be a big advantage.
"One area that is definitely working a bit harder is the front brake ducts, which are more elaborate.
"The nose has the allowed 'vanity panel' to hide the height difference between nose tip and chassis. If you put little ridges on either side of the nose, that can help prevent air spilling over the side. But the way Mercedes have designed their nose it looks like it will exacerbate that problem, which affects the aerodynamics detrimentally.
"The sidepods have a raised outer edge. It's aimed at getting air to the rear but it creates lift, and then there are turning vanes on top to reduce the lift. So that confuses me a little.
"They are trying to use the exhaust for aerodynamic effect at the back, but there is an awful lot of bodywork back there which will block the airflow and reduce the effectiveness of the 'coke-bottle' shape, which is what gives overall downforce, as opposed to the on-throttle downforce you get from the exhausts.
"Unlike the McLaren, which looked a step forward in every area, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm seeing anything too exciting about the Mercedes."

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Red Bull



"I was expecting the new Red Bull to be more different from last year's than it is.
"They have retained the slim nose from last year - it has a very small cross-sectional area. That is important for overall downforce as the thicker the nose the bigger the volume of air it displaces, and the more it detracts from the effectiveness of the front wing.
"The front wing is similar to the one with which they ended last year although the mounting points have been moved to ensure they pass the tougher deflection tests this year. And the endplates are not extra exciting. I expected them to do more work there.
"They have retained push-rod front suspension, rather than following Ferrari down the pull-rod route, which has a marginal aerodynamic advantage.
"The leading edge of the sidepods are quite narrow. That will work with a revised rear bodywork, which appears to end earlier than last year's, to enhance the airflow through the critical 'coke-bottle' area at the rear and increase downforce.
"Overall, I'm not seeing the steps forward I saw on the McLaren, on which everywhere you looked you thought: 'Yep, that's better.' On the Red Bull, that's less so. More of it looks the same."

[rajan_united]

Lotus



"As launched, the new Lotus E21 looks very similar to last year's E20 but developments will start to emerge when it begins testing next month.
"I'm not surprised by step on the nose - it stops airflow spilling into the area between the front tyre and the chassis, which is sensitive and you want to avoid disrupting it.
"There are bigger downforce-producing turning vanes - curved bodywork - on the bottom of the brake ducts and more at the front of the sidepods, which are reminiscent of those raced by Red Bull and Sauber at the end of last year.
"There is also a hint of Red Bull about the rear bodywork treatment around the exhaust.
"Last year, Red Bull and Sauber had bodywork right back beyond the rear wheels. The exhaust gases stuck to that as the team guided them down to the gap between the floor and wheels to increase downforce. Ferrari and McLaren, by contrast, aimed the gases across a gap.
"Lotus have gone for the Red Bull/Sauber approach. It's not possible to tell from the pictures so far whether they have also followed Red Bull in guiding them through a hole in the floor into the central section of the diffuser."

[rajan_united]

Ferrari



"There are some very positive aspects of the new Ferrari - and some that I'm not quite as excited about.
"The rear-end treatment, from the back of the engine, looks like a positive step forward.
"I was very critical of their car in that area last year - it was messy, with radiator outlets disrupting the airflow.
"It's much cleaner this year, with a much more aggressive treatment of the 'coke-bottle' area where the bodywork sweeps in between the rear wheels, an area they neglected in 2012. And it looks as if they have a very small gearbox, because the bodywork at the back is very low.
"That's all good for keeping the airflow as effective as possible in a crucial area and it looks like a big step forward.
"Forward of that, I'm less sure. The coke-bottle starts early, which is a very aggressive pursuit of downforce, but can lead to problems. I might have stayed clear of that and I think Ferrari might be the only team doing that.
"I looked at the new McLaren and saw a lot of positive points. The list of obvious gains is smaller on the Ferrari but we'll have to see how it goes on the track."

[rajan_united]

McLaren



"McLaren finished last year with the fastest car and the new MP4-28 looks like a good improvement on that.
"The steps forward start at the front with a higher nose and chassis, pretty close to the maximum allowed height, which gives more room for better airflow under the car than last year.
"They have followed Ferrari's 2012 lead in using pull-rod front suspension, which has a lower centre of gravity and the pull-rod manages the airflow off the front wing better than the more common push-rod.
"The sidepods have been moved backwards, giving better airflow, and the back has been focused on maximising that flow.
"The driveshaft and lower wishbone have been packaged in one element and the rear bodywork is heavily scooped out to make the most of the downforce-producing 'coke-bottle' area between the rear wheels.
"The idea is to separate that airflow from the exhaust gases, which McLaren have continued to treat in the way they did last year, rather than using Red Bull-style tunnels.
"McLaren are one of the few teams to have small-diameter exhaust exits, which gives faster airflow and therefore more downforce when they hit the aerodynamically shaped rear brake ducts.
"Overall, McLaren look to have made a good step forward."

[rajan_united]

Sauber




"The most obvious novelty on the Sauber is the nose section.
"Unlike McLaren and Ferrari, they've kept the ramp nearly all cars had last year where the bodywork transitions from the lower height demanded of the nose cone and the higher height required of the chassis, but have fitted ridges on either side.
This will be a way of trying to prevent the air going up there from spilling over the sides into the leading edge of the sidepods, which is always the case with a flat top to the car.
"That air takes up space that would be better occupied by air coming off the front wing and barge boards. It will be a very small thing - but small things all add up.
"The sidepods do look narrower - the turning vane at the front corners appear further away than normal.
"If they are narrower, that is effectively reducing the cross-sectional area of the car and means more air goes around to the rear.
"At the back, I'm surprised they've abandoned their exhaust treatment in favour of the McLaren-style approach.
"This area is a compromise between the downforce created by the exhaust gases on-throttle and the general, always-there downforce from the coke-bottle shape at the back.
"The balance between the two is difficult to get right."

[rajan_united]

rest when launched

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[rajan_united]

Caterham



While Marussia launched a basic car that will be updated, the Caterham has all the development parts on it already. It looks a bit boxy, to be honest. In fact, I've heard the word "ugly" bandied about. A lot of the new cars are nice-looking but the Caterham really isn't. I don't really understand some of the thinking, either. They have adopted a McLaren-style exhaust, blowing it at the area between the floor and the rear wheels for enhanced downforce. But most teams also use aerodynamically shaped rear brake ducts to enhance the effect and while the Caterham has them, the turning vanes are all behind a big air intake for brake cooling, which most teams don't have because you don't need it - the rear brakes are under-used on an F1 car because Kers scavenges its power from that axle. So they're not making anywhere near as much use of that area as they could be