McLaren to launch MP4-27 today

F1 Fanatic round-up

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Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton reveal the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25 in 2010

McLaren are set to launch their 2012 F1 car today. F1 Fanatic will have pictures of the car as soon as it appears.

McLaren are also broadcasting the launch live here. The launch is due to begin at 11am UK time.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Adam Cooper via Twitter

“Still gobsmacked by the Sutil decision given that CCTV showed the other guy attacked first and Adrian just tried to push him away. Also worrying when judge makes it clear that outcome influenced by the fact he was famous. Funny kind of justice in Germany…”

Tobias Gruner via Twitter

“Sutil disappointed about Hamilton not showing up at the trial in Munich. ‘It would have been a nice gesture by him.'”

F1 Fanatic via Twitter

“The Williams-Renault FW34 will be revealed on February 7th. Toro Rosso launch the STR7 on February 6th at Jerez. Added to the F1 Fanatic Calendar.”

Lotus reshuffles management team (Autosport)

Lotus has boosted its management structure with the appointment of Thomas Mayer as its new chief operating officer.”

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

I don’t always agree with the comments I choose for Comment of the Day – but I’m behind this one from The Limit one hundred percent:

I hope Rubens Barrichello gives Indycar a go, he’s still got what it takes and it would be a great thing for American open-wheel racing to have a driver of his standing in the series.

As a die-hard Indy fan, there has not been much cheer in recent months since the tragic death of Dan Wheldon. Thank God, at last some possible good news for a change!
The Limit

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Cliffery, Kutigz and pmelton!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

One-third of the 2011 F1 field decided to launch their cars on the same day last year – including the eventual world champions Red Bull:

Image © McLaren

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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87 comments on “McLaren to launch MP4-27 today”

  1. yeah but rubens doesnt want to do ovals, i dont care to much for ovals but that is what they do over there. Its like someone coming over to f1 and saying ok ill race round the open tracks but ill give monaco and singapore a miss….we would say if you can stand the heat then get out of the kitchen.

    I wish rubens all the best but i dont see why a team would sign him for half a season. but then again i dont fully follow indy these days so perhaps its normal.

    1. but then again i dont fully follow indy

      If you did you’d know ovals account for much less than “half” of the calendar this year.

      1. I think the comparison to street circuits in F1 is still pretty valid. It’s a certain type of track, a skill to master.

        1. exactly thats my point. And personally i wouldnt hire someone that wont complete the full calendar. But I like rubens and wish him the best.

          i bet he brings some good sponsors with him that would be appealing. and his knowledge would be ideal for indys new car.

    2. I wish rubens all the best but i dont see why a team would sign him for half a season

      There are only four ovals out of sixteen races on the 2012 Indycar schedule. Barrichello would only miss the Indy 500, Texas, Iowa and the Autoclub Speedway. He may also miss a fifth race, because there are currently only fifteen events on the calendar when the series needs sixteen, so the vacant slot might go to the Milwaukee Mile (but the series is also said to be negotiating a new event at a street or airfield circuit in Fort Lauderdale).

      1. Is the Circuit of the Americas an option for the 16th race?

        I think it would be interesting to see both F1 and IndyCar race on the same track.

        1. It’d be a great rack for Indy and it would help F1’s publicity a lot.

          How great would it be to have Indy, F1 and even NASCAR all race there on the same weekend. Could make a real festival out of it.

        2. great idea. that would be an all-win situation.

          plus i would like to see the difference in lap times. i say the HRT would beat the fastest indycar.

          1. It would, by quite a bit.

    3. ovals or not. Rubens in indycar would be a great story for them!
      People in europe like us, would be interested in it and since he’s a Brazilian it will give a boost over the ocean for sure!
      And with the new car it’s the best possible time for him to jump in.

    4. I thought his wife told him she didn’t want him to do Indycars, probably just meaning the ovals like, and what happened next year would probably only make her even tougher on the issue!

    5. I understand not wanting to do the ovals especially after last year, but I would love to see him (or his wife) re-think that for the Indy 500. I’m sure that 2002 USGP Trophy (as tainted as that win may be) is really longing for it’s older brother to be sitting in the trophy room right next to it.

      It’d be good for the series as far as International Exposure, and would give us NASCAR guys a years worth of rumors everytime he is seen talking to Chip or Roger… haha

    6. so what? he could still drive half a season even if it was the case (it isn’t, as others pointed out there’s only 4 ovals so far)

      Something like in WRC, when they used to get a driver specifically for certain surfaces. Like Panizzi with Peugeot at tarmac events.

      It’d be great for KV, great for Indy, great for Rubens and great for all the other drivers too…

      1. Anyone know the specs of the new Indycar engine?

        1. They haven’t released the exact figures yet to the public but they’re all 2.2 liter (twin turbos for Chevy and Lotus; single for Honda). I think 750HP on road/ street courses and 550hp for ovals.

    7. Barrichello has since retracted that: http://indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/51121-barrichello-ovals-not-a-deal-breaker/

      I did say that. It came out of my mouth. It is a not a big issue. It is not a problem. There are so many different situations that I could run. I could run on the road tracks; I could run Indy.

    8. I wish rubens all the best but i dont see why a team would sign him for half a season. but then again i dont fully follow indy these days so perhaps its normal.

      Indeed it is normal. In IndyCar, the drivers can chage from race-to-race, as can the liveries and even the teams. Some teams run one car, some run 4, some only compete on the ovals, some on the road courses, some for the whole season, others just to have a crack at the Indy 500

      It’s perfectly plausable that KV Racing could sign Rubens for the 11 (currently) road and street courses (as well as the Indy 500 if he wants a crack at it), and get another driver in for the 3/4 (currently) oval races. Dale Coyne Racing did the exact same thing last year with Sebastien Bourdais. He ran the road & street tracks, Alex Lloyd ran the ovals.

      Go for it Rubens, you’ve still got it in you, you’ve still got a lot to race for, and I bet you could do very well!

      1. fair enough, if its the done thing then like you say good luck to him. And with their new car its a good opportunity as he and the rest of the pack would be starting at a similar level.

        I used to follow indy cars before it went all sky sports. It used to make great sunday night viewing on eurosport in the late 90s.

    9. I don’t watch much indy myself although would like to but its on the company that shall not be named, anyway i think there is only 4 races that are on ovals after the las egas gp was taken away, could he not do what somepeople do in the WRC where they race at certain events in a privateer like Kimi Raikonnen. Just a thought

      1. @m0nzaman I don’t have that TV channel either, but I managed to see all the road course races last year. They’re a good watch if you can find them.

  2. @keithcollantine

    The link in this roundup to McLaren’s live launch page is broken. The URL now has a “-1” on the end of it.

    1. @Estesark Thanks for letting me know, wonder why they changed it? Anyway, fixed now.

  3. Apologies, due to an error an old story was included in the round-up, have removed it. Thanks to @snowman for pointing it out.

    1. It is a good story though!!

      1. fantastic even :P

        1. What was it?

  4. Really excited about the Mclaren launch. Will be able to watch it this year due to joys of a 3rd year uni timetable!

    Hopefully we’ll also get some answers on the mystery article.

  5. I feel like a kid in a candy store! Oh wait… I’m actually beside one :D

  6. CCTV showed the other guy attacked first and Adrian just tried to push him away.

    I’ve been told that under the German penal code, the presence of a weapon – in this case, the glass – is enough to push the burden of responsibility onto Sutil. Even if Lux attacked first, Sutil had the glass in his hand when he struck back, causing serious injury.

    I can’t confirm it, though.

    1. I think this works the same in a lot of countries. If you hit me and I hit you back very hard, thereby almost killing you – which is possible with one hit at the right spot – I’ll have to explain my excessive reaction to your hit to a judge.

      There are mitigating circumstances (you hit me first), but my response (almost killed you) is what I’m tried for. I think that is exactly what a suspended sentence is for: It’s unclear if you’re a real criminal, or someone who just responded too hard.

      The fine is another thing. I don’t know about other cases, but it feels like it’s a bit of a slippery road: when are you famous or rich enough to warrant a bigger fine? When do you have a job which requires more selfcontrol than a regular job? What fine would a constructionworker get? And a surgeon?

  7. Mega excited for the Macca launch! Hope its another beaut!

    1. Same! … I love this part of the year, Almost as much as the Aus GP.

  8. Sutil disappointed about Hamilton not showing up at the trial in Munich. ‘It would have been a nice gesture by him.

    A tv character said once:

    Friends should be with you during your first trial…

    Enough with that…

    1. I feel absolutely gutted for Sutil. I would hope that my good friends would always be there for me in time of need. In a situation like this there is hardly anything more important than helping a friend who needs it.

      1. Who says that Hamilton is Sutil’s good friend? I mean, they’re “good” friends in Formula 1 terms, but at the end of the day, it’s my opinion that it’s very hard for guys as competitive as F1 drivers to have truly “good” friends, especially inside of the sport.

        1. That is just the impression I get from these two drivers. I know wikipedia is not a very reliable source but it says “[Adrian Sutil] is close friends with Lewis Hamilton.” I would look for more evident but I’m a bit lazy. Anyways I would assume that being “just” a friend and a witness is surely a good enough reason to appear in court.

        2. @MylesW

          Berger and Senna were the best of friends on and off the track.

          Even Schumacher and Brundle, actually Michael even tried to get him into Ferrari before Irvine was announced.

          And were many more, like Burti and Barrichello.

          1. Oops, meant there were many more…

          2. I’m guessing Scheckter and Villeneuve were good friends, other than being great team mates.

      2. Maybe Hamilton felt like the best thing he could do to help his friend was *not* testify. Maybe he honestly thought nothing he could say under oath would have helped his case at all. We just don’t know, and I suppose we’re unlikely to ever really know.

        1. According to Sutil, quoted here in sensationalist paper Bild:

          Hamilton is a coward, with somebody like that I don’t wanna be friends. To me, he’s not a man. Even his father texted me wishing me luck with the trial. Nothing from Lewis. He changed his mobile number, I couldn’t reach him anymore

          1. @verstappen Aouch!!!!!!!

            Seriously!!!!!!!! Gyess Sutil really was counting on his testimony somehow…

          2. I mean “guess”.

            Speaking off… wonder if Hamilton didn´t appear in orden to not have a problem with the owner of Lotus. You know he is off contract this year…

    2. nevermind the friendship. As far as I know, Hamilton was a witness…

      1. He obviously wasn’t called to appear by either prosecution or defence so he presumably didn’t actually witness anything of the incident itself.

        Also, considering that his employer has been very busy recently they might have suggested he should be around to help out rather than spending his time watching a trial he was not a part of.

        1. He was called to appear but informed the courts he had duties for McLaren that kept him from attending last monday/tuesday.

    3. It proves that there’s no such things as friends in F1, “if you want a friend, buy a dog…”

  9. Just a little article about the legality of the new McLaren here

    1. interesting! so it hasn’t disappeared from everywhere. This to me suggests the removal of the article from other sites is not due to Mclaren, but as the article is in some way factually incorrect?

      1. McGrath may have been misquoted, or he may not have been authorised to give an interview. Or this might even be an article that was supposed to be published with the release of the MP4-27, instead of beforehand.

        But when it comes to disappearing articles, only one thing is certain – the truth is out there.

    2. I noticed Jenson referred to the chassis as the MP4-27A in a tweet – a new revision coming soon?

      1. I think they usually refer to the cars as A, B etc as they are evolved.

  10. I agree that it’s awesome that Barrichello will be racing Indy Car, but I feel his appearance won’t make that big of an initial splash. I don’t anticipate most Indy fans to know of him unless they also follow F1.

    1. that Barrichello will be racing Indy Car

      Well, apart from the two day test nothing has been confirmed.

      I think as long as he can get used to the car he should be quite strong. I still hope he comes back to F1, but indycar would be the next best thing.

      Hell, if he does well it’d be pretty cool! :D

  11. I wonder what effect will that have on Sutil & Hamilton’s friendship.

    So only HRT to decide who will be their second driver & when will they launch their car,I hope they are not deciding whether to take part in 2012 F1 season.

    1. to be fair, Hamilton probably has some wok with Mclaren in the build up to the launch.

  12. Can’t wait to wake up, go to work and spend most of the morning drooling over the car instead of working.

  13. If Hamilton attended the trial, then he was required to attend further sessions which clashes with his F1 commitments, Mclaren will never allow that.
    I believe that is a manufactued angle.
    …”it would have been a nice gesture by him”…
    This sounds no way like Sutil made those comments.

    1. If Hamilton attended the trial, then he was required to attend further sessions which clashes with his F1 commitments, Mclaren will never allow that.

      Um, the trail was over yesterday. Hamilton only would have been present for an hour or two, and once released by the court, he would be free to go. At most, he would probably lose six hours out of his day.

  14. Less than 6 hours to go!

    Not that I’m counting…. :D :D

    1. I had the weirdest dream about the MP4-27 being uneviled. It was the most bizarre Formula 1 car ever launched, but everyone was really positive about it:

      – Two pieces of bodywork went up over the suspension assembly andconnected each side of the front wing to the sidepods. They were also attached to the front nose assembly for their length.

      – The sidepods themselves were scalloped in a concave shape flaring out at the top and the bottom, but curving in at the centre. A series of fins mounted in front of the sidepod openings created a high-pressure area that sucked air in and forced it out over the diffuser, creating a blown effect without any moving parts.

      – The airbox was lower than any we have seen on any car in recent years, and the end of the engine cownling was very high. It looked like an old CART chassis, but meaner.

      1. We’ll see :P
        I can’t wait to see the Williams because it appeared in one of my dreams a few weeks back: mostly white, with blue pinstripes, blue rear wing, and blue sidepods.

        1. Well, the car also turned the driver into an aerodynamic device – Button and Hamilton had special helmets that funneled the flow of air in a special way, and there were a couple of other things about the car that were interesting and very cool, but I can’t remember them all.

        2. you know your an F1 Fanatic when…

      2. What happed to Prisoner Monkeys?

        1. They escaped?!

  15. I expect that, at the post-launch press conference, someone from McLaren will blurt out, “but we don’t think it’s as good as the Red Bull.” After heated discussion on Twitter the comment will be removed from the transcripts and everyone will act like it’s never happened.

    1. Sorry, what were you saying? I was too busy not reading what you didn’t post on this non-exsitant website when I noticed your comments had been taken down. What comments am I talking about? I don’t know, because they’re not there anymore.

  16. Does anyone know anything about the guy who joined the Lotus management team (which by the way I wouldn’t call a “reshuffling”)? My Google Fu seems to be pretty weak today, as I can’t find any solid information about this Thomas Mayer.

    We know that Gerard Lopez, Eric Lux & Patrick Louis were born to be managers and CEO’s. They’re professional corporate aristocracy. The only person with some motorsport experience is Eric Boullier, an engineer. But who’s the new guy?

  17. The McLaren unveiling is also live on Sky Sports News

    1. Thanks for that, the Macca site going dead, made me think id miss it!

      1. that doesn’t help those of us in other parts of the world :(

          1. Thanks, the main site is back up too :)

  18. Still an hour to go and their sites already overloaded.

  19. Hey guys I just wanted to ask that when does the indycar season start and is it on tv in 2012 I know it was on sky on 2011 but they have not stated it on their website.

    1. It’s odd, isn’t it. They do online launches to save money, and save so much money that no-one can see. They might as well just not have a launch.

      Let’s be honest, I already know that next week, Alonso and Massa will trot out some puff about this year’s car being a departure from last year’s, Alonso’s hunger for his first title with the Scuderia and Domenicali saying that this could be the year everyone falls in love with Ferrari…

  20. Looks like a classic F1 car launch on internet. Site dies because of traffic. Seems to happen every time when an F1 team wants to release something in internet…

    Kind of annoying.

  21. Can’t get onto the Mclaren site :-(

  22. Absolute best of luck to Rubens, I hope it goes well for him over at Indy Car. I plan on tuning in this year, looks like I picked the right year.

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