New Marussia MR01 breaks cover at Silverstone
2012 F1 cars
Timo Glock, Marussia, Silvestone, 2012
Marussia have revealed the first picture of their 2012 F1 car, the MR01.
The team announced on Twitter the car “made its trackside debut at a promotional event this morning”. The car will run today and tomorrow at Silverstone using Pirelli’s demonstration tyres.
Team principal John Booth said: “We are very pleased to be running the new MR01 for the first time this morning.
“It has been a long and frustrating wait for everyone in the team but we can now get back on track – literally – and start working towards the first race of the season in Australia next weekend.
“Today is the first of two promotional events, so while the drivers will be able to get a feel for the car, they won’t be able to draw any real conclusions until we start running in anger in Melbourne. Nevertheless, this is an important day for us and we’ll enjoy every minute on track with the new car.”
The MR01 previously failed one of the FIA’s crash tests and so was unable to participate in pre-season testing. Marussia, who competed as Virgin in 2010 and 2011, described the car as “a significant evolution of its predecessors.”
The design team for the MR01 was led by Marussia’ technical consultant Pat Symonds. The team, which was previously split across three separate sites, have consolidated its operation at a single location in Banbury, named the Marussia Technical Centre.
Marussia MR01 pictures
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- Timo Glock, Marussia, Silvestone, 2012
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- Timo Glock, Marussia MR01, Silvestone, 2012
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- Marussia MR01 launch, Silverstone, 2012
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- Timo Glock, Marussia, Silvestone, 2012
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- Timo Glock, Marussia, Silvestone, 2012
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- Timo Glock, Marussia, Silvestone, 2012
2012 F1 cars
- New HRT F112 seen for the first time in Spain
- New Marussia MR01 breaks cover at Silverstone
- A closer look at the Caterham CT01
- Mercedes W03 officially revealed in Spain
- Picture: Mercedes W03 spied at Silverstone
- Mercedes W03 spotted testing at Silverstone
- Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
- Toro Rosso STR7 – first pictures and video of Toro Rosso’s 2012 F1 car
- Red Bull RB8 launch – first pictures and video of Red Bull’s 2012 F1 car
- Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car
Browse all 2012 F1 cars articles
Image © Marussia
Mach1 (@mach1) said on 5th March 2012, 18:54
Is that a bumplesss nose I see before me
Carlitox (@carlitox) said on 5th March 2012, 18:56
Gorgeous. A bit Sauber-ish, but really nice. Shame that it will be rubbish on the track.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 5th March 2012, 21:33
It does look quite nice, but I don’t think it’s as pretty as the Sauber. The front half looks very odd in the profile shot.
UKFan (@) said on 5th March 2012, 22:31
yes very odd I cant understand that.
dpod (@dpod) said on 6th March 2012, 2:30
That’s odd. I think the Sauber is the most hideous F1 car of the lot, but I guess I’m in the minority when I say I think the Ferrari is beautiful. What an odd season this is in terms of design :P
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 6th March 2012, 13:25
It looks good in the thumbnails, but when you enlarge the pictures it begins to lose its appeal!
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 18:56
Well, both HRT and Marussia have finished their cars and both are equally dissapointing to some extent. Both (as its easier to talk about them as such) look rather “Basic”. The MR01 looks better then last year, i’ll grant them that but at the same time, I dont know .. theres something about it that doesnt inspire confidence that it will beat the 107% rule, let alone be anywhere near the pace. But still, atleast its finished. Same goes for HRT too.
Damn, that Front wing is higher then some of the grandstands! *
*Might be an exaggeration
Mike (@mike) said on 5th March 2012, 20:44
Does this surprise you?
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 22:24
No, not at all and whilst Ill admit its an advancement from 2011 (such as the sidepods) and its undoutably a money issue. I was wanting both to make a car that went from looking basic to something more akin to the 2012 field and not the GP2 series. Think of how big a jump the Lotus/Team Lotus/Caterham went from 2010 to 2011, it was massive. Sure it wasnt quite a midfield car but it was much quicker then HRT/Virgin last year.
Mike (@mike) said on 6th March 2012, 1:46
I think the sidepods are the same, all the main chassis area is.
This reveals (predictably) who had asked the FIA to allow them to run last years chassis.
Mike (@mike) said on 6th March 2012, 1:49
I think the reason Caterham have done well is partly, but not at all exclusively, due to their higher budget.
But you are right, these teams “should” have made more progress by now.
Andy said on 5th March 2012, 20:55
That is a high wing. You could probably fit a whole Red Bull wing underneath it!
Nick said on 6th March 2012, 6:01
I would imagine that the front wing is exactly where the rules allow it to be. It probably looks low because this car has the lowest nose of the field.
Klaas (@klaas) said on 5th March 2012, 18:57
Forget the backmaker. What’s this rumour about Mika Salo being hired by Ferrari as test driver? Something stinks at Maranello.
HUHHII (@huhhii) said on 5th March 2012, 19:35
AFAIK it’s not a rumor but a fact. Ferrari has surely hired him, but he will probably drive just old Ferrari’s in all kinds of show events rather than testing F2012.
sozavele (@formula-1) said on 5th March 2012, 18:58
Completly ugly. Awful colour scheme, attempt at Caterham livery.
HRT – No nose bump, livery looks professional
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 18:59
HRT has a bump
Klaas (@klaas) said on 5th March 2012, 19:00
Agree, Marussia looks like it’s from a different series.
sozavele (@formula-1) said on 5th March 2012, 19:13
Just saw the bump, hidden by tyre, but not that big, good
Mike (@mike) said on 5th March 2012, 20:25
That’s mainly because of the nose… -.-
I dunno, everyone complains that all the cars look the same, then one comes out different no one is happy.
McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm) said on 5th March 2012, 20:36
True that. You can’t please all of the people, all of the time, I guess.
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 22:28
I think the frustration is that we all want the field tighter together, closer racing and less predictable results in Qualy and the Race. Sadly, this will probably mean that the cars will need to be somewhat similar to each other in looks too.
Thats not to say we’re all judging a book by its cover, but of all the teams on the grid, its HRT & Marussia that need to close the biggest gap and naturally thats where the biggest frustration is.
That said, if everyone had a car that didnt have a broken nose, I dare say there would be a lot less grumbling over the looks ;)
AndrewT (@andrewt) said on 5th March 2012, 19:00
Fallen in love with its nose for the very first sight, thanks for the McLaren connection. The “Red” color reminds me a lot of the 2007 preseason Spyker livery.
GeeMac (@geemac) said on 5th March 2012, 19:00
Take note Sauber, that’s how the front of your car should have looked too…
Damoor Valentino said on 5th March 2012, 19:02
Doesn’t even look like a Formula 1 car. More like a GP2
Mike (@mike) said on 5th March 2012, 20:46
How so?
Calum (@calum) said on 5th March 2012, 21:52
@Mike
Perhaps because it’s livery is identical to Marrusia-Carlin GP2?
http://f1.imgci.com/PICTURES/CMS/13500/13550.jpg
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 22:31
seperated at birth?
Mike (@mike) said on 6th March 2012, 1:54
And that’s a reflection on the F1 teams performance, as opposed to who owns the teams?
bearforce1 said on 6th March 2012, 9:07
Hard to tell the cars apart. Great link thank you.
I love the aggressive look.
Why couldn’t they make it to testing. Just one day after testing finishes they can run the car. It must be some reason other than the car not being ready. Sounds like they didn’t have the funds to go to the test maybe.
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 6th March 2012, 9:52
@bearforce1 because they still have’nt passed all the crash tests. They are really cutting it fine.
Damoor Valentino said on 5th March 2012, 22:02
I think the livery makes it look smaller? or is it just me?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 5th March 2012, 19:02
The new livery doesn’t seem right. The colours are good and all, but it just looks like a cebra crossing, but in red and black, specially from the side.
The first one was better. But well, at least it doesn’t have the stepped nose!
RMBX (@rmbx) said on 5th March 2012, 19:04
Nice looking livery, if it will race as good as it looks!
Daniel Thomas (@iamdanthomas) said on 5th March 2012, 19:06
Seems odd to design a car that only looks really nice from one angle – in this case, side on.
YeaMon said on 5th March 2012, 19:16
Can’t say I really like it. Even the tribal design was better looking. At least it was original. Quite frankly, it is also completely different than the Sauber paint job. I can see where people are going to make comparisons, but the Sauber at least has a fast, aggressive look to it.
The car looks like it was wrapped in ribbon or something. Just not a good look, considering of what they previously had.
MRFS said on 5th March 2012, 22:14
Yum, the tribal design, that was bloody brilliant.
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1) said on 5th March 2012, 19:16
I like the car. I think I prefer the HRT livery, but this one is still good. It’s better than last year’s livery, with the little bit of white at the end of the nose.
sozavele (@formula-1) said on 5th March 2012, 19:22
Definitely agree with @jamiefranklinf1 In a way it looks like a montage of the Sauber and Caterham liveries. The Sauber as the front and Caterham rear. The front looks goodish, the side is a bit weird at the red is too pale, their first livery was the best.
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1) said on 5th March 2012, 19:28
Yeah I see what you mean there. It’s the bit on the engine cover that’s the same as Caterham.
I reckon they could have been a little more creative with the livery, but they’ve gone with this design for all of their cars across different series, so it’s not a surprise.
bearforce1 said on 6th March 2012, 9:10
I thought it was an orange colour. Like a wasp.
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka) said on 6th March 2012, 16:40
wasp? in f1? no.
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 6th March 2012, 9:26
The nose, for me, definitely improved from being red rather than big-white. The wasp suggestion appeals to me, the pointy nose helps give that image.
The team do seem to have stepwise gone from the interesting, though not to everyone’s taste, tribals to a more consistent but generic livery.
Hard to say anything else about the car, though I think the sidepods look smaller than last year (I think). Like HRT, I wish them success getting a good set-up for Melbourne and hope those two teams can have a good battle right to the end of the race, giving them some mileage and a finish to chalk up.
SempreGilles (@sempregilles) said on 5th March 2012, 19:20
Is it just me or are nosecones getting enormous?
oli said on 5th March 2012, 19:27
Caterham have left HRT and Masrussia for dead!! The MR01 looks like a GP2 car, and im pretty sure will be as quick as one, not F1 standards!!!!!
Mike (@mike) said on 5th March 2012, 20:50
Again how so?
1. What is F1 standards?
2. Based on??