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
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- 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
NickTheGeek said on 5th March 2012, 19:32
My gut response to the nose was 94/95 Benetton.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 5th March 2012, 20:31
Yeah, I had the same impression from seeing it in that loast picture
Solo (@solo) said on 6th March 2012, 16:07
The same
electrolite (@electrolite) said on 5th March 2012, 19:43
Truly Hideous.
But all the best, none the less.
BrawnGP (@brawngp) said on 5th March 2012, 20:04
Was shocked to see the car on F1.com first! F1 fanatic is usually much quicker than anywhere else.
I have to say its a sad day when a backmarker is better looking than every other car but 1 :-P
McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm) said on 5th March 2012, 20:29
I assume it meets the tech regs, but that front wing seems to be very high off the ground compared to all the other teams. I thought for best effect you want it as low to the ground as possible? I really don’t see a very bright future for them, at least for this season. It will take time for Symonds to really stamp his mark on the team.
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 22:34
@ mclarenfanjamm didnt Virgin start last season with a nose that was lower then the rest of the grid and I think around Turkey they actually raised it some what, so is its possible that its a 2011 spec wing for the launch and that the 2012 one will be with the car in Melbourne. I dont know that for sure, its pure speculation on my part.
S.J.M (@sjm) said on 5th March 2012, 22:35
@mclarenfanjamm
See above.
Spencer Ward (@sward28) said on 5th March 2012, 22:23
I’ve visited autosport and here for most of the day looking for pictures of both this car and the HRT and so far every time I’ve looked at the Marussia, I can’t help but saying “….damn……poor Timo Glock”. Car doesn’t look promising.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 5th March 2012, 23:41
@sward28 I fail to see how people can come to that conclusion to be honest. Aesthetics have no bearing on performance.
Spencer Ward (@sward28) said on 6th March 2012, 1:16
Fair enough, however just looking at it, especially from the side shot, it looks quite plain, not much development. On top of that they aren’t going to run KERS this year. Now I’m not a car designer so I have no clue, they could very well come out and blow the doors off the HRT or whoever is going to be their main competition.
I think I just expected a bit more out of them. Caterham is looking more and more like a quality F1 team with each passing year now and Marussia just hasn’t given me that feeling.
But who knows the season hasn’t even started yet so we will see.
Ant said on 5th March 2012, 22:25
I kinda like it!
I understand why, but I guess I wasn’t expecting the Virgin sponsorship to be so much smaller this year.
Meander (@meander) said on 5th March 2012, 22:33
The livery seems to remind me of an old Minardi, especially the diagonal lines, except the red was yellow. Late 80s/early 90s? There was perhaps some white in there as well. Maybe I’m mistaken.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 5th March 2012, 23:14
A decent livery. A little disappointed there’s no Marussia blue, but it’s certainly better than their last two attempts.
Looking forward to their battle with HRT and how they perform compared to their previous CFD approach with Nick Wirth.
Fisha695 (@fisha695) said on 6th March 2012, 0:56
The design of the livery reminds me of a mix of the Marlboro Penske Indycars/Marlboro McLaren F1 cars combined with the Lotus/Caterham livery design of last year & this year.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th March 2012, 1:31
I think a lot of people are going to support Marussia this year simply because they don’t have a bumpy nose.
Journeyer (@journeyer) said on 6th March 2012, 6:12
Not sure what happened to my comment, but I was saying that this looks like that OTHER Russian F1 team.
Anyone remember Midland?
Force Maikel (@force-maikel) said on 6th March 2012, 7:53
you got a good point there
racelitze (@racelitze) said on 6th March 2012, 8:03
What I dont understand: Why they didnt use their 2011 car to test the new tyers like mercedes did. I t would have given them valuable data
Gradient said on 6th March 2012, 8:34
Of course they did exactly that in Barcelona
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/02/23/maldonado-quickest-day-barcelona-test/
racelitze (@racelitze) said on 6th March 2012, 8:49
ah ok – thx a lot :)
nemo87 (@nemo87) said on 6th March 2012, 8:59
looks strange :\ more indy than f1 methinks but that could be the colour scheme.. the nose looks super long
F1 Omer said on 6th March 2012, 9:26
Is that a NACA duct on the right hand side (face on) on the top of the body just before the cockpit opening. The dark (non-shiny) triangle only appears in one of the photos as most of the photos are taken from the left hand side of the car. Can someone with better eysight give the photo a once over?
F1 Omer said on 6th March 2012, 10:13
No I am wrong the dark triangle is only a reflection of the air intake above the drivers head, it is not a duct.