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Williams and Renault have unveiled their 2009 contenders at Portimao in Portugal today. While the Williams FW31 is painted in winter test livery, the Renault R29 is sporting a new paintjob and prominent Total branding with the front and rear wing end-plates.

Both cars show the new wide front wing and tall rear wing prescribed by the new 2009 regulations but as with the previous 2009 car launches each have their own unique approach. The Renault’s rear is quite different from any of the other 2009 cars and they have kept the ‘shark fin’ from last year.

The Williams’s front wing looks more sculpted than the Renault. Williams have also chosen to go down a different route with their KERS development. While most teams have opted for an electronic device, Williams are using a kinetic version.

I was starting to worry that Bernie Ecclestone hadn’t said anything controversial for a while but his surprise visit to ‘Wrooom’, Ferrari’s annual ski trip at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, last week provided ample opportunity.

He surprised everyone by showing up last Thursday wearing a bright red ski jacket, leading some to suggest he was trying to make up with Luca di Montezemolo who has been critical of the way Ecclestone has been running F1 and the amount of money the teams receive.

But when he was asked whether he would be meeting with the Ferrari president, Ecclestone replied:

I’ve no idea. It is not my intention.  To be honest it is a cheap weekend for me.

And as for his 50 percent share of Formula One’s commercial earnings he said :

Now that we have really managed to reduce the costs a lot, we will be able to pay them less money! They don’t need so much money.

He also used the opportunity to respond to Sir Jacki Stewart’s recent criticism in the Times:

Most times — and I am frightened about this — when people get older, they become a bit senile and he’s just caught it a bit early, that’s all.

McLaren became the third team to launch their 2009 car on Friday at their headquarters in Woking. Unveiled by world champion Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, the new MP4-24 bears little resemblance to its world championship-winning predecessor due to the introduction of a raft of new rules that have reshaped Formula 1 ahead of the 2009 season.

There have been a lot of comments during pre-season testing that the new regulations for 2009 will make for ugly looking cars and when I first saw the BMW I didn’t think it looked that pretty either. I think 2008’s MP4-23 was probably the best looking car in the paddock last year so I was a bit worried about what would come out of the factory at Woking on Friday. But I have to say with each new car launch the new look is growing on me. I like the clean lines and waspish waist the new cars have. The differently shaped sidepods look cool and the front and rear wings don’t seem so out of proportion any more. Sure, the front wings don’t have such sophisticated, curving surfaces any more but there is still scope for individuality and there is added complexity with the moveable elements.

At the launch of the MP4-24 everyone was saying how good it looked.

Ron Dennis:

At the same time you are trying to make a good looking car, that is a value we put high, if it looks good it goes good.

Lewis Hamilton:

This is the first time I’ve seen it fully put together and it looks beautiful. The team manages to always put together a stunning car and it’s great to see the final outcome of the work that has gone on.

There’s an old saying in motor racing that says a beautiful car often turns out to be a quick car. And all I can say is that I hope that’s right, because I reckon the MP4-24 looks simply sensational. Really beautiful, in fact.

Heikki Kovalainen:

I echo Lewis’ thought. It looks great. Whatever the regulation changes are the team have managed to make a beautiful car.

I agree. The McLaren MP4-24 is a beautiful car. It continues the attention to detail of its predecessor in little things like the surfaces round the air intake. The front wing looks nicely shaped and I like the long narrow nose.

Interestingly there seem to be buttons marked “KERS” and “MEDICAL” on the chassis next to the button for putting the car in neutral. I assume the KERS button will disable the KERS device but I don’t remember seeing a medical button before.  It could be that this is not a button but a medical warning light that signals that threshold forces have been exceeded. These labels seem much more subtle than the big “N” stickers on the Ferrari F60 and Toyota TF109 so it could be that standard labels will be applied after the launch.

With in-season track testing now prohibited, the MP4-24 will undergo an intensive winter programme at the following venues prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29:

Toyota has launched their 2009 challenger, the TF109, in an online launch today where Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina said the team was targeting its first win in 2009.

The team have been working on the TF109 since October 2007 developing the car in parallel with last year’s TF108. This is quite impressive as Toyota made signifcant improvements to last year’s car without compromising the development of the TF109. Still, Toyota had the biggest budget of all the teams in 2008 so I guess it’s not surprising they found the resources.

Senior general manager (chassis) Pascal Vasselon said that due to the regulation changes in 2009 that reduce the level of  downforce the emphasis for the 2009 car was stability:

We expect top speeds to be similar and sometimes even faster this year but there will be less downforce; this makes stability very important. We also expect the slick tyres to generate a different front and rear grip ratio which will affect stability so that is one of the primary goals for the TF109.

Toyota Preisdent John Howett  said the team had the “potiential” of using KERS. Although Toyota are developing a Kinetic Energy Recovery System the team have made the decision to start the season without it. It is still unclear how many teams will use KERS at Melbourne and how many will introduce it at a later date. While KERS will give a short boost of power that may help overtaking, the devices are complicated and add extra weight to the car.

Howett also said he was happy with his drivers saying that Jarno Trulli is still the quickest qualifier on the grid and “if we give him a good car he can deliver.”

Yes, Jarno is often quick in qualifying but we will see if can take the TF109 on to become more than just a rolling road block for the drivers behind him.

As Ferrari’s Director Stefano Domenicali has pointed out, the rules regarding replacement engines have changed for 2009. Whereas previously “Each driver may use no more than one engine for two consecutive Events in which his team competes. “, the new rules specify only a limit on the number of engines a team may using during the entire season and mention nothing about consective races. So, as James Allen notes, teams will be able to use their engines as they see fit this year. For example, they could make sure that the same engine is not used for those circuits that are hard on engines like Monza and Spa and even use a different engine in the race from the one they used for qualifying.

Specifically, the 2009 FIA F1 Sporting Regulations say:

28.4 a) Each driver may use no more than eight engines during a Championship season. Should a driver use more than eight engines he will drop ten places on the starting grid at any Event during which an additional engine is used.

Last year a driver could find himself at the back of the grid even though he set a fast time if he suffered an engine failure and while sometimes this provided the chance for overtaking other times it meant he was just stuck behind slower cars. Whether these new rules will make it better or worse remains to be seen. At least with the consecutive race rules the damage was limited to one race. In 2009 we may get the situation where a driver has used all his eight engines and is then faced with the prospect of being stuck permanently at the back of the grid for the rest of the season.

It will be interesting to see what strategies the teams come up with to exploit this change in the regulations.