The snow may have prevented Ferrari from taking to the track with their new 2012 challenger, but they still managed to get the car outside for a but of PR work. Earlier today, the Prancing Horse held an online event to reveal their new car to the world, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa posing with team boss Stefano Domenicali.

This article "In Pictures - Ferrari Launch the F2012" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Ferrari launched their new challenger, the F2012, online this morning, and features the stepped nose that could be the standard design for many cars this season.

But, how does it compare to last season's car? Here's some pictures to highlight the differences!

This article "Picture Comparison - Ferrari 150 Italia to Ferrari F2012" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Sahara Force India's latest challenger has been unveiled to a host of freezing journalists at Silverstone - here's a gallery of stunning HD images of their VJM05-Mercedes, with race drivers Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, and reserve driver Jules Bianchi.

This article "In Pictures - The New Force India F1 Car" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Force India launched their new car, the VJM05, early doors at Silverstone this morning. The British based Indian team took the covers off their fifth F1 car with drivers Paul Di Resta, the returning Nico Hulkenberg, and new recruit Jules Bianchi, who joins as Friday test driver.

Vijay Mallya's squad finished in their best ever position of 6th in the constructor's championship in 2011, and are looking to continue their rise up the ranks.

This article "The new Force to be reckoned with?" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Here is the new Ferrari for 2012 - apptly named the F2012 -launched this morning on the Italian marque's website. The Prancing Horse have had to delay the first running on track of the car thanks to a heavy layer of snow at Fiorano.

Ferrari are looking to improve greatly on last season's showing, which only yielded one win for Fernando Alonso, at the British Grand Prix. Both the Spaniard at Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa will be hoping that the new design will be a revival of fortunes after being soundly beaten by both Red Bull and McLaren in 2011.

This article "It's Red at least! The 2012 Ferrari F1 Car - The F2012" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Hispania announced the re-signing of Narain Karthikeyan for their second seat this morning - ending speculation on who would fill the final vacancy on the 2012 grid.

The 35-year-old Indian racer, who raced for the Spanish outfit last season for half the year and was brought back for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, will partner 40-year-old Pedro De La Rosa to make HRT's line-up the oldest line up this year.

In fact, it'll be a whopping 76 years old (combined) by the time the lights go out in Melbourne!

Narain in for Hispania in 2010

This article "Narain Karthikeyan completes the F1 grid for 2012" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Podium or Pits is Badger's weekly guide to what's hot and what's not in Formula One. Stay tuned for Toro Rosso madness, a brief diversion into teamwear, shiny pictures, Tamara and a video from Lotus...

We like anyone this barmy - Some absolutely cracking quotes from Giorgio Ascanelli, the Toro Rosso Technical Director. Now, we're not sure quite what he's going on about, but it seems like he knows what he's talking about.

He told Autosport: "When a man with a rifle meets a man with a pistol, the man with the pistol is a dead man. Unless the man with the rifle is blind."

Well, quite apart from the advisability of a blind man wielding a rifle, we think he's saying that he's the man with the pistol and that he needs to find technological advantages his rivals can't see. Maybe.

Teamwear - Time for a confession - this incarnation of POP has never bought any item of F1 teamwear. Football shirts, yes - F1 replica shirts, no.

This is really just an entry to call the whole thing a scam. The items are made in Asia for about 10p a pop, sold over here for £25 and it's the fans who get screwed every time. It's a mugs game.

These McLaren hats for instance look almost exactly the same as last year's. Nice, BUT EXACTLY THE SAME.

Ooooh, pictures - There is a modern obsession with looking at things through a lens. Concerts and sporting events are now often ruined by people weilding mobile phones, digital cameras and god knows what else. Because of course what you want when you get home is a wobbly, out of focus picture or a video with with terrible sound.

However, there are people who do it for a living, without blocking the views of fans who've paid for a ticket (yes, this is a sore spot for POP). So go to the Collyer Bristow Gallery in London from 6-16 February 2012 to see Darren Heath's F1 photography.

Tamara Ecclestone. The Daily Mail. You know the score - who do we believe here?

And now for something a little different - We'll let the video speak for itself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This article "Podium or Pits? It's Grand Prix POP!" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Geoff Collins presents an insight into what goes into the launch of a Formula 1 car, with exclusive coverage of how the 2011 Marussia Virgin car launch came together

The photo studio awaits the MVR-02 in 2011

We're well into launch season now, and perhaps one thing that gets overlooked at this time of year is what goes into the launch of an F1 car.

First of all, we must remember that time is short in F1. And things like launches get in the way of the serious stuff like designing, building and running racing cars. Launches are important of course; they give the team an opportunity of showing off new liveries and sponsors, but at the same time it's best not to give away any secrets. Nick Wirth, previously technical director at (Marussia) Virgin Racing, was insistent that nobody should be allowed to photograph the rear of the car - where the all-important diffuser is to be found.

Different ways to launch

Teams take different approaches when it comes to launches. In the 1990s things started to get out of hand, with Bentton famously driving an F1 car to a Sicilian amphitheatre at one stage. With the entrance of the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) things looked to be coming back under control, with the concept of all teams launch their 2010 challengers at a single venue. But of course that didn't happen...

So far this year, we've had a launch via a magazine; with Caterham launching in the latest edition of F1 Racing. Predictably, the photos were leaked before publication, but if you're a team looking for publicity, that's not necessarily a bad thing. As Oscar Wilde so wisely pointed out, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

Incidentally, that launch is potentially one of the cleverest I've seen. Do we know for sure that it was a real car? Show cars look pretty good these days, and can be painted while the real things are being put together. And of course, there's nobody around to take sneaky photos of the diffuser or exhausts...

McLaren's launch today was more traditional, with the benefit of live coverage on the web if you could get it. I couldn't, but then as we discovered during the 2010 Virgin VR-01 launch internet-based launch, these things don't always go to plan - especially if there is a lot of interest from the public. There usually is.

But back to what goes into a launch. Along with generating column inches (and preferably minutes on screen) one of the basic goals is to get a set of photos for use throughout the year, both of the car and important team members in their new season kit. Add a series of standard quotes and you're well on your way to a standard press kit, which can be used both for guests and as the background for sales presentations.

Preparing to launch

You might think that taking a few photos of a car and key team members is a fairly quick process, but it's not. Last year, Marussia Virgin Racing launched their 2011 car at the BBC studios in London around 11 am if memory serves. Six hours earlier and the car, at that point the only MVR-02 that had been built, was still in a photo studio in Leighton Buzzard - where it had been since about 11pm the night before.

Six hours of photographs had been planned, and then it'd be time for the car to be rushed to London, ready to be installed under wraps in the studio before the guests start to arrive. A quick rehearsal, and then show time.

Even getting to the studio is not a straightforward job. F1 teams are always trying to do as much as possible to the cars in the time available. If you plan slack time into your schedule, you're simply not trying hard enough. That's why launch dates aren't published months in advance - unless the team has a very good backup plan.

The MVR-02 was due to leave for testing in Spain straight after the launch. Less than 48 hours after the launch, the car would be on track at Jerez. And we all know how much work goes into getting an F1 car ready before it goes out onto the circuit. Cutting it fine is what it's all about in F1.

A lot of the work had been done at the factory of course. But putting a car together for the first time means that some things don't fit quite perfectly and have to be adapted - so the car was only able to leave for the photo session late on Sunday night. Meanwhile, the team had been made-up, interviewed and shot (with a camera) from all sides, after the right sized shirts had been found and handed out.

Timo has make-up applied in the dressing room

Once the car finally arrived, towed behind a Range Rover on a trailer that you are more likely to see at a 750MC club event than an F1 meeting, the team managers sprang into action. It's cold in February at night in a photo studio, and the warming affect of the pizza delivery has long since worn off. A bit of physical work is a good thing.

Enter the MVR-02. Assisted by Management

Glad to have something to do, the car was pushed into place in the large studio: the one with the high ceiling and the seamless floor to ceiling wall. Adjusting lighting is the most time-consuming aspect; the photographer wants to eliminate every spot of glare from the glossy bodywork. The management and drivers are photographed with the car first, so that they can leave and arrive fresh at the BBC the following morning.

Management and Drivers on Photo Shoot Duty

After the management have left, the car is shot from both sides, front, front three-quarter and rear. The car is very carefully lit for that last one, which will probably never get out to the public anyway. And then it's photographed from above. Once the photographer is happy, it's time to head to London for the launch. The PR team will have about an hour at the hotel if they're lucky, but adrenalin is powerful stuff when there's a job to be done.

Launching at the BBC

Once at the BBC there's a lot going on. Journalists are setting up in the temporary media centre, and guests are receiving breakfast. We've tried to get as many fans as possible in to the launch as well, and they meet up in a separate canteen. With twenty minutes to go it's time to get everyone into place. At times it feels like herding kittens. Then suddenly, everyone is in place and Crofty, MC for the day, comes on and does his stuff, and all too soon it's over.

John Booth answers questions from the fans

Management and drivers take time to talk to the fans, who finally get to see the car. Journalists post their pieces and guests sip champagne in the lounge. Meanwhile, video is being edited, ready to be seen later on Youtube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Packing Up

After launch, the mechanics begin to strip the MVR-02 down so that it can be transported to Jerez. The floor of a BBC studio really isn't that different to the floor of a Silverstone garage, so the guys make light work of it.

The car is prepared for travel

Once the website has been updated, Press releases published, and the video has been edited, it's back to the office as the WiFi isn't up to the job of uploading the video. Finally, about 36 hours after starting, the launch can be considered over. It's time for a drink. And sleep.

This article "Launch Control" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

Following the launch of the new McLaren MP4-27A F1 car this morning, you can enjoy a technical Q&A with the team and hear what Jenson and Lewis had to say about the car and the new season too.    To celebrate the launch of the new car, here's a photo-special detailing the new car in all it's glory.

The McLaren Boy Band? Nope, that's Gary Paffett, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Oliver Turvey

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27

MP4-27A Front View

MP4-27A Overview

MP4-27 Overhead

This article "In Pictures - The 2012 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine

McLaren's latest Formula 1 challenger was launched on a very cold day in Woking. The design, intended to stop Red Bull's recent dominance of the sport, is certainly more attractive than many were expecting. Earlier this week, the team were quoted in Autosport as having come up with a radical design that may see their rivals question its legality - it's really good to see a team being aggressive with their design work (or at least with the exhausts!).  No 'duck' nose either - phew!

© OctanePhotos.co.uk

So, here it is, the MP4-27A

© OctanePhotos.co.uk

Read about what Jenson and Lewis think of the car and 2012 - read more....

Read about the technical developments and challenges in the Q&A here - read more...

© McLaren Media 2012

"As you can see this is a beautiful car – many of them will not be! So that is important to me." - Jenson Button

"Felipe will be pleased with the new wing mirrors - helps us to see better" - Lewis Hamilton

This article "It's shiny! The Launch of New 2012 McLaren F1 Car MP4-27" originally found on Badger GP - The F1 Webzine