We now know the presentation dates of all the Formula 1 teams: on January 31, Haas will reveal the colors in which GP veterans Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will take to the track.

Since one or the other fan beware: Wait a minute, the presentation of the new car at the end of January, but the only winter test only starts on February 23 in Bahrain – how is that supposed to work?

Quite simply: the Americans have decided on a so-called “livery launch”, so it is only indicated in which livery the racing cars will appear in 2023. The new VF-23 car, on the other hand, will probably only be view than on the Bahrain International Circuit.

This approach is in line with the trend, as recent years have shown.

As the new Formula 1 season approaches with vehicle presentations and winter testing, we should take a closer look. Because racing teams are reluctant to look at their maps.

The easiest way to do this is to just show the livery, on last year’s cars. Not only does Haas do it, but Williams will too, with the car of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant. And AlphaTauri will initially only feature a different paint finish.

When the first teams then show the real cars, it’s part of the business that the presentations don’t lie, but neither does the whole truth be told.

It’s quite common to snag old front fenders on the car because you don’t want to show the competition the new fowl until as late as possible. The same goes for the last part of the underbody which is so important from an aerodynamic point of view.

If really clever details are already to be discovered, they are simply not displayed – an Internet presentation is perfectly suited for this. Some solutions are covered or simply retouched on photos. A diffuser, the rising end of the underframe, is often covered with fabric.

Also much appreciated: the coloring of certain areas of the car in black, which engulfs the contours and makes it more difficult for prying eyes to recognize the true shape.

Either the vehicle presented is a so-called rendering, that is to say a graphic created on the computer, and not at all a racing car.

What irritated fans for years

The game of hide and seek continues on the test track: the unspeakable Spanish walls are used, and the cars are immediately hidden behind them each time they return to the pits. Not only to the chagrin of the journalists, but above all of all the fans who had bought a ticket for the main stand and who could not even look into the box.

This was not favorable to spectators, as new Formula 1 main shareholder Liberty Media also admitted – the privacy screen was banned in 2020.

Gary Anderson, long-time Formula 1 technician, criticizes: “I always found this monkey business completely ridiculous. If a team wants detailed photos of someone else’s car, they can get it. The Spanish walls were unnecessary.” Gary elegantly brings us to the next point.

Copying is part of the job

As a car rolls out of the pits onto the track, the cameras click staccato: not only for trade publications, but also for the competition – detailed digital images of opposing vehicles are available to the brightest minds in the works of Formula 1 in a very short time. Studying your opponents is as important as analyzing your own runner. Coping is part of the business.

Alfa Romeo strategist Ruth Buscombe previously worked as an engineer in Ferrari’s simulation department. The blonde shot to fame in Formula 1 circles when she filmed the Silver Arrow with a thermal camera from a gallery just above the Mercedes box during test drives in Abu Dhabi in 2014. Some staff members asked the lady to politely stop doing this.

A little older was something that played with the charms of women. A pretty girl entered the box and had herself photographed in various poses, much to the amusement of the race mechanics. What they did not suspect: the lens was not directed at the alleged model, but at details of the opposing racing car.

Today, the mechanics are a bit more suspect.

Formula 1 2023

presentations
January 31: Haas F1 on the web
February 3: Red Bull Racing in New York
February 6: Williams online
February 7: Alfa Romeo in Zurich
February 11: AlphaTauri in New York
February 13: McLaren at Woking
February 13: Aston Martin at Silverstone
February 14: Ferrari at Maranello
February 15: Mercedes at Silverstone
February 16: Alpine in London

winter trials
February 23-25: Bahrain International Circuit

Formula 1 World Championship Calendar
05.03. Bahrain GP, ​​Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
03/19 Saudi Arabia GP, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah
02.04. Australian GP, ​​Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne
04/30 Azerbaijan GP, ​​Baku City Circuit, Baku*
07.05. Miami GP, Miami International Autodrome, Miami
21/05 Emilia-Romagna GP, Autodrome Enzo and Dino Ferrari, Imola
05/28 Monaco GP, Circuit de Monaco, Monte-Carlo
04.06. Spanish GP, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
06/18 Canadian GP, ​​Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
02.07. Austrian GP, ​​Red Bull Ring, Spielberg*
09.07. British GP, Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
23.07. Hungarian GP, ​​Hungaroring, Budapest
30/07 Belgian GP, ​​Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, Spa*
27/08 Dutch GP, Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort
03.09. Italian GP, ​​Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza
09/17 Singapore GP, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
24/09 Japanese GP, Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka
08.10. Qatar GP, Losail International Circuit, Doha*
22.10. Austin GP, ​​Circuit of the Americas, Austin*
29.10. Mexican GP, ​​Autodromo Hermann Rodríguez, Mexico City
05.11. Brazilian GP, ​​Autodromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos*
18.11. Las Vegas GP, Las Vegas Street Circuit, Las Vegas
26/11 Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island

*Sprint format