Marussia MR02 Cosworth

[Gridlock]

They were at pains to hide the bottom of the FW from TV on Sky - other than simply being a good principle to hide your tech, I did wonder why. Maybe because Symonds is around

[Petroltorque]

I think the answer to Marussia's improvement is chassis balance. Symonds has engineered a car that manages tyre wear front to rear and provides a wide adjustment on setup. If the balance is right any improvement in downforce, no matter how small, will translate into lap time improvement. They are only half a second off Q2 qualification.
Just goes to show what can happen if one appoints a Tech Director who knows what he's doing.

[CottrellGP]

Im so happy Marussia have actually got a Tech Director that knows what he is doing, its what they need to push up the field, i heard that Marussia or Caterham are still running the same chassis as from 2010? Can anyone confirm this?

[wesley123]

I think that by taking a look at the cars you can see that that is bogus

[Huntresa]

They could be using 2012 chassis since those cars looked pretty much the same but hardly 2010 especially not for Marussia since that car was made with only cfd.

[Polarbear]

Marussia have a new chassis for this year, as they had to design to fit KERS in the car.

Caterham are using their 2012 chassis for the first 4 races, and apprently have an almost B-spec car for Barcelona.

[LotusF1]

Marussia have a new chassis for this year, as they had to design to fit KERS in the car.

Caterham are using their 2012 chassis for the first 4 races, and apprently have an almost B-spec car for Barcelona.

is caterham getting a new chassis as well? i thought a massive aero package only. marussia will still be hard to beat. they seem to be flying to be honest.

[Petroltorque]

Marussia have a new chassis for this year, as they had to design to fit KERS in the car.

Caterham are using their 2012 chassis for the first 4 races, and apprently have an almost B-spec car for Barcelona.

is caterham getting a new chassis as well? i thought a massive aero package only. marussia will still be hard to beat. they seem to be flying to be honest.

I think all teams will have a 'new' chassis each year. What tends to carry over is tub design. The lesser funded teams tend to use the same tub design albeit, a new build every season. What's separating Marussia from Caterham is the quality of their ( Marussia's) chassis.
I seriously hope these guys secure a Merc powertrain deal for next year. The technology deal with McLaren would favour this, in addition the Macca deal lapses ater 1 year leaving an open slot. A deal with Maranello is just not worth it, even if Bianchi may be a graduate of the Ferrari driver academy.

[350matt]

thing is the marenello engine option is probably going to be a fair bit cheaper than a merc deal and they're going to need every penny they can get as their current budget of 40 mil won't stertch to the 18 mil thats touted for a merc engine deal

[Anon123]

thing is the marenello engine option is probably going to be a fair bit cheaper than a merc deal and they're going to need every penny they can get as their current budget of 40 mil won't stertch to the 18 mil thats touted for a merc engine deal

If they think the Merc engine will be much better than the alternatives though they will see a good chance of scoring regular points in 2014 which could be very beneficial in terms of prize money and sponsorship.

[turbof1]

thing is the marenello engine option is probably going to be a fair bit cheaper than a merc deal and they're going to need every penny they can get as their current budget of 40 mil won't stertch to the 18 mil thats touted for a merc engine deal

If they think the Merc engine will be much better than the alternatives though they will see a good chance of scoring regular points in 2014 which could be very beneficial in terms of prize money and sponsorship.

It is not as simple as that. First of all: would Marussia get specific numbers from both Ferrari and Mercedes to compare? Probably they'll get some info to judge, but it'll likely stay a big question which one is better. Furthermore, and much more important, there is the big question if engine manufacturers are allowed to develop their engines inbetween seasons. You do not sign an engine deal for just a single year, but for multiple years. So the cheaper engine could have a disadvantage the first year, but the next season they could have erased the difference or even surpassed the better one. Whatever the case might be, engine builders are, even if an engine freeze is in place, allowed to improve performance if they have a disadvantage on that front. Both Renault and Honda (slight increase in engine power) and Ferrari (reliability improvement) were allowed to do so in the past. That is important to know when looking at the price.

[stefan_]

China 2013 - Thursday (11.04.2013)

[Forza]

China GP - Friday - 12/04/2013

[Gridlock]

Both cars now running 'FRIC' according to Mr Kravitz, during FP1.

[Rushman]

Marussia pace in the race in Malaysia was on average about 0.8 seconds per lap gap (for Bianchi) from the nearest team to them - Williams. Who would have thought of such a situation on the tests?
It's not so much, but not so little for such a small team like Marussia. I hope that they will still be a fight though Williams and Toro Rosso to the middle of the season. Because, after the middle of the season they have to be active on the car for 2014.

Both cars now running 'FRIC' according to Mr Kravitz, during FP1.

Pat Symonds told Sky Sports on a system that 'FRIC' team have been working for about three years. But he was engaged in the development of this promising back in '81 in the team Renault.

Question: Now a lot of talk about new systems FRIC «Interacting system front and rear suspension», first of all, because the team Mercedes managed to further other advance in its development. Such systems belong to the category of technical secrets, or they are engaged in almost all commands

Pat Symonds: of Course, all of them are engaged in. I often say that, in my opinion, in the Formula 1 too many secrets, and we did not discuss questions of technology. FRIC - this is a system, a special way of connecting the front and rear suspension, and in the idea, of course, is nothing new. The historical fact is, these developments we were still in 1981, but without much success. Of course, the current generation of the system is different from that at one time used Renault. And now even this small team, as Marussia, for three years already engaged in such developments. They are not so difficult, but very interesting.

By the way, John Booth said of the upgrades that they will have new suspension parts, air ducts and updated front and rear brakes.

We will be running some new suspension parts that we proved out in testing but delayed until we had some further race distance experience with the MR02. We also have some new front and rear brake ducts.