The 2010 winter testing returns with the first day of action in Jerez. The seven teams that tested last week in Valencia will be joined by Red Bull (official launch later today), Force India and first of the new teams ready to test – Virgin Racing. The drivers in action today were:

Mercedes GP – Rosberg
Red Bull – Webber
Mclaren – Button
Ferrari – Alonso
BMW Sauber – Kobayashi
Williams – Hulkenberg
Renault – Petrov
Force India – Liuzzi
Toro Rosso – Buemi
Virgin Racing – Glock

Updates and images from the first day of testing in Jerez to follow.

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The images of new Force India car – the VJM-03 have been made available by the team ahead of the official launch later today. Here is the set of studio images of 2010 Force India F1 car:

Force India VJM-03

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Virgin Racing released the official video from their Silverstone shakedown. Here it is:

Mercedes GP Signs Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld has been finally confirmed by Mercedes GP as their Reserve Race Driver and Test Driver for the 2010 Formula One season.

“I am very pleased to be joining the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team. It’s the team which has attracted the most interest in the close season, not only because of the comeback of Michael Schumacher, but also because this season sees the return of the Silver Arrows cars as a Mercedes-Benz works team for the first time in over fifty years. Whilst I would of course have preferred a seat as an active driver, I am really proud to be part of the new Silver Arrows team. I have seen how committed everyone at the team is and I feel the same. I will be doing my very best to support Michael and Nico this year.”

Heidfeld may be pleased to join the defending champions but his statement does not hide the main reason behind his choice – the failure to secure a race drive for 2010 season… It will be interesting to see if he will get a chance to test the MGP W01 during the remaining winter test sessions.

Michael Schumacher new 2010 merchandise seems to be available now. There is not much on offer yet. It looks like the initial Mercedes GP themed Schumacher collection comprises of new silver/red “Deutschen Vermögensberatung” cap (this cap seems to have been replaced by all silver one now), Michael Schumacher T-Shirt No3, White “Race” T-Shirt and two Mercedes GP items – black cap and white T-shirt.

Michael Schumacher and his silver/red cap

Update:
Die cast models of Schumacher’s 2010 F1 car – the Mercedes GP W01 are now also available for pre-order with delivery expected later this year. Follow the links below for more details:

1:43 Minichamps Mercedes GP Showcar 2010 Michael Schumacher
1:18 Minichamps Mercedes GP Showcar 2010 Michael Schumacher

Virgin Racing VR-01

Virgin racing has become the first of the new teams to launch the car. The plan was to do a virtual launch on the team’s website but at the end after more than an hour of waiting all we got is the image of the car.

The Cosworth powered VR-01 is the first F1 car designed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) only, with no time in the wind tunnel. Virgin Racing will shake the car down tomorrow and on Friday at Silverstone before heading to Jerez for the official test next week.

VR-01 Virgin Racing

VR-01 Virgin Racing

VR-01 Virgin Racing

VR-01 Virgin Racing

Car details:

Construction – Virgin Racing carbon fibre construction monocoque and nosebox
Fuel capacity – In excess of 200 litres
Dimensions:
Overall Length – Approx 5,500 mm
Overall Height – Approx 950 mm
Overall Width – Approx 1,800 mm
Wheelbase – Approx 3,200 mm
Engine – Cosworth CA2010, 4 stroke reciprocating piston, normally aspirated, 8 cylinders in banked V configuration with an angle of 90 degrees, 2,400cc

1:43 scale die cast model of Timo Glock’s Virgin Racing VR-01 from Minichamps is now available for pre-order – click here for details

Photos: Virgin Racing

Today is the last day of the first 2010 pre-season test in Valencia. Michael Schumacher and Pedro de la Rosa will be back for Mecedes GP and BMW Sauber. Then there are the debuts – Jenson Button for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Fernando Alonso for Ferrari and Vitaly Petrov for Renault. Nico Hulkenberg has tested for Williams before but this will be his first proper test as the teams test driver. Jamie Alguersuari may have spent half of the 2009 racing for Toro Rosso but today will be his first ever F1 test … Updates and images from today’s action in Valencia will appear here as the session progresses.

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Nico Rosberg is scheduled to test for Mercedes GP on day 2

The Valencia testing continues with day 2. The test session begins at 10am local time. Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Robert Kubica and Sebastien Buemi continue for the second day in a row. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Kamui Kobayashi (BMW Sauber) are making their 2010 testing debuts today. Stay tuned for updates and images as the session progresses.

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The time flies. It is now only 40 days to the start of 2010 Bahrain GP. In the last 10 days some vacancies were filled, new cars and new liveries introduced, doubts about future of some teams increased and more. Here is the overview where the F1 stands with 40 days to go.

The car launch season started with Mercedes although their big launch was only a presentation of their new siver livery painted on the 2009 Brawn GP car. Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber and Renault followed. There is significant lack of sponsor logos on both BMW Sauber and Renault liveries …

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2010 McLaren merchandise now available

The 2010 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton merchandise is now available. Here is a look at the initial collection that includes among other items:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Cap 2010

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Toro Rosso STR5

The winter testing has finally begun. Early today Mercedes GP and Scuderia Toro Rosso unveiled their new cars – MGP W01 and STR5. Then at 10am local time the first on track action of 2010 F1 year started.

Mercedes GP (Rosberg morning, Schumacher afternoon), McLaren (Paffet), Ferrari (Massa), Renault (Kubica), Barrichello (Williams), Buemi (Toro Rosso) and de la Rosa (BMW Sauber) are scheduled to run today.

Here are the morning times:

1. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:13.’088
2. Pedro De la Rosa – Sauber – 1:13.247 +0.159
3. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes GP – 1:13.543 +0.455
4. Gary Paffet – McLaren – 1:14.018 +0.930
5. Rubens Barrichello – Williams – 1:14.449 +1.361
6. Robert Kubica – Renault – 1:15.298 +2.210
7. Sebastian Buemi – Toro Rosso – 1:19.279 + 6.191
8. Michael Schumacher – Mercedes GP – no time, no laps

Felipe Massa ended the day with the fastest time, about 2 tenths faster than time recorded by Pedro de la Rosa in Sauber. Michael Schumacher took the Mercedes car over from Nico Rosberg in the afternoon. He finished the day one of testing with third fastest time, 6 tenths faster than his team mate. Sebastien Buemi improved at the very end of the session and relegated Robert Kubica to the bottom of the time sheets. Here are the times at the end of the day 1:

1. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:12.574 – 102 laps
2. Pedro De la Rosa – Sauber – 1:12.784 +0.210 – 74 laps
3. Michael Schumacher – Mercedes GP – 1:12.947 +0.373 – 40 laps
4. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes GP – 1:13.543 +0.969 – 39 laps
5. Gary Paffet – McLaren – 1:13.846 +1.272 – 86 laps
6. Rubens Barrichello – Williams – 1:14.449 +1.875 – 75 laps
7. Sebastian Buemi – Toro Rosso – 1:14.762 +2.188 – 18 laps
8. Robert Kubica – Renault – 1:15.000 +2.426 – 69 laps

Scroll down for photos from the first day of 2010 F1 winter testing:

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2010 Renault F1 Car

The Renault F1 team took the wraps off its 2010 car in Valencia today. The R30 sports great black and yellow livery – a return to colour scheme Renault used in late seventies. There does not seem to be too much sponsor presence on the car other than Total and TW Steel.

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