F1 2013 winter testing & car launch dates

Car launches
McLaren - January 31st
Force India - February 1st
Ferrari - February 1st
Sauber - February 2nd
Red Bull, February 3rd
Mercedes, February 4th
Toro Rosso, February 4th
Caterham - TBC
Lotus - TBC
Marussia - TBC
Williams -TBC

Test Dates
Circuito de Jerez - February 5th-8th
Circuit de Catalunya - February 19th-22nd
Circuit de Catalunya 2 - February 28th-March 3rd

Sponsored video - Johnnie Walker and F1™ drivers

Johnnie Walker have been seriously involved in F1 since 2005 with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.
Initially the involvement was to promote drinking awareness, however since 2010 the motto has been "Step Inside the Circuit.

Johnnie Walker, along with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team reveal what it's like behind the scenes during the F1 season. The aim of the campaign is to grow the Johnnie Walker brand, by the end of December 2010 Johnnie Walker sales had increased by 11%.

For most major race weekends, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson button host the "Step Inside the Circuit" series, to give the fans a real impression of what it's like when living the life of an F1 driver.

Aswell as "Step Inside the Circuit", Johnnie Walker also give a chance for the fans to get involved. At the Johnnie Walker Racing website, there's a section named "Face to Face" where Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button answer your questions. The aim is to get the fans as close to the sport as possible.



 "Step Inside the Circuit" remains the main campaign and motto, though. In the video above Lewis and Jenson explain what it's like to experience the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore.

"Step Inside" is shown on their YouTube channel, with spin offs such as "Step Inside Jenson Button's life on the Circuit", and a popular hit "Witness the world's most powerful signature".

If you're wanting to watch the whole "Step Inside" series, there's an introduction which was released at the start of the 2011 season.

Johnnie Walker still, however promote responsible drinking messages and have used individuals such as Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton to get the message across.

"Step Inside the Circuit" continues and we should see some more episodes before the season finale.

This post has been sponsored by Johnnie Walker

Silverstone weekend pictures

You can find the full set of pictures HERE, but here's a few select ones that came out pretty well.

Sponsored video: British Grand Prix preview

It's hard to believe we're at mid season already, with seven winners out of eight races it really feels as if every race is a season opener, but what can we expect at the mid point of the season as we head towards a British Summer, it's time for the British Grand Prix to kick things off.

As always, we can expect massive support for the British drivers, another sell out this year and another reason why Silverstone is a dead certainty on the calendar every single year. I'll be attending as I'm sure many of you will be too (enjoy it), so let's hope we'll see a cracking race.

Currently, Fernando Alonso's in the driving seat for the championship, with a little step up in performance then he could easily be controlling this championship in a few rounds time, 20 points clear of Mark Webber, who isn't even classed as a title contender; you'd have to go back to Lewis Hamilton, 23 points behind to find the next tipped contender.

What can we expect this weekend? Well, the pace of Sebastian Vettel in the early stages of the European Grand Prix was very, very ominous. If they carry the advantage through to this race and have the temperature on their side then unfortunately we could see the first snoozefest of the season, if it's cold, watch out for Mercedes.

This post has been sponsored by DHL - Official logistics partner of Formula 1

A lot goes on behind the scenes of Formula 1, but there'd be no racing at all if it wasn't for logistics. DHL Express are the official logistics partner of Formula 1, cars, engines and fuel are all transported around the world with speed and efficiency.

It's not just the teams that benefit from DHL's help, we wouldn't be able to view the sport without them either, they provide TV equipment to every round of the Formula 1 world championship, making sure we get to see the sport we love week in, week out, there's a little thought for you if you see a DHL van this weekend at Silverstone!

For European rounds of the championship, teams equipment is transported by road, all of the teams equipment for the weekend will be transported in these and delivered to the circuit.
For non-European rounds, equipment is flown out in specially made crates, the same equipment that is normally transported in lorries are flown out on transport planes, where they are then delivered to the circuit.

DHL also provide a 24 hour service to all of the teams, providing any spare parts that may be urgently needed, often when you hear of an upgrade being flown out overnight, they're most likely delivered directly to the team's motorhome by DHL Express.

Stats : 

30 Tonnes of cargo for each team delivered to each race venue by DHL Express
Cars transported 137,000 kilometers each Formula 1 season
28,600 Pirelli tyres transported throughout an entire season

Monaco weather

After a dry/wet day on Thursday, more rain is expected.

Forecasted overnight torrential rain could make the track very green for Saturday.

Free Practice 3 - Small chance of light scattered showers, similar to those in FP2.
Qualifying - Higher chance of heavier showers could interfere with the session, although it looks likely the rain might hold off.

Race - A very cloudy day expected for Sunday, with outbreaks of rain expected during the race. With torrential rain forecast for Saturday night and light to moderate rain in the morning, the track could well be very wet for support races. A damp start may affect the F1 race, but it's unlikely it will be enough rain to get in the way of the racing.

Monaco preview

What to expect from Monaco? Chaos

Seven drivers can leave this race with the championship lead, it could easily be six winners from six races; it's going to be wide open.

Based on the start of the season, you would say there are six teams who can get the victory here, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, Williams and Lotus who have shown race winning pace in almost every race.

While Lotus and McLaren have played down their chances for this race, claiming their cars aren't suited to the tight and twisty nature of the Monte Carlo circuit, I'm still making them the favourites for the victory.
I'm fully expecting a Hamilton and Raikkonen fight, with the possibility of Maldonado, Alonso or Webber getting in the mix.

Predictions - Qualifying

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Webber

Race

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Button

Not safe to predict outside the top three, I'm sure my predictions will be completely wrong based on the start of the season.


Alex
Alex@CooperF1.co.uk

What we know from Melbourne

McLaren - In a very good position, the car's good in a straight line and has a downforce advantage over the Red Bull, they're in a good position to fight for the title.

Red Bull - Need to work on qualifying pace, not far off in the race but may struggle at tracks where downforce is needed, compared to the McLaren.

Ferrari - Will struggle even more at Malaysia, just doesn't have the rear downforce of the McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes or Lotus, Williams and Sauber will be right on them I'd expect.

Lotus - Can fight Red Bull if they hook everything up, a good qualifying at Malaysia could well mean a podium finish.

Sauber - Not far off Lotus, a great job by Perez after starting last shows that the car is there or there abouts, we'll have a better idea of their pace at Sepang.

Williams - Nip and tuck with Ferrari, would expect them to be fighting for 7th and 8th at Malaysia.

Toro Rosso - Should be fighting Sauber

Force India - Might just sneak ahead of Williams and Ferrari in the hands of Nico Hulkenberg.

Mercedes - A good qualifying car with the "super DRS" but it's eating its rear tyres, the harder compounds at Malaysia may favour them, but they've got work to do if they want to challenge for wins.

Catherham - A bit of a push and they could be closer to the midfield, but the gap between the midfield teams means its unlikely Caterham will luck into a point.

Marussia - A solid base, but not expecting them to challenge Caterham.

HRT - Hopeless.