That might be a bit harsh, but the ugly duckling of the Formula One paddock for 2013 is certainly going to be the new Caterham.
While many teams have have had a bit of cosmetic surgery [‘vanity panel’] to the broken nose design that was a wide spread epidemic in 2012, Caterham haven’t bothered.
In fact the whole car looks boxy, without the sleek curves on other cars.
Apparently they have adopted a McLaren-style exhaust, aimed to enhance downforce around the floor area of the car as well as the rear wheels and of course as one of the newbie teams it’s all about baby-steps trying to close the gap between themselves and the mid-pack teams.
‘We have made a number of significant changes to the car that takes it from the package that gained us 10th place in the 2012 championship in Brazil. Caterham Technical director Mark Smith said to the BBC.
‘Among the most obvious are around the lower chassis where the sidepods have been significantly undercut to improve airflow to the rear of the car.
‘The diffuser, engine cover and cooling exits have also seen major changes and there are more subtle improvements to other areas of the car, such as the sidepod turning vanes and the lower tea-tray area.
Caterham also unveiled that there would be new developments for the car which would be added during the early part of the new 2013 Formula One World Championship.
‘This is the package we will take to race one in Australia and as part of the 2013 upgrade program we will then bring new front and rear wings and a new diffuser soon after the start of the season.’
Caterham’s new CT03 will be driven by Charles Pic, who made the switch from Marussia at the end of last season and rookie Giedo van der Garde.
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