It was sunny and hot with a tempering breeze Wednesday at Albert Park in Melbourne leading up to Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, the
F1 season opener.
There was activity in pit lane but not as frantic as I might have expected. In the F1 secure hospitality area the pace was low key and relaxed as the teams and guests sat in the sunshine eating, chatting and hanging out.
All eleven teams were mostly settled in their designated garages, and ten had their doors open working away.
Super Aguri had its doors shut, maintaining privacy before its Wednesday afternoon launch of its new car. The team joked that it was in stealth mode. As the time drew nigh, the crowd of Japanese photographers grew.
The new Super Aguri Honda SA07, unveiled by drivers TAKUMA SATO and ANTHONY DAVIDSON, is white and red. The car is the result of the past eight months work by Chief Designer PETER McCOOL and the Team Design Department collaborating with
Honda's R&D Centre in Japan. Winter testing validated some of the design concepts and reliability of Honda's new power-train. It also has a new gearbox.
Ferrari continues its practice of putting up red walls so there is no visibility into its garages.
Williams does this also. All the other teams have open garages.
Ferrari's garage is in your face red, but this year many of the team's shirts were white, with Shell logos. There are no tobacco graphics anywhere.
McLaren also changed its livery. It was the only team doing Pit Stop Practice late Wednesday afternoon, and the suited-up crew members were in all white fire suits with neon orange Vodafone logos.
