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Just three days before the launch of their 2012 car, Sauber have announced that technical director James Key is to leave the company. His role will instead be covered by the Swiss team's department heads for aerodynamics, design, performance and operations. Englishman Key joined Sauber from Force India midway through 2010, taking over from Sauber stalwart Willy Rampf

This time last year Narain Karthikeyan was looking ahead to a full season of Formula One competition with HRT. In the end he made eight Grand Prix starts. Now, after weeks of uncertainty, he is again relishing the prospect of racing for the Spanish team, having been confirmed as 2012 team mate to Pedro de la Rosa on Friday

With a new team mate in Nico Hulkenberg - and now, after its Friday launch, a new car - Force India's Paul di Resta is targeting a successful 2012. And first on Di Resta's agenda is to maintain the momentum which helped the team end last season so strongly. The Scot discusses the VJM05 and his hopes for the year ahead…

After excelling in the Williams in 2010, Nico Hulkenberg spent last year sitting on the bench as Force India's third driver. Now promoted to a 2012 race seat, Hulkenberg is impatient to restart his competitive Formula One career and get his first taste of the newly-launched VJM05…

They finished sixth in the 2011 standings and for 2012 Force India's target is fifth. The car they are hoping will take them there is the new VJM05. Following its launch and track debut at Silverstone on Friday, the man who has led its design, technical director Andrew Green, discusses its development and its prospects for the coming season

After spending the last few seasons playing catch-up to Red Bull and McLaren, Ferrari were under pressure to pull something special out of the bag for 2012. And after revolutionising the way they approach the design of their cars, the Italian team are certain the newly-launched F2012 is capable of returning them to their championship-winning heydays. The Scuderia endured a miserable 2011, winning just one race and finishing the year 275 points behind eventual champions Red Bull and 122 behind long-time rivals McLaren. After much reflection, Ferrari decided their recent disappointments had been largely caused by their too-conventional design approach and have opted to be much more aggressive this year.

Sharing the media spotlight with Ferrari, Force India unveiled their 2012 car in the pit lane at Silverstone on Friday morning. The team, who are based just down the road from the UK track, hope the VJM05 will prove quick enough to push them firmly into the midfield following their excellent progress in 2011, which saw them take sixth in the constructors' standings. “We have set our sights on challenging for fifth place,” explained team principal Dr Vijay Mallya. “To do so we will need to begin the new campaign by delivering the kind of form we showed in the second half of 2011. I believe this is a realistic goal and that we have the talent and determination to realise these ambitions.”

After being forced to cancel their planned launch ceremony due to snow, Ferrari presented their 2012 car to the world via the internet on Friday. The F2012 will make its testing debut at Jerez in Spain next week. As predicted, the Scuderia's new machine uses a stepped-nose design to meet new regulations on front chassis height and practically every area of the car has been fundamentally revised from its 2011 predecessor.

Narain Karthikeyan will partner Pedro de la Rosa in HRT's line-up for the 2012 season. Karthikeyan competed at the first eight 2011 Grands Prix for the Spanish team, before stepping aside for Red Bull protege Daniel Ricciardo, but made a one-off race return at his home Grand Prix in India in October. “It has taken a lot of hard work to make this happen but I am absolutely elated to feature on the 2012 grid with HRT F1 Team,” said the Chennai-born driver. “I was pleased with our strong performance at the Indian Grand Prix, in front of my passionate home fans and I look forward to building on this result in 2012. I have been training hard since the end of 2011, ensuring I was ready for the rigours of F1 if an opportunity arose.

Ferrari have opted to cancel the official unveiling of their 2012 car because of heavy snowfall in Maranello. The launch ceremony was due to take place in Italy on Friday morning.

Wednesday's launch may have been our first opportunity to glimpse the new McLaren, but it was also the first time either of the British team's drivers had properly laid eyes on the brand-new MP4-27. After ripping the wraps off their shiny new charge, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton revealed their first impressions, looked ahead to next week's debut test and explained why they couldn't wait to get back behind the wheel after a winter of relaxation…

McLaren's technical director Paddy Lowe and director of engineering Tim Goss discuss the gestation of the team's newly-launched MP4-27 machine… Q: After a successful 2011 season, what were your main aims with the development of the MP4-27? Paddy Lowe: Our main objectives for the 2012 season were to optimise downforce despite the changes to the blown floor

McLaren have become the first front-running team to reveal their 2012 challenger after the wraps came off the new MP4-27 at the team's UK factory in Woking. With it, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton hope to land McLaren their first constructors' crown since 1998. Unlike the 2012 Caterham launched last week, McLaren have avoided a stepped-nose design by making the whole front end of the chassis lower. “This is a beautiful car,” commented Button

Over the last few days, Ferrari's driver line-up have been sweating away at a special fitness camp in the Canary Islands. Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Ferrari young drivers Jules Bianchi and Davide Rigon were all in attendance at the camp, which was held on the island of Lanzarote. As well as working out at the gym, the four drivers tackled a variety of activities including mountain biking, football, tennis and canoeing.

Williams will unveil their 2012 car, the FW34, at the first pre-season test. The four-day session will get underway at Spain's Jerez circuit on February 7. The British team endured their worst-ever campaign in 2011, scoring just five points and finishing ninth in the standings. They are targeting a return to form this year with a new engine, courtesy of Renault, and a revised technical team.

Caterham were first out of the blocks last week with their CT01, but this week the 2012 launch season begins in earnest, with McLaren, Ferrari and Force India all set to take the wraps off their new machines. McLaren will unveil the MP4-27 at their Woking base on Wednesday, while Friday will see Ferrari reveal their new challenger at Fiorano and Force India do the same at Silverstone. Lotus, Sauber, Toro Rosso and Red Bull will also launch their cars before the first pre-season test gets underway at Jerez in Spain next Tuesday (February 7).

Starting a new naming system for their cars, Lotus (formerly Renault) have announced that their 2012 machine will be called the E20, commemorating the 20th chassis to be designed at their Enstone factory in the UK. Enstone has been a Formula One team base since 1992, when Benetton moved there from their previous Oxfordshire facility

Force India have signed 2011 Ferrari tester Jules Bianchi as their 2012 reserve driver. The 22-year-old Frenchman, a former F3 Euro champion, will participate in at least nine Friday practice sessions for the team this year

Running a team with a record of success like McLaren's is no picnic. After a difficult season there is no place to hide, so it helps to be someone who considers the glass half full rather than half empty. Luckily for McLaren, team principal Martin Whitmarsh is a born optimist. Six victories in 2011 was good, but he wants more in 2012. Ahead of next week's launch of the new MP4-27, Whitmarsh speaks exclusively to Formula1.com

Caterham boss Tony Fernandes has admitted he will be a happy man if his team can score their first world championship point this season, after their new CT01 challenger was officially revealed to the public on Thursday. Caterham's best 2011 race placing was 13th, a result they achieved in Australia, Monaco and Italy, but with the addition of KERS just one of several factors set to lift their performance in 2012