The Maserati 250F was the perfect racing machine in 1954 and still is | Richard Williams

The Guardian

McLaren and Ferrari launch their 2014 models next week, 60 years after the most beautiful grand prix machine of all time made its debut with Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel

The first of this season’s Formula One cars breaks cover next weekend when the McLaren team launch their new car online, to be followed 24 hours later by a similar unveiling on the Scuderia Ferrari’s official website. Only then will the sport’s fans know whether their greatest fear of a grid full of misshapen monsters is about to be realised.

Designed around a new set of technical rules, the 2014 cars will use 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engines boosted by energy recycled from their exhaust and braking systems. In a bid to reduce the effect of aerodynamics, their front wings will be smaller and no one will be able to redirect exhaust gases through or under the bodywork, a restriction specifically designed to cut the advantage enjoyed by Adrian Newey, the genius behind Sebastian Vettel’s all-conquering Red Bull.

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