Unlocking the M16.

While many of its rivals were already running at least the first version of their 2006 car in the comparative warmth of Italy and Spain, Formula One's first Russian-owned team was still putting the finishing touches to its challenger at a suitably chilly Silverstone.

Midland F1 has much to do to establish - or re-establish - itself this season, having endured a trying first toe in the F1 waters as part of the dying Jordan brand in 2005. With Alex Shnaider taking the reins from grand prix's increasingly jaded self-styled king of fun Eddie Jordan, much was expected of the team but, with one eye on its originally scheduled entry date a year hence, Midland/Jordan toiled around at the back of the field with what was effectively a two-year old car that, on occasion, struggled to keep up with the Minardis, despite running the potent Toyota V10.

The perceived lack of interest in 2005 has gone now, however, with Midland F1 forging an increasingly noticeable presence in the paddock. Gone, too, is the distinctive Jordan yellow, replaced by a subtler blend of grey, white and red, but more apparent are the sponsors adorning the bodywork, and the bustle that goes on around the team's first bespoke F1 machine.

The covers came off that machine at 10-30 on a Silverstone morning that threatened snow, but merely chilled those in attendance to the marrow. The one open pit garage, however, positively exuded its own warmth, as the M16 was readied for its maiden voyage in the hands of Dutch signing Christijan Albers.

Observing quietly as Adrian Burgess went about directing the troops, milling like grey ants around the pristine car, was James Key, Midland's first technical director, and the man charged with overseeing the M16 concept.

A veteran of the Jordan days since 1998, and Lotus before that, Key was promoted to his current role from that of technical co-ordinator in late November 2005, and was immediately thrust into the driving seat of the M16's design programme. Despite that, and the comparatively short period of time before the car's launch, however, he is happy with the way things have gone so far.

"We have had a great deal of work to do over the past eight months, which is when I really started taking this role on, but it seems to be going okay," he told Crash.net, "I have a lot of experienced and well-established people around me, some who have been at the team for some time, so, between us, I think we have pulled things together quite well, and we're back on track with the new car."

With both Tiago Monteiro - retained by the team for 2006 alongside Albers - and former team-mate Narain Karthikeyan both struggling to get the best from the recalcitrant EJ15 and, less so perhaps, from the B-spec machine that ended the season, Key is happy to have been able to introduce an all-new car for 2006, but how tempted was he to go down the radical route in an attempt to lift the team from the back of the grid?

"This car is a bit of both evolution and revolution in many ways," he said, casting a quick glance at the M16, "I think what we ended up with last year was a B-spec car, but the first B-spec car we had been able to do for four years. Because of that, we were able to get a stab at a few ideas, a few concepts and a few thoughts that we had had early on, and what we learned from that process has carried through to the way we have gone about designing the M16. In that respect, there is a bit of a carry-over but, as far as the rest of the car is concerned, it's new and there are new ideas on it specifically for this launch. It's a mix of both really."

The introduction of new rules for 2006, most noticeably surrounding the equally controversial switch to 2.4-litre V8 engines and reintroduction of mid-race tyre changes, has forced all designers to rethink their philosophies but, with the last new Jordan having been introduced in 2004, Key has effectively had to haul his thinking forward two years.

"Everything started with the architecture of the car, because the V8 engine is a different situation for all of us," he revealed, "It gives us a little more freedom and, with tyre changes coming back in as well, it slightly changes the way you design the car.
"With those fundamental things in mind, as well as other regulation changes, we went through a process of targeting a number of philosophies and ideas that we'd had for some time, but weren't in a position to prove. We ran them in the wind tunnel primarily, although we also [looked at them] on the mechanical side, and we targeted trying to get a gearbox run before the full car launch.

"The back end of the car, from the chassis backwards, was run before the launch, as that is a fundamental reliability area, so we achieved that, and what we see today is the final part, the aero package and the chassis."

Gearbox, suspension - front and back - and aero thinking are all new for 2006, but each had to be designed in conjunction with the new powerplant from Toyota.

"Moving to the V8 makes a difference because it changes your targets in two ways," Key continued, "It changes the way the car handles, so the emphasis on how you set the car up and the balance of the car changes. You could probably do that within the tools that you had with the V10, but it means that you are emphasising different areas, and it also changes the way you develop aerodynamically as well. Less power means you have to be more efficient to succeed, and it's not as simple as taking the rear wing off or anything like that. You have to develop in an efficient manner with an engine with reduced power."

The search for that efficiency placed greater emphasis on tidying up the rear of the car, sculpting bodywork and ancillaries into their most effective form, a process that was greatly empowered by the team's burgeoning relationship with its engine supplier, which provided an early version of the V8 to help the design programme along.

"In many ways, Toyota has been helpful in developing Midland as a team," Key insisted, "They are a very good bunch to work with and I, personally, have a lot of time for them - and I know that goes for many other people in the team as well.

"We have a strong technical relationship, they support us a great deal and, going from last year into this year, they have helped us a lot, because we were established with them. We were able to establish things like the architecture of the car very early on because of that."

One of the criticisms levelled at Midland last season was that, the tentative B-spec machine aside, there didn't appear to be the desire to spend money on trying to find ways of competing with the midfield, let alone pushing the team further forward. That, however, will not be the case this season as, with the Jordan link now shed forever, MF1 attempts to make its own mark on the sport.

"We'll develop as aggressively as we can, as the gap we are trying to make up is a large one from last year, and we don't want to be in that situation for much longer," Key explained, "The step forward that we have made with this car is, theoretically, very significant, so we want to close that gap by continuing to develop aggressively.

"We've designed the car, in many areas, to allow us to develop - we haven't pinned ourselves down to certain design concepts or that sort of thing - so our hope, our target and our plan is to develop as aggressively as we can through the season."

The team is already working on revisions that will be introduced over the first few races, with some ideas already running on the interim EJ15B test mule that Monteiro and co have pedalled through the winter. However, despite the optimism that came with the launch, Key refuses to get carried away when asked to predict just what impact Midland and the M16 can have in 2006.

"It's very difficult to set performance targets now as it's all relative," he insisted, "I'm confident that we've made a very good step over last year, but then I'm sure the other teams have as well.

"You don't know how much progress you've made against the others until you run the car - and, really, it's only the first race that decides that - but I think, realistically, that we expect to be closer to the pack to begin with and, I think, from mid-season, we want to be mixing it with the people who were directly ahead of us. I think that, when you are in that bunch, the points are all open. That's our target."

The team continued to give the M16 its shakedown runs as the media, now chilled to the core, began to filter out of Silverstone, but already knew that warmer climes awaited, As soon as the exploratory laps had been completed and the car checked over, it was destined for the nearest airport and the first flight to Spain, where it was due to remain for the best part of three weeks, running alongside those rivals already into the swing of testing with their 2006 machines.

Just where the M16 will fit in in terms of performance remains to be seen but, if anyone appears able to unlock the potential in both the car and the rejuvenated Midland team, it has to be a man called Key.