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

Pre-season testing is yet to begin, but Caterham already have a fixed idea about where in the constructors' standings they want to end the year. As their 2012 car was officially unveiled online on Thursday morning, chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne made it clear that the team are optimistic of stepping into the midfield with the help of the newly-launched CT01. “Until we run the car, we only have numbers and simulation data to work with,” Gascoyne said in an interview with the team, published on their official Facebook page. “But every team wants to move up the grid and we're no different. We finished 10th in the last two years, which has been our target, but now I think it's time we moved forward again.”

Last year, as Team Lotus, they finished tenth in the standings in their second season of Formula One competition. This year Caterham are hoping to take a significant step forward. With a stable design team, Renault power, Red Bull's gearbox technology and - for the first time - KERS, chief technical Mike Gascoyne is optimistic the CT01 should allow Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli to take the fight to the midfield, as he explained in an interview with the team