Pre-Season 2012 New Car Images & Discussion

[ATL11]

I tend to agree.

Horner and Red Bull have been known to mislead in the past.

Maybe that's what they want you to think..........

 

[ATL11]

Now that much better, less of a Duck Bill look, there is a step but it's less severe. I'd have to say we have 3 residents in Uglyville, 1 on the outskirts and 1 high tailing it out of City limits towards sleeksville.......

 

[Westy]

This, of course, could be a ruse. However, they will have had to go to very extreme lengths to pull it off. If it is not the RB8, they it would appear to be a completely different car as the monocoque would be too high to fit the regs.

I may very well be wrong, infant I am calling it a 60% chance that I am. As FB said, we will find out tomorrow. I can't wait to see the Red Bull. They have been stunning for some time.

 

[Kewee]

I detect a sense of anti Ferrari sentiment on this thread.
If it's got a platypus nose or a ducks bill and it's painted red its hideous or ugly, or probably both, paint it any other colour and it's much better.

 

[Kewee]

Hey Westy, the monocoque's not too high. Have another look. The wheels aren't touching the ground.

 

[Westy]

Newey! He fooled me again.

Thanks for pointing that out Kewee

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I detect a sense of anti Ferrari sentiment on this thread.
If it's got a platypus nose or a ducks bill and it's painted red its hideous or ugly, or probably both, paint it any other colour and it's much better.

I disagree; not anti-Ferrari sentiment, just anti-ugly. The Lotus nose, while still stepped, is definitely more shapely and less ugly than the simply hideous Ferrari effort. Having said that, I really don't like the black & gold 'livery' - a clumsy throwback to the classic John Player Special scheme, which should have been allowed to rest in peace.

 

[Kewee]

Chad.......I gleefully await for your description to change from ugly to completely hideous when it flashes past the checkered flag in 1st place in Australia.

 

[Brogan]

I really don't like the black & gold 'livery' - a clumsy throwback to the classic John Player Special scheme, which should have been allowed to rest in peace.

I said exactly the same to a friend yesterday. The livery is awful and just seems a bit desperate.

 

[racecub]

Should I be panicing?The Mclaren looks gorgeous...but does the ugly nose go faster? Answers in fairly simple terms please I know its to do with air going over the car efficiently (well it should slip smoothly around that nice sleek McLaren)but thats about as far as I go technically.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Lotus Launch Video

 

[Greenlantern101]

Do we think the unusual suspension on the Ferrari was needed as part of the Active ride height system that was banned?
If so can we expect the same arrangement on the Lotus when launched on Sunday I wonder.

I know almost nothing about suspension. Can some one with knowledge confirm which type of suspension is on the Lotus please.
I am interested to know if the now banned active ride height on the Ferrari prompted the unusual suspension, and if Lotus have the same set up. Thanks.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I'm no expert, but the Lotus front suspension looks like push-rod, while the rear looks like pull-rod. Which would make Ferrari the odd ones out so far, with pull-rod at both ends.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Helmut Marko has apparently said that the Red Bull nose is not as ugly as the Ferrari's, with a smaller and 'more elegant' step, but 'not like the Mclaren either'.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/2012-red-bull-not-as-ugly-as-ferrari-marko/

So more like the Lotus? We don't have long to wait now before we find out.

 

[Road of Bones]

I have to say after seeing the new Ferrari and Force India revealed today im a little worried for McLaren....

Compare this to McLaren - from their launch all we see is that they have a tidy car, that isn't even as tidy as the Force India and everyone is talking about how pretty their nose looks, but that it is aerodynamically inefficient because it does not allow airflow to the rest of the car to be maximized.... McLaren meanwhile I feel will turn up at the first race and be off the pace and may even end up behind Mercedes.

I know things could change hugely and we are still to see the Red Bull, but these are just my thoughts so far.

Optimistic as ever, eh Tranq?

I seem to remember you doomsaying the McLaren last year too, and look how quick they ended up being. (ok - I realise that their pre-season testing/reliability was woeful, but they still delivered when it counted)

As I said earlier in the thread - the McLaren nose is an evolution of a design path they've been following for a few years now - that of the "snowplough" turning vane beneath the nosecone, as opposed to the Red Bull-esque "gaping chasm" that the rest of the grid have frantically been trying to emulate - I don't think they'd have pursued the different path if was a dead-end, do you? I remember all the fuss about twin-vs-single keels a few years ago, and since everyone figured out how to make the mountings for angled front suspension strong enough, you never hear about that particular little design feature anymore.

"Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily he shall not be disappointed"

 

[Greenlantern101]

I think I 'm going to be sick.
The new Sauber

 

[Kewee]

racecub.....No you shouldn't be panicking. I'll simplify something I said on the previous page. You can go back to read it. The most important aero component on an F1 car is the front wing and how it feeds the airflow over and around the rest of the car, including the rear wing. The entire forward section of the monocoque, including the nose is important for how little it affects the cars aerodynamics, not how much. If you look at any single seat racecar the forward section of the monocoque is always totally smooth. Yes it offers minimal resistance but most importantly it doesn't disturb the airflow from the all important front wing.
Suspension and how its set up provides mechanical grip, but the aero package provides downforce and depends on the front wing and how it interacts with the rest of the car. A step in the nose or lack of one is not going to win or lose the World Championship.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Actually, I'm beginning to quite like the stepped noses.

 

[Kewee]

Cheers Chad, me too, though I probably like red ones a little more than you.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Only Joking