F1 2012

[Wes_Howes]

and another, Red Bull this time http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97345

[Wes_Howes]

and the junior squad

Toro Rosso

[LN Strike Eagle]

Sauber is really nasty - combination of the shape and the manky livery.

Toro Rosso doesn't look as bad as some of the others.

[tommercer]

So it looks as if McLaren could well be the only team to go with a conventional nose. Is this going to be a huge disadvantage or is this going to lead to a championship winning year for the team?

Discuss

[RRconway]

and another, Red Bull this time http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97345

Is it me or has this one got an intake on the step which I can't see on the others?

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Tonka 617]

Yup Red Bull have a vent on the step of the front end which is interesting.

I am hoping that McLaren know something the others don't going for a conventional front end, Melbourne can not come quick enough if you ask me

[Wes_Howes]

Hmmm, not sure on the vent, I think it may just be the lousy pictures they have released. We'll soon see tomorrow in testing.

Williams will be launching their car in the morning before the start.

Toro Rosso have already come out and said their nose isn't aggressive enough and it will change (probably for the worse, asthetically)

Like I said before, I hope Mclaren's approach, of using a more conventional nose, doesn't hurt them in performance. (Hoping for the "if it looks right, it'll fly right" philosophy to work here) I heard Martin Brundle say, in an interview with Sky Sports F1, that to over come the nose regulations, Mclaren lowered the height of the whole chassis rather than just the nose

[Danny]

The new Williams was unveiled at the first test this morning.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97372

[Wes_Howes]

Finally a conclusive picture of the vent in the RB8, I wonder where the air is being channelled?

[LN Strike Eagle]

Finally a conclusive picture of the vent in the RB8, I wonder where the air is being channelled?

From the BBC testing feed:

BBC Sport's chief F1 writer Andrew Benson:

Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has been asked about the now-famous hole in the nose of his team's car, which has been the subject of speculation since the RB8 emerged on Monday. He says: 'The slot at the base of the ramp to the nose into the front bulkhead is simply driver cooling. Traditionally that is right at the front of the nose. Really for styling as much as anything we moved it to where you now see it to break up the aesthetics of the ramp that is required by the regulations.' I'm sure there will be a sceptical response to that in some quarters, but at least everyone now knows Newey's position.

[Wes_Howes]

Cheers Dan, too right there's going to be sceptisism! A hole that big, for driver cooling? Pull the other one Adrian

[Tonka 617]

Let the conspiracies commence

[MikeH]

I just hope there's some way of preventing ingress of items such as wasps and hot fluids emanating from expiring engines of about to be lapped Ferraris.

[RRconway]

I just hope there's some way of preventing ingress of items such as wasps and hot fluids emanating from expiring engines of about to be lapped Ferraris.

[RRconway]

How is it that all these teams supposedly developing their new cars in private, all reveal them with the same or similar design feature, well 90% of them anyway.

Surely they didn't all discover the advantage of the paltypus nose by co-incidence and independently of each other?
Its not like its a progression of a previous design or feature, or am I missing something?

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Wes_Howes]

Jeff, the new regulations on nose height have basically dictated this shift to the platypus nose. Mclaren have got around this by lowering the height of the whole chassis, the rest, for reasons I don't know, have decided to go with a higher base line chassis and follow the rules to the letter and from the point where the suspension attaches to the car, have made the nose as flat as possible. Managing a smooth airflow under the car is the key to the new noses, as the air flowing under the car has as much influence on the downforce as the air going over the wings.

Personally I don't see how having such a drastic kink in the nose will help the airflow around the rest of the car but let's face it, if I did know, I'd probably be working for one of the teams

Only time will tell if the Mclaren solution works but the fact every other team to unveil their 2012 car so far has chosen the platypus nose seems a little ominus

From a purely asthetic perspective, I'd prefer to have seen a gradual decrease in nose height then have two, sponsons if you will, where the suspension attaches to the car. I'm sure the teams will have looked at this and snubbed it though

[Domvickery]

A bit more on the design of the noses:

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/f1-2012-rules-designs-and-trends/

Also 13 mins of uber geekiness, a very good watch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/16864721

And a head to head of the new Mclaren & Ferarri:

http://jorgelizalde.co.uk/ferrrari/Untitled-1.jpg

[LN Strike Eagle]

McLaren had a lower nose than just about everyone else last year too - it's just part of their current philosophy on the aero rules. Most of the other teams have copied Red Bull's school of thought, but McLaren are continuing with their own way, just as they did last season.

The cars don't have to look identical to perform the same way - seen it many times in the past where some teams have had sleek noses, some high, some low etc and yet there's virtually nothing between them on the time sheet. Recent example would be 2009 - the Brawn and Red Bull were complete opposites in terms of nose shapes, one fat and low, the other skinny and high.

[Danny]

First picture of new Mercedes as W03 runs at Silverstone

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97553

Edit: In other news, Petrov has replaced Trulli at Caterham.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97552

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17042953

[phreakf4]

...From a purely asthetic perspective, I'd prefer to have seen a gradual decrease in nose height then have two, sponsons if you will, where the suspension attaches to the car. I'm sure the teams will have looked at this and snubbed it though....

I would imagine that the reason for that is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to build such a structure which was both light enough to not adversely affect the weight distribution of the car and strong enough to pass the FIA crash tests, always remembering that the height of the front bulkhead (to which the front suspension and steering is attached) is in any case defined within the Technical Regulations.

The fact is that F1 designers have much less of a free hand when designing the car than is generally imagined.

[LN Strike Eagle]

Another couple of cars revealed today...

HRT



Mercedes AMG

[Wes_Howes]

managed to locate a picture of the Mclaren chassis compared to the Ferrari I believe

[Eelmoor]

Been umming and erring as to wether or not to purchase the F1 channel for this years races, got it down to £6 at the moment, there does however seem to be no info as to what will be shown in the 2 weeks inbetween race weekends. I understand that all practise sessions, qaulifying, races etc will be shown as well as the build up and after race bits and pieces but what else will be shown? will the whole weekend of racing been shown, ie: carrera cup, F2 etc or any other support races?

MTIA

[LN Strike Eagle]

They're showing GP2 support races I believe. There will also be documentaries and in-depth interviews shown on the channel, although it's not really very clear if these will be on the race weekends or at other times.

I wouldn't be suprised if the channel was off air in the weeks before races, or perhaps just showing the races so far and a magazine show on a loop or something.

[DeanW]

Is the £6 solely for the F1 channel on top of an existing Sky package? Quite tempted by getting Sky for at the moment, but the Sports channels are just so bloody expensive.

I think they'll be showing old school races, documentaries etc on the F1 channel too.