Lancer033

Ferrari today, McLaren is up tomorrow and a few other teams are launching their cars this weekend

44 days to go

Wayne O

Nice! I'm no so sure I like the no race re-fueling requirement but I'm looking forward to the 2010 season. With the new teams and the new driver/team pairings it should be an incredible season. I'm just stoked to have Michael Schumacher driving an F1 car again (my only living hero).

BrianCunningham

that 1st photo is so weird looking with the rear wing.

Lancer033

I wish they would go back to the 2008 rear wings just for aesthetic reasons alone.

grantar2

Almost looks like they will get more down force from the mirrors. What I really wish Ferrari would change is the scan bar code look on the rear cowling. Anybody know what that is advertising? Would really like to see the whole rear of the car red. Of course I would like to see the black and gold JPS cars comeback as well.

100% better looking than last years car.

Lancer033

speaking of McLaren....for anyone who happens to be awake in 45min......

http://carlaunch.mclaren.com/

John Shiels

All kids and everyone don't know what the bar code is and there is no sense in making cigarettes a glorious affair. They equal a premature death and much pain and suffering for the victim and their friends.

The wing does squeeze down the sponsor space.

Lancer033

aggie_corvette

Can somebody post a side by side compared to last years cars? It will be much easier to see the differences.

Lancer033

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/

that link explains the rule changes, which is technically only the narrower front tires. but you can definately see the influence of last years Red Bull car in the nose of both of those cars (and the pictures of the USF1 cars).

aggie_corvette

True plus i'd like to see an outside comparison of how they incorporated the larger fuel tanks and aero development.

Is the car/wheelbase longer?
Aero on Different Noses (high/low, wide/pointy, single/dual keel), driver compartment position, sidepods, rear bodywork, ect. ?

jhester

The Ferrari looks like a red RB5 chassis

quick04Z06

I'll have to say the last few years' cars look pretty silly. The high nose with the long elements hanging down don't look so good. I was looking at Mario's old Lotus 78 a few days ago, and man did it look good. Square-shouldered, nice forward lean, looks like it is inhaling the pavement, tough....

.

quick04Z06

Since F1 is primarily an international sport and isn't very popular in the US, let's hope Phillip Morris sells lots of cigarettes to the international
F1 crowd and that we are all stockholders.

Last time I was in France, everyone seemed to be smoking. Good for them. Of course, with universal health care you are quite literally your brothers' keeper, so I do wonder why France hasn't banned smoking outright.

I guess their legislators all smoke, too.

dfinke23

^ Notice the huge difference in tire size from front to back on the Lotus.

grantar2

Perhaps the thing I like most about F-1 is that each car looks different, resolves the challenge in a unique way. They are all working to the same rules with noticably different solutions. Its the same thing I like about the street car GT based classes, they aren't all the same answer and they are unique. At the end of the day the damning feature of both IRL and NASCAR is the are esentially spec series. Since the drivers are so managed today, the element that is unique is muzzeled.
F-1 is political, and cash driven but at least there is creativity, and artistry.

quick04Z06

Understood. But, I have figured out a way to fix all of that in any major series. It's a form of salary cap and I have proprietary rights to this:

First, you ban chassis sharing and maybe engine sharing across teams.

Second, your sponsors and any others providing cash deposit their funds into a trust account jointly managed by a committee made up of the teams and the sanctioning body.

Fourth, teams are limited to 2 cars in any field.

Third, each 2 car team is limited to (in F1) say, $100 million per year in total outlays, and all of that 100 mil must come from their trust account--drivers' salaries, team salaries, development and production costs, on-track expenses, everything--comes from the trust account.

Fourth, your team will be audited each year and if you are caught spending dollars not deposited into the trust account, you forfeit all wins and titles.

Fifth, rules are made well before the season starts and cannot be changed all year. If a team is caught cheating, it forfeits all wins and titles for the year.

The result? Incredible creativity within a budget. Do you spend big on drivers but go cheap on engines? Do you shoot the wad on cars and hire young, cheaper drivers? Do you go with more expensive materials and less HP, or the other way around? It would make for awesome creativity and great racing. With a funding cap, we'd really find out who is talented and who just bought it, like the Yankees did last year.

So, there you go. NASCAR under such a system would actually be cool again. Now, this would mean lots of profits have to go somewhere, and it be awarded to teams and distributed to folks after they retire--but not while racing.

Escalating cost is the greatest problem any form of racing has, and this system would fix the problem. I think it would work and I haven't really thought of a major downside.

jhester

High nose is almost entirely due to maximizing front wing, front diffuser, and underbody aero and has resulted in the various single, dual, and now "zero" keel designs you see in F1.

For good reading on the keel concept:
http://www.scarbsf1.com/keels/formula_1_keels.htm

I think looks are one thing; but in my mind I can respect something that doesn't look "good" if it such for a purpose, is well developed, and bloody fast.

VetteDrmr

Other than, in NASCAR, for example, you'd have 6-8 car fields; one for Hendricks, Rousch, JGR, and perhaps MWR. No other organizations have the ability to develop their own engines and chassis.

If you want new ideas in any form of racing (NHRA is the closest of the top-tier racing venues, IMO), get rid of 90 % of the rules; keep maybe displacement, wheelbase, and safety rules, let the teams have some free rein for working within those rules.

I also think the idea of success ballast keeps things in check. The teams affected don't like it, but it allows that creativity and the fields relatively close.

Have a good one,
Mike

Lancer033

you could always just have a max length and width....draw a box on the ground and if it fits it passes tech.