What is going on? The cars look sooooooooooooooooooooo funny!!!

They need to bring back the JPS car! No one would notice the difference though the old car might be a bit faster!

It’s like the car equivalent of dodgy plastic glasses and tash!

thoughts?

that front wing for snow? I know they wanna have different conditions, but are they planning a snow race?

Dropping into the pits for spikes!!!

Gonna take a while to get used to em! check out the comparisons below:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/01/23/2009-f1-cars-and-2008-cars-compared/

Happy days…

‘Gonna take a while to get used to them’ – for anyone interested in the sport they’ve been around for 3 months already! I’m mostly liking the new look – think last year’s cars look a bit daft in comparison now.

has anyone got some pictures that illustrate the diffuser issue?

I atcually think that the 2009 cars look better as there is less bits on them and look cleaner as a result.

They really dont look that different.

Stoner – this is about one of the best explanations I’ve read. Basically it’s a loophole where the design of the rear crash structure can be combined with the diffuser – the diffuser is primarily governed by rules on parts as seen from below the car, so the extra bit between diffuser and crash structure is excluded from those limits & the limits on the crash structure are much more open.

Coffeking – if you don’t think they look that different, can you spot the difference between these two ;-)?

Toyota’s

Toyota’s diffuser makes a very interesting interpretation of the revised 2009 rules (and one that has already prompted speculation regarding its legality). By exploiting regulations that allow extra bodywork within a 150mm zone in the centre of the car, the team appear to have cleverly shaped the TF109’s rear crash structure (upper red arrow) so that it effectively lengthens and heightens the diffuser’s central section, which also features a very low splitter at its base (lower red arrows).

McLaren’s

McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW Sauber have all made very literal interpretations of the revised 2009 rules regarding the rear diffuser. All of the channels are the same height and length, with no difference in height between the main central section and the side channels. This contrasts with the designs of Toyota and Williams (see subsequent illustrations), which interpret the new regulations slightly differently.

This was copy n pasted from here.

cheers for that, both of you. got a better understanding now.

I think this link sums up the differences nicely

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/sport/f1_newregs.pdf

The rear wing looks even smaller on the Mclaren.

thepurist – 🙂 I can see the differences, they just are not big enough to shout about and say “god these look aweful and last year they were so much better looking”.

the changes in a nice vid

This thread sounds reads dangerously like a bunch of fashion magzine readers getting excited by this seasons shade of aubergine. 🙂

that vid is great.

love the turbo boost button. Its more and more like a playstation every day! 🙂

On the BBC F1 website, you can watch clips and extended highlights from classic races. ATM, they’ve got the 1986 and 1994 Australian GPs, the whole extended highlights programmes! I was watching last night; fantastic.

The ’86 race is inertesting, as there is quite a variation in the designs of the cars, from team to team. Today’s F1 cars do look a whole lot more homogenised. If you took all the stickers off, and sprayed them white, ittud be hard to tell them apart.

Maybe a little OT… Fantasy F1 !!! Fantasy F1 Racing
Is there an STW Fantasy League?

I’ve didn’t have the sound up but it looks to me from that video like the cars can change tyres while they’re still moving, can do 360 spins and not lose position and have had some bits changed, is that about right?

The older cars used to have turbo buttons too.

Aye, I’m pretty sure Kitt had one.

I have a piece of work to do at the Williams Centre near Didcot, next week. The place is amazing, underneath is possibly petrol head heaven. Just about one of all the F1 cars Williams ever made from the early F1, ground effect, 6 wheelers right through to the present. Awesome….

http://www.williamsf1conferences.com/_360tour/frame.htm

Aye, I’m pretty sure Kitt had one.

I refute that remark.

The older cars used to have turbo buttons too.

Nah, they (83-88 at least) just had turbos the size of dustbin lids, boosting at up to 6 bar of pressure, into tiny little 1.5 litre engines, forcing up to 1500bhp out of them in qualifying!

Yes the Williams Conference Centre is quite impressive. As well as the cars the museum contains displays with the mechanicals like the brake systems, hydraulic systems etc. I’ve been a couple of times the last time being for a team building event where one of the activities was acting as pit crew to change the wheels on Juan Pablo Montoya’s 2002 car- we managed 9.5 secs for all four wheels which I thought was pretty good for complete beginners

I was there last Thurs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bucklevision

come on guys, they do look like they have taken the f-22 raptor

and turned it into a B1B with a wardrobe bolted onto the front and some draws at the back!

Bit of a step back in design no?

Now come on, wake up and smell the coffee… F1 has gone ‘GREEN’ … that front wing collects all the litter that would normally desicrate the countryside for eons….

think its made our of old coke bottles!

I have found a glimpse of the 2010 car! Just imagine when it gets the sponsors on there!

You can bet your life some team will put the brushes on the back, be 0.5sec a lap quicker and all the other teams will throw their dummies out of their prams..

I think they look ok!