[Closed] F1 - It's Car Launch Week

I did wonder that when I saw the pic - the nose does look quite flat although it's clearly dropped towards the very front.

[img] [/img]

I'd like to see the McLaren shinier

Hang on, iv'e seen more pics- the magpie in me is happy now 😉

I think McL have agreed with Merc that McL will be shiny/bright silver while Merc is more matt - I guess that that works historically as the story is that the silver Merc colour originally came from a time when they stripped all the paint off their cars to save weight leaving aluminium which would be dull silver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Arrows

Weight story

A story exists that the origin of the Silver Arrows was accidental. The international governing body of motor sport prescribed for 1934 onwards a maximum weight limit of 750 kilograms for Grand Prix racing cars, excluding tyres and fuel. It is said that when in spring 1934 the Mercedes-Benz team placed its new Mercedes-Benz W25 on the scrutineering scales prior to the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring, it allegedly recorded 751 kg (1,656 lb). Racing manager Alfred Neubauer and his driver Manfred von Brauchitsch, who both later published their memoires, claimed that they had the idea of scraping all the white paint from the bodywork. The story continues that the next day the shining silver aluminium beneath was exposed and scrutineering was passed. After the 350 hp (260 kW) car of v. Brauchitsch won the race, the nickname Silver Arrow was born, according to the legend.

[edit] Weight story disputed

This story did not appear until Alfred Neubauer's biography was published in 1958, and no reference to it has been found in contemporary sources. It since has been established that von Brauchitsch in 1932 had raced a streamlined SSKL on the AVUS which was called Silver Arrow in live radio coverage. Also, in 1934, both Mercedes and Auto Union had entered the Avusrennen, but the Mercedes cars were not able to start, and Auto Union did not succeed either. The next big event was the Eifelrennen, but as few cars complying to the new rules were ready, it was held for Formule Libre, so weight was no issue at that time.[1]

I've just done a quick side on comparison in photoshop and the Ferrari seems to be a good few cm higher at the front than the Mclaren.

The Force India too - nice to see another vanity panel (as I wasn't expecting many this year)

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/force-india-vjm06-revealed-at-silverstone/
[img] [/img]

So will the RB have one? I can't see it unless Adrian Newey can find a performance advantage - as suggested by scarbs for example.

[img] [/img]

Suzi will show her bottom quite a lot. I will watch a few races, and fall asleep each time, waking up to find the kids have drawn willies on my face in marker pen.

Re this vanity panel - it comes off during the race but is there for the photo's - is that right?

Re this vanity panel - it comes off during the race but is there for the photo's - is that right?

Not that I'm aware of
The reason Lotus gave for not using one was weight and see the piece above from ScarbsF1

it's to make the cars look better. it's not allowed to be structural so in a crash, it'll just fly off. So it will be on the car in the race.

basically the designers want the chassis high to allow air under while the rules dictate a Max height forward of the wheels to try and avoid drivers being hit by another car's nose in a crash, hence the stepped noses. the vanity panels are over that Max height but because they're not structural, they shouldn't cause injury.

New Sauber looks pretty tasty - and those side pods are very narrow. Look at the gap between the front edge of the side pods and the sticky-up aero bits* - space for mini winglets in there perhaps...

[img] [/img]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/02/02/sauber-c32-launch-pictures/

(*official technical terminology!)

Hope Kimi Räikkönen kick their backsides this year ...

Has someone polished the tyres on that Sauber?! 🙂

The Ferrari's always look overly fussy to me. Don't know if it's the aero bits or the livery, but a lot of the other cars appear a lot 'cleaner'.

Purple no less

[img] [/img]

webber smiles as he collects yet another pension cheque from red bull 😉

Not many photos of the new Merc yet

[img] [/img]

I feel quite sorry for Lewis - not only will he be racing in the mid-field this year - it now looks like he'll have to use a Blackberry as well!

Horrendous looking nose on the W04...no vanity panel there and pretty ugly overall.

Nose looks a bit like this one:

[img] [/img]

There is a vanity panel on the merc. it was so ugly before though that it still looks minging.

There is a vanity panel - otherwise would be an abrupt step like last year. I think Merc have taken the regulation at face value a bit, whereas Ferrari have pushed to the limit and used the vanity panel for aerodynamic effect. As have Sauber.

So far I ave noticed:
- McLaren late on parade with a high chassis and have gone pullrod at the same time… will be bit of a learning curve, plus the back of that car is not as svelte as some others.
- Ferrari looks fabulous to my eyes.
- Red Bull ditto, but with even more extreme/absent gearbox - they are hiding something.
- Merc - meh.
- Sauber - looks pretty slim.

Testing tomorrow, plus more new cars. How sad am I? Love it.

Reading between the lines, Lewis thinks the car is sh1te.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/21322248

Mercedes on fire ... not a promising start:
[img] [/img]

They've pretty much lost the whole day, only 11 laps done
That's a lot of setup work lost.

Reading between the lines, Lewis thinks the car is sh1te.

I saw the full interview and you don't even have to read between the lines sadly. It sounds like hes driving something from a different planet. Not good. 🙁

They're not really going to know where the car is until they get to Barcelona

Did Jenson ever get back out? Mclaren can't be happy with today either.

Yeah, Button is back out for the PM

If you're as sad as me 🙂
http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/549

They're not really going to know where the car is until they get to Barcelona

If Schu with all his experience and (old) talent couldn't make it better then its looking dire for LH. He could drive a dog of a McLaren but a dog of a Merc will be like driving a re-painted Force India.

Button ended up fastest on an 18.8

Way faster than anyone else and way faster than last year's day one chart topper.
It was also faster than the day 4 best time from last year.

could mean absolutely nothing though 🙂

Doesn't mean anything- wait until tomorrow..

liking Kimis mock wheel with a Mute button...bit of humour never goes a miss

[img] [/img]

😆

nobody signed the concorde agreement yet.....