F1 2014 – The Gonzo comparison is true…..

back2basics – Member
to stop RBR/Vettel from winning, just like they changed the rules to stop Ferrari…

Wrong actually. The noses have been changed to make them lower than the sides of the cockpit and the rear tyres so that in crashes they should a lot safer. Red Bull would be able to cope with that change quite easily, in fact, I’d argue that they would have had an advantage given that aero is where they’re so strong.

Unfortunately, the people who wrote the rules, did so badly meaning that these silly looking noses are the best solution to the aero problem. All the teams’ designers knew this was going to happen but as usual they all thought they could get one over on the other teams so didn’t point out the issues.

It’s interesting that Sauber have as near as openly said that they designed their car to allow them to change the nose so if one solution turns out to be much better than the others, they can easily modify their car to copy them. I expect that there may well be several cars finishing the season looking quite different to how they launch though I can’t recall if the FIA allow changes to the crash structure mid season (IIRC they’re not allowed to change the main chassis/survival cell)

It’s the banning of exhaust blown diffuser that is aimed at making RB less competitive. RB developped that to a point where when driven ‘correctly’ (which unfortunately Webber never quite got the hang of) it meant that the car was miles better than any other, hence Vettel’s utter domination last year once they had it right.

Torro Rosso go for another variant of the Gonzo/anteater nose. First day of testing tomorrow plus we get to see the RedBull, Merc, Caterham and Marussia.

Good god those cars are hideous, and as for all that aero crap on the front wings, sheesh. Glad it’s gone to Sky in many ways so I won’t get sucked into wasting an afternoon of my life.

Please, please someone at the FIA get a grip, you wrecked WRC, don’t do it to F1 as well.

FIA have been in the wrecking business for years, just generally anything that threatens to take Formula 1 fans away – not usually F1 itself!

i do wonder whats wrong in passing rules like “front wings must be 1 single piece” kinda thing, all this F1 rule making seems vauge and not well thought out.

the rbr shown today looks exactly like that above, the paint job is almost trying to disguise the uglyness of it all.

still no schumacher news 🙁

Interesting variation from Red Bull

and Mercedes W05 with ‘ears’

They’re getting there, those two look ok, I like the Mercedes.

How many crashes in recent years would have been prevented (or serious consequences mitigated) by these new noses, I can think of very few indeed. Change for change’s sake.

If the Merc turns out to be quick I reckon those camera mounts will be protested before Melbourne. Apparently there’s some debate over the Lotus nose too.

The Merc is the best looking so far. But I’m not really bothered what they look like as long as the racing is closer this year.

How many crashes in recent years would have been prevented (or serious consequences mitigated) by these new noses, I can think of very few indeed. Change for change’s sake.

That’s all good until it actually happens… The rules are good in intention (and IMO low noses as intended by the change would look good – like the Merc) just poorly worded so that phallic noses are a good option. They are almost certain to be changed for 2015.

Besides, the lower noses are intended to also reduce the risk of Webber aeroplane type accidents where the nose of a car hits the rear of another car and gets flipped up.

As well as the Webber incident, was it Grosjean that launched and very nearly took Alonso’s head off at the first corner?

The biggest safety issue with open wheeled racing is the open wheels, they are what tend to launch a car in the air. That’s why Indycar have introduced a rear wheel bumper thing, ironically developed by the late great Dan Wheldon.

I’m not sure what strength the gonzo nose would have in an impact, looks like it could just break off anyway?

It’s subject to various crash tests – IIRC one of which impacts obliquely to test its ability to deal with sideways loading.

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/safety/cockpit_and_crash_tests/9504.html

Of course, forgot about that. Must be a pretty thick lump of carbon?

Oops! Lewis’ Merc aint so purdy now…

Front wing failure apparently according to Scarbs

Acording to the BBC “session starts” “Hamilton crashes at turn one”

{Shakes head}{rolls eyes}

EDIT; front wing failure Ho Hum

MERCEDES AMG F1 ?@MercedesAMGF1

We can confirm a front wing failure on car 44. The reason is now being investigated. Lewis is fine, thank you all for asking!

Nothing to do with Lewis then – but if it’s a problem with the wing that might mean they can’t just bolt on a spare (if they’ve got one).

Acording to the BBC “session starts” “Hamilton crashes at turn one”

😆

The FI car is gopping from the front!

Good God! It’s the worst of all of them!

They’ve painted it black so you’ll never see it, haha

Taki Inoue is very funny on this (via twitter)

Tweets by takiinoue

It’s already affectionately being referred to as ‘mandingo’ 😯

That Force India 😯 No wonder the launch photos were in profile view.

Its just asking for to be either snapped off at the lightest contact, or for someone with a crude mind to paint it a different colour. And add some, err other detail.

I like the Caterham 😉

Yep – looks like a neat solution. (Edit – “Like” here is relative, in the same way that I “like” orange cream chocolates when given the choice between them, strawberry creams and turkish delight).

looks even more phallic from this angle;

Oh dear 😯

jeez

i can see a repeat of red bull’s fatally oscillating wing happening at some point on one or more of these cars.

crazy that those add-on bits of carbon, bit like barry boys bulldozer body kit, actually makes the cars ultimately go faster.

This is taking the car as a penis extension a little too literally.

Plus they’ll be waving around on our screens for a whole season at least it seems.

A feast for the eyes! 😯

There should be a prize for the most penis-y penis bit. It’s a toss up (haha) between Caterham and Force India IMO

At least Caterham are doing something useful with their penis

Haha!!

I bet they’ve been bending over backwards to accommodate those designs

^^^ 🙂

Despite the dodgy aesthetic appeal to this years’ batch of 4-wheel missiles, and from following the Beeb’s As it Happens thing for the first test day, it strikes me that the 2014 championship of any worth of note will be the Constructor’s. Who will make their car the most reliable and be able to interpret and understand the vast reams of data to then develop pace.

Notwithstanding the driver’s will need to be able to get to grips with it all, I foresee the winning driver will be anyone of them who is given the most reliable car. Which for me, puts a new nuance to this forthcoming season and I won’t become too tempted to get caught up in the whole driver thing.

As such, if I think hard enough, I kinda see the possible reasoning behind the double points scheme at the end of the season, maybe trying to balance out the many DNF’s that are seemingly likely. I’m liking the potential unpredictability. Let’s hope the back of the grid team’s manage to get some points and possibly podium’s.

So, all in all, I’m holding a glimmer of hope it might just be not so much as predictable as the sport can be at times.

my god the caterham looks like its made from lego botched in with…that one that was a cheap version of lego, and only 1 bit fitted with it