TBK-Light.com

Good, the original cars never were gold.

Noticed this:

https://twitter.com/#!/tedkravitz

Is there a consensus yet as to whether the stepped nose as opposed to the McLaren nose has a significant aerodynamic effect?

I believe it might have. Surely the designers considered both solutions when they were working on the new cars, so the fact that the entire grid but McLaren came up with that design, tells me that in theory the stepped nose should be the way to go. If that is, I wouldn't be surprised that McLaren follow suit as early as before the AUSGP. But still, McLaren is McLaren, they sure have their reasons to come up with that design.

I wouldn't be upset if McLaren lap everyone twice at the first race though.

Not necessarily, maybe all the other designers became so obsessed with trying to exploit a new regulation that they overlooked the basics principles of aerodynamics.

Conventional thinking would suggest that the step will produce some form of downforce, if shaped right, but what matters is whether that trades off too much in the drag coefficient department, it's no good having a car that produces tons of downforce in the corners if it has terrible drag and those not with the step can leave you standing down the straight, those that have decided that trade off is not worth it (i.e. McLaren) will win out in the end especially at places where speed is more important.

Unless of course the regulations have made it such that drag is no longer an issue and the cars are so powerful that they overcome any inefficiencies in aerodynamics, but then if that were the case, the teams wouldn't put as much effort into the rear end as they do.

I too hope that McLaren lap the field in Aus, if for nothing more than to bring the rest of them back to planet earth, sometimes, simple and elegance is better than ugly and complicated, and it's not like Newey hasn't designed some pigs over the years, so just because the Red Bull has it, doesn't mean it's the right approach.

Yeah, that may be true. But I do think that in this F1 era, considering the tracks and gadgets like DRS and KERS, having a part of the car that brings extra downforce in the corners outwheights the extra drag said part it may produce.

That said, yeah I also hope McLaren rapes everyone in Australia.

Its not 1998 any more, sadly.

Mclaren have traditionally been ones to go for straight line speed over cornering speed (F-Duct, KERS, etc when main rivals didn't go down those roads in 2010/2009)

Lets hope for once it pays off

I opened up the page to see some new photos of the cars and this was the first photo that loaded! Good God I nearly spat my coffee out all over the computer! Even the first pictures of the 2009 cars didn't induce this much nausea.

This was the first pic I saw of the 2009 spec cars, during winter testing at the end of 2008. Love the comments! Would take this 'snow plough' BMW any day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coldtrackdays/3039555225/

In regards to the Red Bull, that under tray joining the chassis together looks like some serious bit of kit, as well as the mini 'F Duct' they have.

Is there a diagram or article that specifically explains the new nose regs? I still don't understand why the lower nose requirement has resulted in the step - there must be some minimum height requirement on the bridge of the nose as well? But if so I don't understand how Mclaren got around that and what an overall lower sill line had to do with it.

And seriously, someone didn't do their homework when they approved this rule change. Surely they didn't intend for it to produce a grid of broken noses like this.

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Dunno when you first watched racing but when I started going to races at Silverstone in the early eighties I was taken in by speed, noise and spectacle of what I saw. I was too young to think whether the car was attractive or not, all I thought was "wow that was loud and fast. Cool!"

Ugly has been part of motorsport for years and in some ways ugly has also been beautiful. We each have a differing opinion on beauty but I don't see the point in filling up multiple pages of moaning when it is what it is now. Let's just accept what we've got and look forward to the testing and new season starting (soon).

Go draw up your petition if that helps you. I doubt it will make any difference whatsoever.

Here's a good explanation about the new nosecone rule.

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/2012-nose-height-regulations/



So FIA f*cked us over with their new regulations. Good thinking FIA! Maybe for the next season you add a way lower minimum height for the tip of the nose, so we don't have to watch another year of these monstrosities, okey?


And here's about why McLaren has lower and smoother nose.
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/launch-analysis-mclaren-mercedes-mp4-27/

Apparently the McLaren has a lower cockpit than the others, not just the nose.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

New Williams FW34

I need a radical livery change, now!

I was hoping they'd have a bit of yellow for the Renault engines

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"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Shouldn't there be some more Brazilian sponsors on it?

I think it's to do with the concept of the whole car. McLaren have had the lower nose for the last few years, and the others have gone for higher noses; this changes where the air goes past the nose, and how much. I'd imagine that dropping the nose on the Ferrari would mean redesigning the whole package to cope with the different airflow; if they've refined their current concept well enough they'd rather stick with the highest possible nose and work with what they know.

Thanks for this. So basically where the FIA fucked up was by insisting on a 275mm height-thickness halfway down the nose, then mandating a much lower maximum height for the length of nose immediately ahead of this, but not any minimum height-thickness for this section. The teams were always going to maximise the space underneath the nose for aero reasons, and the result is the fugly Lemony Snicket nose we have to look at this year.

Still doesn't answer why Mclaren doesn't need the aero under the nose that every other team apparently needs. The proof will be in the performance at Melbourne, but it's a pretty major difference in approach.

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Just saw this. I like. I wish it was real.

according to the logics of Bruno Senna's hiring based on investments from Eike Batista, the OGX group logo should be displayed in the cars. Also Embratel should be there (Embratel belongs to Telmex Group) and Gillette. I think they'll display the sponsorships later, it's always like that with Williams, they only show the actual paint scheme when the season starts.