OT: The New F1 Cars

[m_sasso]

Any interest in the 2017 F1 cars, Ferrari is looking good may give MB a run for the money this year? McLaren Honda not so good, how do you screw up oil tank baffles, is Fred Alonso going to retire half way through the season?

[bicycletricycle]

My hopes are for red bull.

the shark fins are cool.

T wings are stupid

It would be great if ferrari could be in the running. If they go well I hope Kimi beats Seb, he was miserable last year.

McLaren....... Holy crap, Ron Dennis must be going nuts. Eric Boullier looks suicidal.

Ross Braun is going to fix this sport up soon hopefully, Bernie did a good job for a long time but he had to go.

[dave thompson]

I'm excited for the new season; new rules, new tires, damn near new everything else. Hopefully it will make for better racing and teams other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will be in contention. The cars certainly look nastier.

[regularguy412]

And Lewis no longer has to deal with a whiner.

I'm looking forward to it. Even downloaded the F1 app to my phone,,, along with the Moto GP app, too !


Mike in AR:beer:

[ergott]

I'm all in for the upcoming season.

Can't believe Ferrari is an underdog once again.

[Llewellyn]

Hideous things. IMO the pinnacle of F1 car design was in the 80's, it's all been downhill since then.

[David Kirk]

Do you think they are selling last years cars for cheap?

dave

[echelon_john]

SupportersklubMaxVerstappen!

[bicycletricycle]

SupportersklubMaxVerstappen!

Ricciardo is better

[carpediemracing]

Listened to the Ferrari car zipping around somewhere. It sounds like it has a Jake brake on it, or something. Other ones don't have that deep growly noise when off the throttle, typically going into a turn.

[bmeryman]

I'm excited for this season. I'll be interested to see what makes it to the first race from the reveals. I'm sure some red herring engineering was going on.

I think the Toro Rosso car looks great and it's nice to see that it'll be so easily distinguishable from Red Bull.

Personally I hope the wider tires yield a bit more mechanical grip. Just enough so catching/passing in turbulent air becomes more feasible.

[ergott]

Do you think they are selling last years cars for cheap?

dave

Ferrari sells them for about $1-1.5 million if you're interested. You just can't take it home with you. It stays with them and you have the honor of flying out to them when you want to drive it!

[batman1425]

The aero tech on these cars just gets more and more incredible. My dad is a fluid mechanics engineer and has worked on some aspects of this stuff in the past. Several of his former co-workers/employees also spent good time in F1 development. Really incredible what these folks come up with to shave hundredths.

[Seramount]

Hideous things. IMO the pinnacle of F1 car design was in the 80's, it's all been downhill since then.

high-tech...? assuredly.

beautiful...? hardly.

[Elefantino]

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l84/gmmtwo/IMG_0362_zpsi1q6udcd.jpeg

[m_sasso]

In my view, I see the front wings as being way out of hand, the cost for development, repair or replacement for a small mistake bumping one must be stupid astronomical.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/honda-tech.com-vbulletin/640x518/80-multi_wing_plane_01_20_wings__637ed126ce366f2251cd 57f2c4a5cb8afabc08ca.jpg

[SoCalSteve]

Do you think they are selling last years cars for cheap?

dave

Certified Pre-Owned...better warranty than if you buy one new. Win-Win!!!

[cfox]

Do you think they are selling last years cars for cheap?

dave

We were just down in Palm Beach for a kart race, and they had a track weekend going on for vintage race cars. There was a older dude there with Damon Hill's old Williams. Not sure the year (1994?) but it had a Renault V10. His mechanic (one of a team of mechanics) told me the car takes 3 hours to prep before going out, and can go 600 miles before a $100,000 complete motor rebuild. So, about 100k for 200 or so laps.

The thing looked and sounded beautiful.

[Lewis Moon]

So...what does the shark fin do?

[fuzzalow]

Dunno. F1/FIA stuck between a rock and a hard place in creating a better show. Make the cars faster and more brutal to drive is accomplished with bigger tires and larger wings. More passing moves on the track hindered by the even larger front wings losing downforce trailing in the turbulent airflow behind a leading car.

It would have taken lots of boldness to go to a more mechanical grip formula which would have created more competitive track racing at the expense of increased lap times. I think they should have regulated a different formula taken in deemphasizing aero by limiting wing size but allowed design freedom in the undertray & diffuser.

On first glance, these cars will usher in the age of undercut to F1.

[BdaGhisallo]

Dunno. F1/FIA stuck between a rock and a hard place in creating a better show. Make the cars faster and more brutal to drive is accomplished with bigger tires and larger wings. More passing moves on the track hindered by the even larger front wings losing downforce trailing in the turbulent airflow behind a leading car.

It would have taken lots of boldness to go to a more mechanical grip formula which would have created more competitive track racing at the expense of increased lap times. I think they should have regulated a different formula taken in deemphasizing aero by limiting wing size but allowed design freedom in the undertray & diffuser.

On first glance, these cars will usher in the age of undercut to F1.

Does any F1 fan really care about the lap time (within reason) if the cars were a real handful to drive and enabled drivers to really race each other closely? I think the FIA screwed up with the new rules package. Too much top surface aero that will get disrupted by following too closely behind another car. They should allow increased ground effect downforce from the underbody and greatly limit what is allowed on the top surfaces. The front wings now are crazy in their complexity. Sure they look great and are marvels of engineering and manufacture but how much do they contribute to great racing?

Another thing I think they should do is go back to steel brake discs. Greatly increasing braking distances and give drivers more opportunity to screw it up and open up chances for overtaking in the braking zones. It's hard to out brake someone when the braking distances are so small in length and duration.

MB looking good as always but Ferrari aren't looking too shabby themselves. Still too early to really tell, of course.

[regularguy412]

Does any F1 fan really care about the lap time (within reason) if the cars were a real handful to drive and enabled drivers to really race each other closely? I think the FIA screwed up with the new rules package. Too much top surface aero that will get disrupted by following too closely behind another car. They should allow increased ground effect downforce from the underbody and greatly limit what is allowed on the top surfaces. The front wings now are crazy in their complexity. Sure they look great and are marvels of engineering and manufacture but how much do they contribute to great racing?

Another thing I think they should do is go back to steel brake discs. Greatly increasing braking distances and give drivers more opportunity to screw it up and open up chances for overtaking in the braking zones. It's hard to out brake someone when the braking distances are so small in length and duration.

MB looking good as always but Ferrari aren't looking too shabby themselves. Still too early to really tell, of course.


^^ This.

Tricky little winglets and surface mods are just asking for more shredded tires and crashes. Accomplish similar with ground effects from the underbody and be done with it.

MIke in AR:beer:

[bicycletricycle]

^^ This.

Tricky little winglets and surface mods are just asking for more shredded tires and crashes. Accomplish similar with ground effects from the underbody and be done with it.

MIke in AR:beer:


The LMP1 cars have amazing performance and are able to follow closely, pass, and sustain high g loads in the corners . It would be great if F1 could do the same.

[soulspinner]

I smell more first lap blunders with wider cars more dependant on drivers guts and grip from rubber........

[Black Dog]

I lost interest in F1 when they went to Carbon Fibre, disc brakes, and electronic shifting! ;)

[zap]

Edit

They should allow increased ground effect downforce from the underbody and greatly limit what is allowed on the top surfaces.

Lotus 78 & 79 cars.

[Llewellyn]

Edit



Lotus 78 & 79 cars.

Gorgeous looking cars in a classic colour scheme :hello:

[Formulasaab]

Do you think they are selling last years cars for cheap?

dave

By comparison to their cost to develop and build, yes.

However, if you actually want to DRIVE it (not just look at it) you have to also purchase a significant pile of support equipment and employ a portion of a F1-trained team to run it.

For example, the engines and gearboxes are essentially seized when cold so you have to heat them, and the fluids, up to operating temperature before you can start them.

There's a guy out there (I read an article in a magazine) who built his own (previous-generation) F1 car out of a combination of the sold-off assets from the failed Caterham team, surplus and last-years parts bought from a variety of other teams, and a customer-level Formula 3 engine. He couldn't use a real F1 engine because of the reasons I mentioned above.

Pretty impressive really.

[Corso]

I’d LOVE IT if F1 cars went back to 1970s specs.

With modern safety features naturally.

Cars then had more individual personality.

That’s why I don’t follow indy cars anymore, all the same car.

But to stay on topic: I like the wider tires.

[Corso]

I lost interest in F1 when they went to Carbon Fibre, disc brakes, and electronic shifting! ;)

Took me a while, but I get it! Well played sir!

[tristan]

After reading the Ross Brawn / Adam Parr book I'm super excited about Brawn being back in F1 and the direction that F1 will take over the next three years.

If you're at all interested in F1 and/or the organization and function of teams you'll really enjoy the book.

https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/68QxxV80/s8/f1-ross-brawn-book-total-competition-2016-ross-brawn-and-adam-parr-book-cover-total-compe.jpg

[tristan]

I smell more first lap blunders with wider cars more dependant on drivers guts and grip from rubber........

Especially if the tires snap when the cars are heavy with fuel and the tires are cold
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/03/01/williams-not-blaming-stroll-for-crash-but-team-may-not-run-tomorrow/

[buckfifty]

And Lewis no longer has to deal with a whiner.

I'm looking forward to it. Even downloaded the F1 app to my phone,,, along with the Moto GP app, too !


Mike in AR:beer:

not really an F1 fan but love motogp. very interested in this coming season with Lorenzo at Ducati and how quickly Vinales has adapted to the Yamaha. Rossi still looks good but I think the main battle for the championship will be Vinales and Marquez