Racing
January 27th, 2012 at 11:56am
Under Racing
In the round-up: Vitantonio Liuzzi says HRT “might be forced to look for a driver that brings money.”
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
‘Money is the key’ (ESPN)
“At the moment the team has been clear to me; it’s a difficult period in terms of money so they are trying hard to find sponsors to be able to run me as per the contract. But in the case that they are struggling then they might be forced to look for a driver that brings money.”
Kimi Raikkonen primed for Formula One comeback with Lotus (BBC)
“I was expecting it to feel faster than it was. OK, Valencia is not the fastest circuit, but it was still pretty normal.”
Mario Andretti via Twitter
“Hey Rubens Barrichello, good luck at the Sebring test. Hope you’ll like it enough to join IndyCar. Tony Kanaan will be a great mate!”
Barrichello had a seat fitting at KV Racing yesterday.
Paul Seaby via Twitter
“The new Lotus F1 fired up successfully at 1.12pm… All systems good! Bring on the first test!”
Caterham poised for Arden tie-up (The Checkered Flag)
“An internet search for ‘Arden Caterham Motorsport’ reveals that Arden Motorsport Limited were renamed Arden Caterham Motorsport Limited in November 2011.”
Q&A with Kazuki Nakajima (Autosport)
“I haven’t given up on going back to F1; I’ve always said that. This is going to be another challenge and something different.”
Sky Sports News announces 2012 plans
“Rachel Brookes and Craig Slater will be broadcasting ‘up to six days of coverage from each Grand Prix, with on-site reports beginning each Tuesday’.”
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
K. Rieke objects to the reduced scope for development in F1:
I liked the cars of the 1980s, and also the clean ones of the 2000s. But my favourites were the 1970s, because of the variety and individual creativity by the designers that was allowed – encouraged – by the rules.
The trend of the rules now dictating that all the cars look so alike is stifling what makes F1 interesting for me, which is the technical high-wire acts that the teams used to conduct to come up with a unique solution to the problem of “getting to the chequered flag first.”
K. Rieke
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Shelley Lee and TNFOX!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Fifty years ago several top F1 drivers were racing in New Zealand. Bruce McLaren won the Teretonga Trophy driving on home ground.
Driving a Cooper, he started on pole position ahead of Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham, and they finished in that order.
By Mikel
January 27th, 2012 at 11:56am
Under Racing
When Formula One fans think of classic battles over the years, they usually recall names such as Senna vs. Prost or Hunt vs. Lauda and perhaps even Mansell vs. Piquet. Those names are rightly justified when considering such great battles in F1 and some fans may even show their passion for teams instead of drivers offering names such as Ferrari vs. McLaren or Williams Vs. Everyone.
Whether it be drivers or teams, you cannot fault the F1 fan for immediately gravitating to the highest profile battles in the sports history. What you may not find is the epic battles that are less publicized. The battles that are more germane to the biggest driver and team battles in history. I speak, of course, of the battle of Engineer vs. Engineer.
The sport of Formula One is littered with battles of the mind from the dawn of time and no discussion can leave out some of the sports greatest thinkers but when you boil the issue down, two men come to the forefront of the struggle between pen, paper and fabrication. That battle is…
Adrian Newey vs. Rory Byrne.
Adrian Newey is the most successful designer in F1’s history with eight (8) constructor’s titles. Rory Byrne was the most successful designer in F1 with 7 titles but was eclipsed by Newey in 2011 with their World Constructor’s title win at Red Bull.
Newey’s title-winning cars are:
The Williams cars:
1992- FW14B
1993- FW15C
1994- FW16
1996- FW18
1997- FW19
The McLaren Car:
1998- MP4/13
The Red Bull Cars:
2010- RB6
2011- RB7
Rory Byrnes title-winning cars are:
The Benetton cars:
1995- B195
The Ferrari cars:
1999- F399
2000- F1-2000
2001- F2001
2002- F2002
2003- F2003GA
2004- F2004
The beginnings:
Newey was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England and attended the University of Southampton where he attained a First Class honours degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1980. Byrne was born in Pretoria, South Africa and attended Witwatersrand University and began working as a chemist after graduation in 1965.
Newey graduated and went straight to work in racing with the March team. His first project was the March GTP sports car and it won the IMSA GTP title two years running. Byrne, on the other hand, left his chemist job and joined his friends in opening a performance car parts shop. During this period in his life, he started to design race cars with his first Formula Ford racer.
Byrne’s big break didn’t come until an introduction to Ted Toleman in 1977. Working for Toleman, Byrne began making a name for himself winning two races with the Toleman Formula 2 team and this success allowed for the jump to Formula 1.
Newey joined the March Indycar project in 1983. In 1984 Newey’s design took seven victories including the prestigious Indy 500. The following year Newey’s car won the CART title with Al Unser at the wheel. Bobby Rahal won the tile in 1986 in Newey’s car and would form a relationship that would later play a big role in both men’s lives in 2001.
Newey left CART and returned to March, after a brief stint at FORCE, and was fired in 1990 after the team became Leyton House and faltered. Byrne was in the heat of designing a car for Toleman in which Ayrton Senna would drive and almost win at Monaco.
Toleman’s progress was noticed and the Benetton family decided they’d like to get into F1 and so Byrne set about designing his first Benetton car and eventually won in 1986 with driver Gerhard Berger in Mexico. Newey was busy with his own career as he quickly was hired at Williams F1 which was then a top-running team.
The 1990′s:
The 1990’s came and Newey’s domination started to show. Teamed with another legendary designer, Patrick Head, Newey’s 1991 Williams FW14 was a clear shot across the bow of the then dominant McLaren. The Newey/Head combination went on to win the 1992, 1993 and 1994 titles. Then Rory Byrne came roaring back!
In 1991 Byrne had briefly left Benetton for the failed Reynard F1 project but he came back to the team in the fall of that year. When he returned, team boss Flavio Briatore was in full control and a young, talented driver named Michael Schumacher was at the wheel. Byrne promptly designed a car that was immediately noticed as the car to beat in 1994.
Byrne’s work at Benetton in was overshadowed by allegations of cheating and some suggested that Newey had missed the mark with their car in 1994 allowing Benetton to surge but Williams F1 fought back and took the constructor’s title that year. They would not repeat that feat in 1995 as Byrne and Schumacher stole the show winning both titles.
By the late 1990’s Newey stood firmly on top of a record of 6 titles and 67 wins but as Newey’s era seemed to be waning, Byrne’s wave of victories was waxing in epic proportions. While Newey had engineered those 6 titles and 67 wins, he would only manage 15 wins and no titles over the next 15 years such was Byrne’s dominance.
The South African designer would engineer one of the most dominant eras ever seen in F1 history after moving to Ferrari with Michael Schumacher and Benetton team boss Ross Brawn. The team won 6 tiles with 5 of those in successive years from 2000-2004.
From 1992-2004 Byrne engineered 7 titles for Michael Schumacher while Adrian Newey engineered 6 titles for the likes of Mansell, Prost, Hill, Villeneuve and Häkkinen. Newey is the only man to have won titles with three different teams in F1.
Newey’s recent 2-title performance in 2010 and 2011 with Red Bull Racing is only setting the stage for what could become another Byrne/Ferrari-like domination. Although he joined Red Bull Racing in 2006, he nearly joined in 2001 when his old friend Bobby Rahal had signed him to contract with the team which was then known as Jaguar Racing. Newey reneged and stayed at McLaren and this ultimately put the nail in Rahal’s coffin as team boss at the Jaguar team.
Newey has put his stamp on F1 as the most successful engineer in history and no one can marginalize the impact of his efforts. Newey has had his moments and has pushed the limits of the car which some critics suggest he has compromised the durability of the car by pushing the limits too far. McLaren’s MP4/18 was still-born and never raced after major issues were discovered in pre-season testing.
If you consider the drama on track from 1980-2011, you can name a lot of terrific driver and team battles but if we’re honest, none of that would have happened with the scope and amazement had these two men not been pitting their minds against each other for those 30 amazing years. There have been other successful, brilliant designers who deserve major praise but Byrne and Newey will be forever remembered as the two men who pushed F1 to new limits and gave us some of the most incredible battles the sport has ever seen.
Newey is still at Red Bull and perhaps Byrne’s consulting input will be felt in a resurgent Ferrari for 2012…at least that’s what we can hope for because no F1 fans truly wants this battle of Newey vs. Byrne to end any time soon.
By Mikel
January 27th, 2012 at 11:56am
Under Racing
Vitaly Petrov, a man with no Formula 1 drive but plenty of money, said a few interesting things Wednesday at a Pirelli event in Abu Dhabi.
(Quick digression: It’s hard to feel to sorry for him when he’s doing events in Abu Dhabi. He ain’t in Siberia, is all I’m saying.)
These quotes come via Autosport:
On whether something is on the horizon
“If I say something it will be turned into lots of stories. But please wait a little bit, another week. I want to say something but I can’t say at the moment.”
On the need to stay in F1 in some capacity
“I want to stay in F1 because if I lose one year then it will be very difficult to come back and to take some places for 2013. So it is important to stay.”
On maybe being the test driver for Pirelli
“Today they asked me to come and be part of this event, so I drive some cars, talk to some people and work with them.
“Now in Russia, Pirelli is working quite close and maybe in the future we can do some good deals. So maybe while I will not test Pirelli, maybe we can work together in different parts.”
On why Renault/Lotus dumped him and whether it was because of publicly questioning the team
“I think it was part of it. I think I understand I should not talk about the team like this, but what is done is done and I don’t need to be angry about what happened. Already it is the new year, it is finished so I am fully ready for next year.”
“What is done is done. The team made the decision and I have to accept it, move on and prepare for the next season.”
It sounds from all that like the Pirelli test spot or, perhaps, long-shot, show-me-the-money a drive with Caterham, are what Petrov is after. Does one or the other make more sense? (I.e. should he blow his sponsor money on Caterham rather than work with Pirelli?)
By Mikel
January 27th, 2012 at 11:56am
Under Racing
After releasing a quick picture, subdued by the mysterious dark lighting as to create suspens, Caterham F1 has now engaged in the defense of “ugly”. The car was the first to be unveiled and has been dubbed “Platypus” due to is nosecone share and size. Technical boss Mike Gasc0yne has entered into a bravado-award-winning defense of the nose on their Facebook page:
“As we’re the first car out it is obviously stirring up a lot of debate, but because of the 2012 regulations I think you’ll probably be seeing this type of nose on most of the cars this year,” he wrote.
Gascoyne took the opportunity to mention the ban on blown diffusers as well saying:
“Aerodynamics is always the main focus of performance and improvement. Last year it was all about the blown diffuser, which we struggled with because not having it in 2010 meant we were always playing catch up throughout the 2011 season in comparison to other teams.
“The fact it’s banned this year certainly plays to our advantage. Other teams had so much more development time, they were able to get much more out of it than we were ever able to, so that eliminates a little of the competition in terms of technical development.
“But really, aerodynamics is always one of the main features of development and that’s why we’ve put so much additional resource into it.”
The team will officially launch its car in the pages of the British magazine called F1. The team was the best of the new(er) teams in 2011 and Gascoyne says he’s looking for a furhter move up the grid:
“I think we need to see the car on track first and get feedback from the first tests,” said Gascoyne. “Until we run the car, we only have numbers and simulation data to work with.
“But every team wants to move up the grid and we’re no different. We finished 10th in the last two years, which has been our target, but now I think it’s time we moved forward again. Let’s see what happens we get out on track.”
Let’s be honest, I stopped doubting this team quite a while ago. They may very well leap-frog Williams with the new CT01 and KERS in 2012 and I would be elated for them to do so. Long live Heikki! (by the way, what’s the deal with Heikki?…it’s an old F1B joke folks)
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 07:57pm
Under Racing
Caterham CT01
Caterham chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne says the team stand to benefit from the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers in 2012.
Gascoyne said: “The fact it’s banned this year certainly plays to our advantage. Other teams had so much more development time, they were able to get much more out of it than we were ever able to, so that eliminates a little of the competition in terms of technical development.
“But really, aerodynamics is always one of the main features of development and that’s why we’ve put so much additional resource into it.”
He added the introduction of KERS to the team’s new F1 car will also help them close the gap to the midfield:
“Towards the end of last year it really started to affect us racing with the midfield cars. It hurt us in qualifying and in our eventual race positions. At the last race in 2011, Heikki made a good start and gained a lot of positions but then lost out by not having KERS.
“Having KERS embedded into our 2012 car is another good step forward for us. We had our best ever qualifying in relation to the cars ahead of us in Brazil, and with KERS we could have possibly out-qualified a few of them. So, again, we have another good reason to be very positive about 2012″
The team revealed its CT01 yesterday to much reaction over its unattractive nose design. Gascoyne expects other teams to have similar solutions: “The regulations have changed to limit the height of the nosebox to try to ensure that noses don’t get too high. Our challenge is that you always want to get the chassis as high as possible to allow clean air flow to the underside of the car, and what you see on the CT01 is our solution to that.
“As we’re the first car out it is obviously stirring up a lot of debate, but because of the 2012 regulations I think you’ll probably be seeing this type of nose on most of the cars this year.”
He added the construction and completion of the new car had been aided by improvements within the team:
“It’s the first year of real stability for us on the technical side, and by keeping the Renault Sport F1 engine and Red Bull Technology gearbox, we know exactly what we’re working with and what we can expect. Each year so far we’ve effectively not only had a new design team but also a new gearbox and engine combination.
“Now, however, we have a very stable design team under our technical director Mark Smith, and this means we can take a much bigger step forward in terms of the detail of the design – and that really showed in the homologation process.
“The car build has gone very smoothly. The car will be completely ready for the first test in Jerez on February 7th. In terms of aerodynamic development, we’ve continued our programme in Italy but have augmented that with a development programme in the Williams windtunnel, which has significantly increased our resources.
“All of that means I think we’ll be able to have a better and more competitive car, and we look forward to getting it out, testing it, and proving what the numbers are telling us.”
More information on the 2012 F1 season.
2012 F1 season
Browse all 2012 F1 season articles
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 07:57pm
Under Racing
In the round-up: Pirelli’s Paul Hembery denies claims the tyre manufacture will enlist Vitaly Petrov as a test driver.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Paul Hembery on Twitter
“Just to clarify Vitaly [Petrov] is here as a guest. We do not have a test car never mind talking test drivers. So no truth in rumours.”
Petrov expects F1 decision in next week (Reuters)
“I want to stay in F1 because if I lose one year then it will be very difficult to come back and to take some places for 2013. So it is important to stay.”
Q&A with Pedro de la Rosa (Autosport)
“I have no idea who could be or who is going to be [the other HRT driver]. From day one I’ve always said that I don’t care. What I do want is that it is a driver who can work as a team and who is not obsessed with beating his team-mate as his only goal.”
Caterham first to launch 2012 car after images leaked online (BBC)
Gary Anderson: “The Caterham’s nose looks pretty stupid – but everyone’s going to be heading in that direction.”
The art of fibbing (Grand Prix)
“I go to Frank [Williams] and, choosing my moment carefully – after all, he is trying to win the 1982 championship with Keke Rosberg – I explain that [Derek] Daly and I need to write this column and not look stupid. Could he therefore give me an off-the-record heads up on whether or not Daly would be staying? Frank said Daly was looking good for Williams in 1983. At least, that’s what I thought he said. In fact, knowing what I know now, he didn’t say it exactly.”
Manish Pandey on Twitter
“Universal are working very hard for a short iMax release of Senna too.”
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
I think Chalky did the best job at articulating the mass revulsion at the new Caterham:
Oh My, very odd! I’m sure my kids could build something prettier in Lego.
I know they have to go by the FIA regulations, but it’s looks like they split the cars parts up to different teams and they all came into one warehouse and fitted them together without telling each other what they were making.
Normally I now say “Can’t wait to see what XXXXX looks like”, but I’m not sure now.
Chalky
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Stealthman and Weasel Chops!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Happy birthday to Sergio Perez who turns 22 today!
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 07:57pm
Under Racing
Following up on my last piece on the 50th running of the Daytona 24 hours, I thought I’d give you a little look into how some of these drivers find their way here.
There are a few tiers to the teams and driver combos so let’s take a look at that.
- The all out professional racing team who have a corporate sponsor or manufacturer behind them and have ability to hire whichever driver they choose. An example would be SunTrust or Ganassi (although I’m pretty sure if Memo Rojas left so would the Telmex $$)
- More often you get the professional outfit that does not have the full sponsorship or manufacturer support that needs to boost the budget to make it work. An example of this would be Mike Shank racing & Starworks. They bring in a gentleman driver or possibly a partially funded professional who can help fund the project and still allow the team to have a chance of a good result. Sometimes even these gentleman drivers can get around the track pretty well and with limited stints during the race, they manage to keep the car intact so when the hot shots get in they are still in the hunt.
- The team that has been created by a rich gentleman driver who uses his resources to surround themselves with the best equipment, and co-drivers. Flying Lizard comes to mind here.
- The team that has been created or evolved into an arrive & drive special whereby they bring in the gentlemen drivers from the amateur ranks (Porsche club etc) and offer them a turn key operation where they feel like a pro for the weekend. They just show up and are catered to the whole weekend with coaches, hospitality etc. TRG and Alex Job have perfected this process.
Sports car racing, in general, has always been a playground of the rich whereas in F1 you can be a rich team owner or sponsor however the structure of sports car racing allows the rich to not only be at the race but be in it also. This may sound like a bad thing, but for some of my fellow racers this has enabled them a livelihood for many years.
As we have spoken about with the current influx of pay drivers in F1, racing is not structured like some other sports where the tickets sales, TV rights and associated team gear pay the sportsmen’s salary.
All teams (unless a fully backed manufacturer, and even then long gone are the days where even those teams don’t gain sponsorship dollars from outside sources), have to raise the money to buy, run and staff their teams every year and with the lack of big prize money the only option is sponsorship or some other form of funding. So what’s a talented racing driver to do? Not many of those tier 1 seats come available very often and how do you get to show your skills if you can’t get in a seat to prove yourself? All drivers dream to get into that tier 1 status, but you’ve got to get your butt in a seat first. Luckily or skillfully for some, they have been able to make enough of a name for themselves to be selected but many are still looking for that chance.
So begins the yearly pilgrimage to Daytona, I tried it for a few years but the ego bashing was a bit much for me.
Question- “Hello sir, I was inquiring about the open seat you were advertising on the bathroom wall?”
answer- “ well, how much money you got?”
Little did I know when I first went to Daytona looking for a drive, and was only asked $1,500 for a ride with a team who knew me, it was actually a compliment. I was unaware I was not going to become a household name and lavish in my many victories and millions.
That being said, come the pre race testing days there are many a talented driver still pounding the pavement and burning the cell phone minutes to somehow do this very thing. As I said, the gentleman driver really is the savior if not the essence of sportscar racing, and the hope for the professional driver is to find these opportunities.
The Tiers
A tier 2 ride can still bring in the best of the best (like Allan Mcnish for instance), where the team still stands a great chance of success and the team is still geared towards winning, the paying gentleman driver is usually willing to give up time allocation in the car to gain success and some of that budget they brought in was to hire the right guys to do it.
A tier 3 team is a great place to end up just as well, it usually means the team/owner driver has to know, respect and like you a lot and nursing that relationship is essential to getting invited back year after year. It sometimes means biting your tongue every once in a while, and offering tips and many words of encouragement along the way. You may even have to partake in a meal, trip or a golf game or two that you weren’t too keen on just to keep the gravy train rolling, but that’s a part of many businesses right?
Tier 4 is usually reserved for the GT field, where a team brings 4 or so cars and allocates 1 as the hero car, this is filled with good drivers and gives the team the success to entice the others to join in the fun. Some of the budget from all the other cars pays for this, also a great place to be. Next is where it gets a little less fun, as the rest of the team is filled with the rookie gentlemen drivers, this is the last hope for the hard working ride hustler. What it means is you’ll be in the race, but what it also means is you will probably not be in the best equipment and any hope of success will be dashed by the 300Ib real estate mogul who runs it off the road every 3rd lap while being 15 seconds off the pace.
You’ll also be having to answer remedial questions all weekend long about apexes and gear selection, your nearly in the realm of racing school instructor at this point, you may not even let your friends know your in the race, should they hunt for your position on the timing and scoring in the middle of the night. What your hoping for here is the team owner notices your superlative skills and promotes you to the hero car at the next race.
So when you tune in to SPEED to here Calvin Fish expounding the virtues of AJ Allmendinger’s race craft, spare a thought for the driver left in the wings, or already on his way back to the airport, trying to come up with a new master plan for next year.
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 07:13pm
Under Racing
We can’t say that we didn’t see this news coming. In fact, I’m surprised that it took so long. With almost two decades of Formula One behind him and no ride for 2012, Rubens Barrichello appears to be setting his sites on racing Stateside this season. The eleven time GP winner will be testing one of KV Racing’s IndyCars at the Sebring roadcourse on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The possible move to KV, where Rubens reportedly had a seat fitting last week, would pair him with his old friend and fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan.
IndyCar and it’s predecessor CART have long been a resting place of sorts for F1 pilots after their GP days have ended, with Rubens joining the likes of Emmerson Fittipaldi and Nigel Mansell amongst numerous others to make the switch. The current IndyCar field can lay claim to former Formula One pilots Justin Wilson and Sebastien Bourdais, with Takuma Sato still searching for a spot on this year’s grid.
Barrichello once stated that he would never move to IndyCars as his wife did not want him racing on ovals, though with all but four of this year’s sixteen rounds are on either road or street circuits, it is possible that Rubens may request to run everything but ovals… or maybe the missus has acquiesced?
With a rather unsuccessful 2011 season with Williams ending Barrichello’s Formula One career on a rather low note, should he just ride out his days on some beautiful beach somewhere or continue with his passion behind the wheel of whatever ride he can find?
“When I said that things were open [it] is because I still have lots of speed on me,” Barrichello has said in regards to the potential move. “Just like an old friend said: racing is in my blood.”
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 05:50pm
Under Racing
A close-up view of the CT01’s nose
Tony Fernandes says Caterham must score its first points in Formula 1 in 2012.
Speaking after the team revealed its 2012 F1 car he said: “Target wise, I have been quoted as saying I want us to score a point this year and that really has to be the aim. It has to be.
“Towards the end of last year we were so close to the midfield cars, but our lack of KERS limited our capabilities.
“This year, however, with the people and facilities we have in the factory and the wind tunnel, and with KERS, I am confident that we will become a danger to many of the midfield teams, and yes, I want us to achieve a point somewhere in 2012 – maybe two if we are very lucky.”
Fernandes also commented on the reaction to the car’s unusual appearance: “As long as it is quicker than last year’s car I don’t think the looks matter, and I am sure that when all the other cars are unveiled we will see a pretty common thread running through all of them.
“I actually think it’s beautiful. It’s different, and different does not equal ugly – in fact I think its difference is what makes it beautiful, but then I am probably a bit biased.”
Fernandes said he was “thrilled” that the CT01 was the first of the 2012 cars to appear. He added: “This car represents another step forward for us.
“The detail right across the whole package is light years ahead of where we were when we first started out, and we are all excited about seeing what it can do when we get on track. I’m also very pleased that we were able to show our fans the car so soon.”
The team planned to reveal the first images of the car in a magazine today, but the pictures appeared online yesterday. Fernandes said: “Our aim has always has been to be as open and interactive as possible, allowing our fans a real look inside our team.
“By launching the car through F1 Racing magazine, I feel we’ve been able to give our fans a unique first look at where we’re heading and what Caterham is all about. Maybe next year I’ll tweet a picture of the car to launch it.”
More information on the 2012 F1 season.
2012 F1 season
Browse all 2012 F1 season articles
Image © Caterham
By Mikel
January 26th, 2012 at 05:12pm
Under Racing
Caterham CT01
Most people who commented on the first pictures of the Caterham CT01 yesterday had the same initial reaction: it’s not a looker.
Its stepped nose, which became an instant subject of derision, is a consequence of new rules aimed at improving the safety of the cars. So will we see something similar on every new car this year?
We can expect much the same from Ferrari when their new car is revealed next week, according to Stefano Domencali: “It’s not that pretty,” he said of the team’s new car, “because the shape defined by the technical regulations does not leave much scope.”
The man behind the CT01, Mike Gascyone, expects other teams to produce similar solutions: “I think you’ll probably be seeing this type of nose on most of the cars this year.”
The rules now require the front portion of a car to be no more than 550mm high. But the section of the nose immediately behind it may be up to 625mm high. Therefore, assuming designers continue to prefer the aerodynamic gains offered by high noses, the CT01 will not be the only car to sport a distinctive snout.
Raised cockpit sides don’t look as bad as this any more
In the coming weeks we will discover whether any of other designers have successfully married the rules on nose dimensions to a more attractive form.
It brings to mind the introduction of higher cockpit sides in 1996. They looked dreadful to begin with, but were eventually incorporated into car design in a much more subtle way.
But this is F1, and aesthetics are not going to have priority over performance. Ugly and fast trumps pretty but slow.
Of course, whether a car is “ugly” or “beautiful” is entirely subjective. Everyone has a different view of when F1 car design was at its best: whether it’s the aerodynamically complex creations of the mid-2000s, the low and wide cars of the mid-1990s, the squat turbo beasts of the eighties, the diverse machinery of the seventies, the tapered cigar tubes seen in the sixties or their front-engined predecessors.
But the stifling of innovation, coupled with some exacting technical specifications in the rule book, has combined to make the current cars look decidedly odd.
Since 2009, the front and rear wings look like they belong on different cars
The 2009 aerodynamic regulations, introduced to increase overtaking, succeeded mainly in giving the cars an ungainly appearance rather than creating more passing.
The front and rear wings now have disproportionately odd dimensions – low and wide at the front, tall and narrow at the back – and the passage of three years has not made them more pleasing to the eye.
Add to that the stepped noses which may prove ubiquitous in 2012 and we have a decidedly unattractive new generation of F1 cars.
Hopefully some of the bright minds in other teams have devised more elegant solutions to the nose problem which will spare us from seeing a grid full of these awkward creatures.
If they don’t, it should still only be a temporary problem – albeit one we’re going to have to put up with in the medium-term. The proposed 2014 technical regulations will move the nose 300mm lower, which should give teams the opportunity to do away with this unsightly compromise.
The forthcoming rules change will also reduce the width of the front wings, which should also go some way towards improving the cars’ appearance.
But this is also a symptom of something more troubling: the limited scope for innovation and consequent lack of variety in modern F1. The ever-tightening rules are forcing convergence in car design upon the teams, to the extent where F1 increasingly looks like a single-spec series.
A view which is only going to be reinforced if there are 24 cars with alligator noses on the grid in Melbourne.
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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Renault/LAT
By Mikel
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