2012 Car Launches thread

[nome66]

so now that they are called Marussia, and Marussia make cars, are they a factory team? or just the name? like Spyker and *cough* Bahar-Toleman?

[Stramala]

They are the new Spyker, essentially. They ran with a Dutch license despite being based in Silverstone, and Marussia will run with a Russian license despite being based in Banbury.

[Stramala]

They are the new Spyker, essentially. They ran with a Dutch license despite being based in Silverstone, and Marussia will run with a Russian license despite being based in Banbury.

[solarcold]

so now that they are called Marussia, and Marussia make cars, are they a factory team? or just the name? like Spyker and *cough* Bahar-Toleman?

to me it looks like the name

[Ferrim]

Marussia cars drive you!

[AndreaModa]

Marussia cars drive you!

That's been Timo Glock's excuse these past few years!

[solarcold]

Marussia cars drive you!

Even in modern Russia

[golic_2004]

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... -nose-bump

Should it need a nose job? I haven't even seen the pics yet, though apparently someone has.

[Pointrox]

Oh deary me, in days to come we will have a festival of hideosity

[DanielPT]

Oh deary me, in days to come we will have a festival of hideosity

Some dark days are upon us that is for sure... Let's hope McLaren or RBR can save us all.

[solarcold]

How about the "prediction of what team will present the most beautiful car" poll.
i predict that will be Sauber.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

How about the "prediction of what team will present the most beautiful car" poll.
i predict that will be Sauber.

I predict HRT. For having a car, and thus continuing to exist.

[Pointrox]

How about the "prediction of what team will present the most beautiful car" poll.
i predict that will be Sauber.

I predict HRT. For having a car, and thus continuing to exist.

Seconded.
Plus, if they are still in touch with Daniel Simon, they might present the car in another epic livery, very likely in Spanish colours - red and yellow.
That's why I'm waiting for their presentation

[mario]

Oh deary me, in days to come we will have a festival of hideosity

Some dark days are upon us that is for sure... Let's hope McLaren or RBR can save us all.

I hope so, though am not entirely sure about Red Bull (they were one of the first teams to start raising the nose quite aggressively on their cars); at the very least, it seems that the official Formula 1 website has hinted fairly strongly that Ferrari will have a similar design for 2012. Here's an illustration on the F1Technical forums of such news:


I think, though, that the bulk of the grid will follow that route, including Red Bull and possibly McLaren: scarbsf1 has said that wind tunnel tests suggest the kink in the nose shape is the most aerodynamically efficient method to work around the FIA's restrictions.

[DanielPT]

Oh deary me, in days to come we will have a festival of hideosity

Some dark days are upon us that is for sure... Let's hope McLaren or RBR can save us all.

I hope so, though am not entirely sure about Red Bull (they were one of the first teams to start raising the nose quite aggressively on their cars); at the very least, it seems that the official Formula 1 website has hinted fairly strongly that Ferrari will have a similar design for 2012. Here's an illustration on the F1Technical forums of such news:


I think, though, that the bulk of the grid will follow that route, including Red Bull and possibly McLaren: scarbsf1 has said that wind tunnel tests suggest the kink in the nose shape is the most aerodynamically efficient method to work around the FIA's restrictions.

Let me tell you, mario, that despite your post I will keep a somewhat faint hope of good looking cars on the grid this year. Anyway it should be good news for those who believe themselves to be ugly, knowing that they are watching something that, in their mind, is possibly worse...

[AdrianSutil]

How about the "prediction of what team will present the most beautiful car" poll.
i predict that will be Sauber.

Well Peter Sauber has hinted their car will also have the nose 'step'. Plus thier livery will mostly be white with bits of red and black, so expect a similar livery to last year.

I think HRT will come up with another radical livery. What's Marussia's official colours anyway? Red and black?

[solarcold]

I think HRT will come up with another radical livery. What's Marussia's official colours anyway? Red and black?

Hope the same 'bout HRT.
As for Marussia-Virgin (by the way thank god they're not named this way anymore, we russians were shocked when we heard this name first), I believe black and red are actually Virgin's official colors. Can't say the same about Marussia. From what I know, Marussia's logo consists of blue, red and white. Black might also be used.

[AndreaModa]

They will still be heavily sponsored by Virgin though, so I suspect it will continue to influence the scheme of the car.

In other related news, Autosport are working themselves up into a frenzy about McLaren's new car, with Geoff McGrath of McLaren Applied Technologies saying that the new car will feature obvious design innovations which could potentially attract protests from rivals.

[DanielPT]

They will still be heavily sponsored by Virgin though, so I suspect it will continue to influence the scheme of the car.

In other related news, Autosport are working themselves up into a frenzy about McLaren's new car, with Geoff McGrath of McLaren Applied Technologies saying that the new car will feature obvious design innovations which could potentially attract protests from rivals.

Every year Autosport and BBC (and most of F1 related British press) go on a frenzy about McLaren's new car. And then McLaren goes and disappoints in testing after saying the car is hugely innovative. They end up reverting to old skool. Let's see this year if history repeats itself...

[mario]

They will still be heavily sponsored by Virgin though, so I suspect it will continue to influence the scheme of the car.

In other related news, Autosport are working themselves up into a frenzy about McLaren's new car, with Geoff McGrath of McLaren Applied Technologies saying that the new car will feature obvious design innovations which could potentially attract protests from rivals.

McGrath is right that McLaren have failed to produce a car that is competitive right out of the box immediately for the past few years - they've had to claw their way back into contention since 2009, though it hasn't necessarily been from a lack of effort. McLaren are probably right to be wary of protests though - we saw how the F-duct was banned after a year, whilst the changes that the FIA has made to the side impact tests might be an attempt to indirectly ban their U-shaped sidepods. And that is before you consider what happened with the ride height adjustment mechanism that Lotus were working on, where the FIA's backtracking on the legality of the device was because another team protested to the FIA.
Mind you, McGrath might not have won much support from either Hamilton or Button with his closing comments if they are accurate:

McGrath added that beating qualifying master Sebastian Vettel will be crucial if McLaren is to be successful in 2012, particularly as its analysis indicated that the raw pace of last year's MP4-26 was superior towards the end of the season despite Red Bull and Vettel's run of poles.
"He must be a brilliant driver, because by the end of last season we definitely had the best car and he was still whupping us," McGrath said. "We're trying to figure out exactly what he's doing that's so good. How does he pull out that fast qualifying lap every time? We think it's driver skill. There's no trickery on the cars, he just gets more out of it than we do."

I can't imagine that either driver will appreciate being publicly told that they weren't fast enough in that manner, particularly Hamilton (given that he is looking for support from the team after his personal issues). It may very well be true - without telemetry or another source of objective evidence it is hard to prove that statement for definite - but sometimes the truth hurts, and it may have paid to be a bit more tactful with their drivers. After all, Webber was also routinely quicker than one or both McLaren drivers in sectors of the lap where aero performance was key (first sector of Suzuka, the middle sector of the Buddh circuit or the middle sector of Interlagos); are we to conclude that Webber was also outperforming the car, just not to the extent that Vettel was?

[EDIT] Strangely, the article that AndreaModa linked to previously has now vanished off the Autosport website - it looks like somebody must have raised some objection to the article...

[Wizzie]

Toro Rosso to launch on Feb 6 and Williams on the morning of Feb 7

[Wizzie]

For anyone whose interested, the McLaren launch starts in 10 minutes on their official website and their Facebook page. Hopefully it'd be a good looking car like the others they tend to produce in recent years

[DanielPT]

For anyone whose interested, the McLaren launch starts in 10 minutes on their official website and their Facebook page. Hopefully it'd be a good looking car like the others they tend to produce in recent years

Looks promising. Waiting for more pictures and close-ups.

[madmark1974]

For anyone whose interested, the McLaren launch starts in 10 minutes on their official website and their Facebook page. Hopefully it'd be a good looking car like the others they tend to produce in recent years

Looks promising. Waiting for more pictures and close-ups.

Watching a bit of the live launch - no ugly nose bump in sight!

[AndreaModa]

Looks lovely, also an interesting 'bump' on the side of the sidepod, as well as an aggressive angling of the exhausts towards the rear wing.

Here's a good image from F1 Fanatic:

[DanielPT]

Looks brilliant without that Kubica-like nose bump. I knew I could count on McLaren. I now want to see if they made this no nose bump choice because its faster this way or because its more beautiful this way.

[eagleash]

Another view; gives a strangely rounded and shorter impression of the new car

[VirtuaMcPolygon]

well it looks quick, which is normally a good sign!

All the platypus noses just look like someone has stuck something that has fallen off an indy car onto an F1 car.

[James1978]

That McLaren looks great. In fact with the exception of 1995 I can't ever remember a McLaren looking ugly, certainly not since Ron Dennis took over the team.

[CoopsII]

I wonder if 2012 will see the emergence of Stupid-Flat-Nose-Gate where the ones with said noses go faster than those without. Equally, if the Ferrari bombs out just who in the Maranello design office with be beaten to death with pancetta by Di Montezemelo.

[mario]

Looks brilliant without that Kubica-like nose bump. I knew I could count on McLaren. I now want to see if they made this no nose bump choice because its faster this way or because its more beautiful this way.

It fits in with the recent McLaren philosophy for a relatively low nose compared to their rivals in recent years, plus the indication from scarbsf1 is that McLaren have lowered the chassis as a whole (he mentions that the top of the chassis is flat topped). The way that the exhausts have been arranged is an interesting twist too (and perhaps is a hint towards what McLaren were suggesting might cause some controversy amongst other teams), plus the sidepods have been through a fairly sizeable redesign (the angled shot from F1Fanatic doesn't quite show it, but the top of the sidepods is not flat but slightly angled downwards towards the cockpit).


I wouldn't be surprised, though, if there are still a few parts on the car that are from the MP4-26, at least for the launch (in the same way that Caterham launched their car with an early 2011 specification front wing). Either way, it looks like McLaren - so far at least - probably have the best looking car, given that Ferrari and Sauber have already indicated they are following Caterham's design logic.

[dinizintheoven]

So, the first picture...



...that gave me the (slight) impression that McLaren had copied the hollowed-out sidepods from the Force India VJM02, though it was just the shape of the Vodafone logo. The second:



...that says "so, where are the exhausts?" Caterham's were at least visible. And the third:



...something about the view of the sidepods from that angle says "2011 Indy chassis".

But, håpla, no crocodile-nose!

Bring on the next launch...

[Pointrox]

So far McLaren is the best looking car.
You actually can design a car that doesn't look like feces. I still wonder what crossed Gascoyne's mind to make a step in CT01's nose...

[eagleash]

So far McLaren is the best looking car.
You actually can design a car that doesn't look like a turd. I still wonder what crossed Gascoyne's mind to make a step in CT01's nose...

Charming. I suppose the new moderators don't share Carlos' dislike of excrement in the threads.

Anyways; this is supposedly the official Macca launch picture



Button ahead of Hamilton already.

[mario]

So far McLaren is the best looking car.
You actually can design a car that doesn't look like a turd. I still wonder what crossed Gascoyne's mind to make a step in CT01's nose...

Charming. I suppose the new moderators don't share Carlos' dislike of excrement in the threads.

It is a relatively mild term to use so unless it causes offence, I'll leave it for now. As for Gascoyne and the CT-01, here is what Gascoyne has to say when asked about the nose design:

What about this nose? It's creating quite a lot of debate...
[MG] Yes, well 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.

[DanielPT]

So, Caterham went with the chassis high as possible making place for weird noses and McLaren went with the chassis as low as possible. I wonder what the other main teams will chose.

[Minardi Man]

Hurrah for the pretty new Mclaren!
I just hope it's as fast as it looks, and I REALLY hope that the stepped noses of unholy uglyness don't perform at all.

[Phoenix]

Is it me or the new McLaren looks pretty much like a MP4-25 without F-duct? Let's see how good it is, but being conservative hasn't exactly helped Ferrari this year, as a matter of fact.

[mario]

Is it me or the new McLaren looks pretty much like a MP4-25 without F-duct? Let's see how good it is, but being conservative hasn't exactly helped Ferrari this year, as a matter of fact.

That does seem to be the general feeling amongst some commentators (Craig Scarborough, aka scarbsf1, and Windsor were discussing the car and whilst they admited the aesthetics of the car, they did point out that the car is somewhat conservative when compared to the predictions of what Ferrari might be doing). The general consensus seems to be that this is more along the lines of a refined MP4-26, particularly given that some of McLaren's engineers have talked about how the team have been making incremental changes to components and Whitmarsh has said that the tighter regulations the FIA are imposing have limited the areas in which McLaren could develop their car. OK, McLaren are probably being slightly conservative on launch intentionally - they didn't reveal the F-duct, for example, until during testing, and Craig is pretty confident that the current bodywork around the exhausts will be replaced by the time testing starts - but even so it doesn't seem quite as much of a departure as the MP4-26 was from the MP4-25.
Mind you, you can kind of see why McLaren have been a little conservative - McLaren has closed the gap to Red Bull by the end of the season last year, plus to a certain extent it seems that McLaren want a car that is derived from a known quantity given the changes in tyres and the fact that their 2011 campaign was badly compromised by multiple problems in pre-season testing that year. The indication is that they'd prefer something that is likely to be reasonably quick out of the box and reliable, so they can focus more on improving the speed of the car rather than having to work on its reliability, which makes sense.

There was also an interesting suggestion from Craig that McLaren might have gone for a lower nose design based on feedback from their drivers rather than aerodynamics or similar reasons - it seems that Button was not especially keen on a higher nose because it partially blocked his line of sight, making it harder for him to position the car as precisely as he would like. If true, it reflects a certain pragmatism on McLaren's side - there is no point in going all out to get the fastest car if it results in a situation where your drivers can't take full advantage of that performance.

[lostpin]

Now that's a car. Beautiful.