A place to discuss the characteristics of the cars in Formula One, both current as well as historical. Laptimes, driver worshipping and team chatter do not belong here.
By far this is the most advanced car presented so far - both aerodynamically and mechanically. Front wing with ingenious attachment to struts via longitudinal bars/screws (I guess titanium), front suspension with tiny space between raised lower and upper arms allowing undisturbed air flow beneath, small sidepods, sleek engine cover and of course unmatched gearbox and whole rear end assembly.
Simply fantastic!
Last edited by manchild on 07 Feb 2012, 10:57, edited 1 time in total.
Three things I immediately thought of when I saw that front wing:
1. As manchild spotted, the metal bar running the length of the bottom of the struts and into the front wing should make it easy to adjust for flex. They may even be able to adjust angle of attack and flex during pitstops.
2. I was expecting camera pods between the struts, a la F2012.
3. Those front wing flaps, best product placement. Ever.
It does look pretty fancy aero-wise. I do hope the Renault motor will carry them a bit further up the field. Last year the internet experts were all ooh and aahing over the fancy rear end, but the results never came.
Nope, just look at zgred's high-contrast front end pic. Those are simply turning vanes.
edit:
Looking at zgred's pic again, they seem to be aiming the exhausts straight at the beam wing.
What's that metallic thing at the trailing edge of the front wing? Right in the middle. First I thought it was an artifact on the launch photo, but I saw it again on the action photo.
Last edited by joseff on 07 Feb 2012, 12:19, edited 1 time in total.
From the pictures I have seen, the car appears very much to be an evolution of last year's design instead of something completely new. The FW is the same as last year's, and there is a strong resemblance to the FW33 through the monocoque and the sidepod structure. The engine intake/roll over is more minimalist, and the car tapers much better towards the rear, I guess thanks to the Renault engine and associated fuel tank, cooling etc. The exhausts appear to be very "neutral" in placement, like in 2009 etc.
I haven't seen clear enough pictures of the very rear of the car to comment, but I'd like to see how the RW is mounted and some better shots of the beam wing.
All in all it looks very tidy, but will that be enough against the design concepts we've seen from the other teams so far?
I would very much like to see an overhead shot, along with some directly from the front and rear.
Very interesting. I agree with previous comment that this is the most aggressively designed car of 2012 so far. Although everyone thought the tight rear end and ultra-low grearbox didn't work last year, I'm fairly convinced the package was let down by the Cosworth engine and probably more so by the unreliability of the truely inovative gearbox design. But that isn't a surprise. They've had a year to sort the gearbox problems and a truely up to date engine package now.
I'm gonna lay it on the line and predict this car will push Williams well up the grid. I'm not saying winner but I will say regular top tens with the odd top five finish.
OK, might be a bit of hope in there but damn that car looks good, even with it's bashed in nose.
