2014 launch thread

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 25 Jan 2014, 00:22

Please, McLaren? Pretty please?

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 25 Jan 2014, 00:27

I don't know, but that McLaren somehow reminds me of a 1990 EuroBrun... Partially because that one was silver and had a quite long nose too. But there's hope, because that car, which didn't look too good either, did look fabulous in the orange livery they used the year before!

watka · Post by **watka** » 25 Jan 2014, 01:08

The Lotus looks pretty cool is you ask me and its a bold move to have such deliberate asymmetry on the car as that.

The McLaren isn't too bad looking. What actually disturbs be more than the "phallic" nose is the way that that the nose curves towards the end, creating more of a tube unlike a traditionally boxy front wing with straight edges.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 25 Jan 2014, 07:46

My quick thoughts as I try to start posting on this forum again with less time to dedicate:
- I think the McLaren looks horrid! But, to be honest, I actually like the "clean" silver without red. It's probably not the final livery though.
- The Lotus nose I actually quite like... at first I was a bit shocked, but it's growing on me. I like to see a bit of change from time to time, and in recent years there has been too little (aside from the stepped noses which were awful, but I'm not sure these "anteaters" are an improvement).
- I like Force India's change of livery, but I think it would look way better without the white, just black, orange and green. And I hope it's actual black and not the kind of tungsten that Sauber has used.

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 25 Jan 2014, 07:49

Interesting video from Magnussen on the way that he believes the new cars will behave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S31btyJWS10

Of course, all speculation, but this bodes well for exciting racing!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 25 Jan 2014, 10:38

There's a very IndyCar look to that McLaren, I think.

IceG · Post by **IceG** » 25 Jan 2014, 10:59

I wonder if the Lotus will have two versions of the nose, one with reversed asymmetry for anti-clockwise tracks?

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:40

http://f14t.ferrari.com/en/#photogallery/6

Well, there's a pic of the Ferrari. I have to say it isn't the prettiest, but it looks good on my eyes.

Post by **Londoner** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:41

The new Ferrari is upon us, and it looks like they ran over an anteater and covered it in carbon fibre to make their new nosecone. :lol:

Basetornado · Post by **Basetornado** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:44

It actually looks pretty good. The best looking nose so far at least. Although thats not saying much.

VirtuaMcPolygon · Post by **VirtuaMcPolygon** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:45

Should be sponsored by Dyson...

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:48

Oh dear God... ferrari.com, so it's hardly fake either.

That's got to be the worst looking F1 car for at least 20 years. It's like an anteater that's tried to eat one of those wide-mouthed fish that scrape along the bottom the ocean floor and it's gotten stuck in its snout. I really hope it's terrible and they have to redesign the nose within 2 races.

Anyone else thing "Batmobile" when they saw the head on view of the McLaren? They should paint it satin black.

mediocre · Post by **mediocre** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:53

When's Marussias launch? They seem to be the only team missing an announcement so far.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:53

I like the Ferrari. By far the best looking on the grid so far.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:54

Well, I actually quite like the Ferrari, the nose is a much better approach than the McLaren and Williams style. The great thing about the new rules is that every team is taking a very different approach to nose design, meaning each car looks unique.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 25 Jan 2014, 13:58

mediocre wrote:When's Marussias launch? They seem to be the only team missing an announcement so far.

Monday January 28th. Lotus is the only team who hasn't revealed when they'll actually reveal the car.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 25 Jan 2014, 14:17

Three words for that Ferrari:

Anteater. Vacuum. Cleaner.

The nose by McLaren is the godawful anteater nose that they managed to make it look good. Lotus made their nose asymmetrically,unusual but nice. Ferrari,though, looked like they designed the nose first, then the chassis,and needed a missing lego piece to connect the two, with the joints smoothed out with carbon fibre.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 25 Jan 2014, 14:18

It seems clear to me that the new Ferrari nose has been influenced by ...

... a warthog.

What's with all the black as well?!?

P.S. Have just recorded a new podcast with Jamie while the Ferrari was being launched.

Kobacrashi · Post by **Kobacrashi** » 25 Jan 2014, 14:25

By the looks of it Ferrari are slowly stealing Marussia's colour scheme in their hope that they will be camouflaged when they are down the back of the grid.

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 25 Jan 2014, 14:54

Dear God, can it get any worse than the Ferrari? At least the McLaren had roundness, this...no

Also, does the black at the back make it look as its missing half of its engine cover?

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 25 Jan 2014, 15:07

The Ferrari is nearly there, actually. A more progressive link between the chassis and the wing, instead of that jump, and it would look pretty good to the eye.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 25 Jan 2014, 15:55

roblomas52 wrote:I like the Ferrari. By far the best looking on the grid so far.

Me too.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 25 Jan 2014, 16:15

The Ferrari is... not so good. At least all the cars will look different this year.

Divina_Galica · Post by **Divina_Galica** » 25 Jan 2014, 17:33

WaffleCat wrote:Three words for that Ferrari:

Anteater. Vacuum. Cleaner.

The nose by McLaren is the godawful anteater nose that they managed to make it look good. Lotus made their nose asymmetrically,unusual but nice. Ferrari,though, looked like they designed the nose first, then the chassis,and needed a missing lego piece to connect the two, with the joints smoothed out with carbon fibre.

Roman nose...

Agreed, the Ferrari is the worst (so far)

DG

Post by **Nuppiz** » 25 Jan 2014, 18:01

I haven't commented on the new cars yet, but here's my short and very uneducated reviews on each.

Force India (livery only): too many colors competing with each other. I hope that's only a draft and will change before the season.
Williams: looks like a wood-eating beetle.
McLaren: oh dear, that's the most wiener-like nose yet. Add to that the terribly boring chrome livery job and we've got the worst car so far. I hope they get a sponsor that adds some color to it.
Lotus: that nose is... different. Not as bad as the Merc but still weird, especially with the asymmetric nose extension. Livery is OK-ish.
Ferrari: Not too bad I guess. The sloping on the nose is quite extreme, but it's still preferrable to the wiener type seen on the Williams and McLaren. Don't see the point in the black bits though.

Post by **mario** » 25 Jan 2014, 18:10

Ferrim wrote:The Ferrari is nearly there, actually. A more progressive link between the chassis and the wing, instead of that jump, and it would look pretty good to the eye.

It seems that Ferrari have kept the high chassis (625mm) for as far as they could - that is why the front has to drop so sharply in order to meet the new restrictions on nose height and resulting in a slightly smoother version of the step noses we've seen recently.

However, if you can turn your attention to the rear of the car, it seems that quite a few observers are commenting favourably on the relatively tight packaging of the F14T (It's been confirmed that will be the name they will use). It's a little hard to tell due to the black paint (apparently, it is being driven by sponsor demands - white writing shows up more clearly on TV cameras against a black background), but it seems that the radiator intakes are similar in size to the ones from the F138 (whereas McLaren seem to have significantly larger radiator intakes) and the rear bodywork remains fairly svelte.

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 25 Jan 2014, 18:52

To me the Ferrari's nose looks like the McLaren's but without the front "shaft" as it were.

I don't know if that is a good thing for either team, as they both look ugly. Lotus's car seems to be the best looking one out of all of them shown thus far, with Force India's livery being the best of those. Just my opinion of course.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 25 Jan 2014, 21:21

That Ferrari. I'm not too bothered about the black part on the engine cover, but when I see the front all I can think is 'sad anteater that couldn't catch his ants'. Or is that just me?

Post by **mario** » 25 Jan 2014, 21:28

Dan B wrote:To me the Ferrari's nose looks like the McLaren's but without the front "shaft" as it were.

I don't know if that is a good thing for either team, as they both look ugly. Lotus's car seems to be the best looking one out of all of them shown thus far, with Force India's livery being the best of those. Just my opinion of course.

It's been suggested that Ferrari are focussing on a different concept to McLaren - it seems that Ferrari are aiming to enhance the airflow beneath the nose by the use of flow conditioners behind the nose, whereas the designs by McLaren and Williams aim to reduce the impediment to the airflow beneath the nose. We've still seen three very different takes on the new nose regulations, any one of which might prove to be the most effective in the end, and I am sure that there will be a few more surprises in the next few days.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 26 Jan 2014, 14:32

The new Sauber has been leaked a couple of hours early:

Have to say, from that angle that nose is my favourite so far. And although the livery is pretty much unchanged from last year it does look very nice. Not many sponsors though...

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 26 Jan 2014, 14:44

Well, it does look decent. Same uninspiring, boring, and quite dark livery though.

It looks to me that the nose is using the same comcept as the McLaren and Williams, but it looks like to me that they are using the sides of the nose as air intakes to deliver air to the diffuser of the car? If so, that could be an ingenious plan. I'm not sure if that's allowed by regulations, but that's what it sure looks like.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 26 Jan 2014, 15:22

The Ferrari looks like it's melted at the front. Either that or Alan Jones has sat on it.

Sauber, though: once we get a proper front view, that might be the least ugly of the lot.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 26 Jan 2014, 16:29

go_Rubens wrote:Well, it does look decent. Same uninspiring, boring, and quite dark livery though.

It looks to me that the nose is using the same comcept as the McLaren and Williams, but it looks like to me that they are using the sides of the nose as air intakes to deliver air to the diffuser of the car? If so, that could be an ingenious plan. I'm not sure if that's allowed by regulations, but that's what it sure looks like.

Sauber had a vented nosecone in 2012 IIRC, as did Red Bull.

Post by **mario** » 26 Jan 2014, 16:50

good_Ralf wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:Well, it does look decent. Same uninspiring, boring, and quite dark livery though.

It looks to me that the nose is using the same comcept as the McLaren and Williams, but it looks like to me that they are using the sides of the nose as air intakes to deliver air to the diffuser of the car? If so, that could be an ingenious plan. I'm not sure if that's allowed by regulations, but that's what it sure looks like.

Sauber had a vented nosecone in 2012 IIRC, as did Red Bull.

You do indeed remember corrbelly - Sauber did indeed have a vented nosecone, which many believed was designed to prevent airflow separation behind the step in the nosecone. As for Red Bull, the purpose of their slot in the nosecone is less clear - the official explanation was that it was for cooling the driver and electronics at the front of the car, but there was always some suspicion that it was being used for something else (some thought that it was a similar system to what Sauber were doing, but it was never really adequately explained at the time).

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 26 Jan 2014, 20:42

I just love how Sauber have officially "launched" their C33 by releasing two pictures that reveal absolutely stuff-all about the nose design, front wing design, front suspension layout, sidepod width and shape, and rear-end packaging. In other words, all of the details that most people are hanging out to see.

They don't even have the decency to give us a better livery than last year.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 26 Jan 2014, 20:45

Am I the only person who has liked the Sauber liveries of the past few years?

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 26 Jan 2014, 20:53

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Am I the only person who has liked the Sauber liveries of the past few years?

The black livery is quite good, especially since Sauber hardly change their livery. It was black between 1993-4, dark blue/black between 1995-7, blue/white between 1998-2005, white between 2006-2011 (including the BMW years), black/white in 2012 and now black from 2013-. I do hope Sauber have a strong season.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 26 Jan 2014, 21:02

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Am I the only person who has liked the Sauber liveries of the past few years?

No I'm quite a fan of it. A combination of their original liveries and the Tyrrell 020 Braun livery which makes it look really great. A little Telmex blue in there would be the icing on the cake I think. Just that little extra.

But I do agree with Eytl, it's an awful way to launch a new car. If I were the team's sponsors I'd be asking what my money is actually buying me!

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 26 Jan 2014, 21:09

AndreaModa wrote:
UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Am I the only person who has liked the Sauber liveries of the past few years?

No I'm quite a fan of it. A combination of their original liveries and the Tyrrell 020 Braun livery which makes it look really great. A little Telmex blue in there would be the icing on the cake I think. Just that little extra.

But I do agree with Eytl, it's an awful way to launch a new car. If I were the team's sponsors I'd be asking what my money is actually buying me!

The thing is though, the Sauber looks nice in the studio, but the fact the car is actually dark grey makes it look rubbish out on track. Would look far better in matte black....

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 26 Jan 2014, 22:05

Have Sauber and Force India forgotten their identities? Seriously, Sauber used to be the interesting, banzai team that were a little bit crazy, and Force India were the ho-hum team with boring cars and drivers (generally).

Now FI have the most exciting driver line up of the mid-field, a bitchin' livery...and now Sauber have a boring line up, the same livery, a conservative design...