F1 2011 Car Launch Thread

frostie500

Ferrari launched the F150 this morning in Maranello. Alonso will shake it down this afternoon.

Vegeta

Cant wait to see more cars

Anyone see on the front wing it looks like rivets or bolts holding the nose cone section and the lower wing together. Wonder are they decals or sensors or something. Cant remember seeing them on a wing in the last year.

Cookie_Monster

I thought the front wheels were slightly smaller again these days, or is it only thinner? The fronts on that are no smaller anyway

Cookie_Monster

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Well in anycase it was the reason why Schumacher had such trouble this year.

Oh right, that was the reason eh

Daniel S

I'm so glad they got rid of the straight line between the air intake and rear wing. Will Red Bull do the same?

AugustusMinimus

mtb_kng wrote: »

I'm so glad they got rid of the straight line between the air intake and rear wing. Will Red Bull do the same?

There isn't as much a need of it anymore now that the F-duct is banned.

However, Renault were running the fin for a year before the F-duct arrived so we might see a few cars still running it. I hope it. It looks appauling.

A few pics shamelessly lifted from another Bulletin Board.





Craig Scarborough's also done an analysis here: http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/ferrari-f150-launch-detail-analysis/

TheChrisD

mtb_kng wrote: »

I'm so glad they got rid of the straight line between the air intake and rear wing.

I heard that's been banned now, that's why it's gone.

matty55

the nose cone is a lot straighter on the f150

G-Money

I heard the Sharkfin's were banned this year too. Kind of glad as I think the cars look better without them.

When I first seen the F150 I had trouble differentiating it from last years F10 but the more I look at it, it does look quite different. I love the shape of the bodywork at the rear as it moves towards the suspension.

Was hoping Ferrari were going to stick up some proper video of Alonso doing some test laps at Fiorano but it looks like they haven't.

AugustusMinimus

G-Money wrote: »

I heard the Sharkfin's were banned this year too. Kind of glad as I think the cars look better without them.

When I first seen the F150 I had trouble differentiating it from last years F10 but the more I look at it, it does look quite different. I love the shape of the bodywork at the rear as it moves towards the suspension.

Was hoping Ferrari were going to stick up some proper video of Alonso doing some test laps at Fiorano but it looks like they haven't.

Must say I find the F10 a much more appealing car compared to the F150. The nose looks better and the sidepods are more graceful. The engine cover at launch also looked better than the F150's which looks very oddly shaped.

Ghost Train

Suspension looks good bit different on the new car, maybe its due to the higher nose

Also air intakes look smaller

Glico Man

Just a quick question, why are almost all teams launching their new cars in Valencia? Is it because it's where the first testing takes place?

Kevski

aaronh007 wrote: »

Just a quick question, why are almost all teams launching their new cars in Valencia? Is it because it's where the first testing takes place?

Yeah, thats the reason. It's a lot cheaper to just roll the car out the garage at valencia that it is to host the big extravagent launches of a few years ago!

frostie500

Team Lotus, as in Tony Fernandez' team, have launched their new car. It looks pretty good, a lot more aggressive than last years and shows that the team is making steps to move up the grid.

frostie500

Ficus wrote: »

And here is the new Sauber. Hope it goes quicker than the last one!

Yeah the team has a lot of ground to make up in 2011 but at least this year they knew they would be on the grid! I think a lot of their issues stemmed from the uncertainty of the BMW pullout. Still though its very competitive in F1 these days so they face a tough task to get back to their former standing as "best of the rest"

I always had a soft spot for the team, privateer roots etc, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it does in the coming year. The new car doesnt look to be too "cutting edge" but it does follow the latest conventions in design so they could be a challenger for points on a semi-consistent basis. Having Ferrari's KERS units should be of good benefit.

frostie500

Renault also launched today with the R31 breaking cover at Valencia. The team signed up Grosjean and Senna as their reserve drivers so Petrov will be under pressure to perform in the opening half of the season

G-Money

frostie500 wrote: »

Renault also launched today with the R31 breaking cover at Valencia. The team signed up Grosjean and Senna as their reserve drivers so Petrov will be under pressure to perform in the opening half of the season

The new Renault looks gorgeous

EvilMonkey

G-Money wrote: »

The new Renault looks gorgeous

If they got rid of the red bits it would!

greenasgrass

EvilMonkey wrote: »

If they got rid of the red bits it would!

And the Lada sponsorship.... :rolleyes:

Cookie_Monster

frostie500 wrote: »

Team Lotus, as in Tony Fernandez' team, have launched their new car. It looks pretty good, a lot more aggressive than last years and shows that the team is making steps to move up the grid.

Needs a little more yellow IMO.

the Renault look pretty cool

losthorizon

A bit of the williams

http://plixi.com/p/73857814

Kevski

Some photos of the cars launched today -

Sauber C30




Renault R31



Lotus T128



I'm not really crazy about the renault to be honest. The lotus looks fantastic though!

frostie500

Red Bull, Mercedes, Toro Rosso and Williams launched their new cars this morning before the start of testing.

Cookie_Monster

not a good looking Williams

way to dark, the old white and blue was one of the best looking cars on the grid, pity they've moved away from it

frostie500

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

not a good looking Williams

way to dark, the old white and blue was one of the best looking cars on the grid, pity they've moved away from it

This isnt their final livery, just one for the initial tests, so it could still turn into a looker!

EvilMonkey

frostie500 wrote: »

This isnt their final livery, just one for the initial tests, so it could still turn into a looker!

They need to get a few more sponsors too!

TheChrisD

That Red Bull still looks as if it has a shark fin, is there no better angle of it...?

Also, I really like the nose detail on the Merc.

frostie500

TheChrisD wrote: »

That Red Bull still looks as if it has a shark fin, is there no better angle of it...?

Also, I really like the nose detail on the Merc.

Click here to see a better image of it. You can see that there is an end to the shark fin to comply with the regs which did not ban the sharkfin, only ensured that it is no longer connected to the rear wing.

lolie

looks like red bull have told webber what to expect in 2011;)




thank god they got rid of the sharkfins. last years cars looked like estates, funny how the 2008 cars now look ugly compared to the 2011 cars

BoardsRanger

Look at how low and minimal the rear of the Williams is.

http://twitpic.com/3vgk6z

http://twitpic.com/3vgh5x

Grim.

that merc already looks faster than last years car

frostie500

Virgin launched their new car this morning

brownacid

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Thats a very nice looking car, hopefully it actually moves this year

Designed using CFD only, unless their engineers are freakin genius's its not going anywhere

frostie500

brownacid wrote: »

Designed using CFD only, unless their engineers are freakin genius's its not going anywhere

They showed last year that it was possible to design an F1 car solely with CFD. It is worth remembering that they designed last year's car with the intention of running to a budget cap of $40 million so their performance was not terrible all things considered. They made a huge gaffe by not having a big enough fuel tank so it is really this year that they, and as a result the merits of CFD, should be judged. I don't think they will be world beaters but they showed enough promise last year to be given time.

Lotus have shown a lot of ambition-Renault engines, Red Bull gearboxes etc-and while Virgin is yet to show that it has the desire to spend fortunes on moving up the grid, it will be interesting to see the difference that the new investors make over the course of the season

ro_chez

Hispania have released the first photos of the F111.

Iron Hide

That Hispania is pretty wicked looking, but worringly is lacking sponsors :S

amacachi

Lucky Strike anyone?

"Your logo here <-" That's actually kinda sad. :P

Iron Hide

A month till the season starts and they've one sponsor, christ they need a cash injection!

Lucky Strike logo would fit right in, jesus i miss tobacco advertising, those BAR's were classy looking motors.

Cookie_Monster

That Chequered flag across the back of the Hispania is probably the only one it'll see all year :pac:

lolie

ro_chez wrote: »

Hispania have released the first photos of the F111

i quite like the look of it and hope they get the sponsors but looks a bit like a gp2 car


also i see they stuck an irish flag on it;)

amacachi

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

That Chequered flag across the back of the Hispania is probably the only one it'll see all year :pac:

For all the love-in for Lotus last year HRT finished the most races of the new teams.

lolie

Force India launched the VJM04, check out the air intake


few more pics
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/gallery/40310.html

lord lucan

The Force India looks well. Intakes don't look out of place unlike the McLaren.

frostie500

lolie wrote: »

i quite like the look of it and hope they get the sponsors but looks a bit like a gp2 car

Well Dallara did design it with the hope that making a big GP2 car would be suffiecent in F1!

Autosport

Would i have to pay much sponsorship to have my name on the car :cool:

Stevegeraghty

Autosport wrote: »

Would i have to pay much sponsorship to have my name on the car :cool:

I doubt it would take much but I wouldn't expect too many tickets

Stevegeraghty

The lotus is stunning :eek:

lord lucan

Autosport wrote: »

Would i have to pay much sponsorship to have my name on the car :cool:

Lets have a whip around,Hispania-Boards.ie Racing Team.:D

losthorizon

lord lucan wrote: »

Lets have a whip around,Hispania-Boards.ie Racing Team.:D

Actually if everone on boards gave status grand prix (the irish-canadian formula three team with whom David Kennedy is involved) I bet you would see the name up on the car.

frostie500

losthorizon wrote: »

Actually if everone on boards gave status grand prix (the irish-canadian formula three team with whom David Kennedy is involved) I bet you would see the name up on the car.

Small point but are Status not a GP3 team? I'm not certain by any means so apologies if im wrong!

losthorizon

frostie500 wrote: »

Small point but are Status not a GP3 team? I'm not certain by any means so apologies if im wrong!

Sorry I got my GP3 & formula 3 mixed up:o