2017 F1 Car Launch Photo Thread

Jordan 199

Post the pictures of the new cars here.

Confirmed car launch dates:

20th of February: Sauber.

21st of February: Renault.

22nd of February: Force India.

23rd of February: Mercedes.

24th of February: McLaren and Ferrari.

26th of February: Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Haas.

Shannon757

Can't wait to see the new cars.

ricimaki

Williams:



Sauber:

Harcrid

Beautiful livery on the Sauber. The shark fin in black looks good but may not look so good in normal light. Williams one is a render i believe?

Jordan 199

Blue + Gold = Win.

Jordan 199

Harcrid wrote: »

Williams one is a render i believe?

It is.

ricimaki

Some more pictures here

v3ttel

That Sauber looks stunning, especially with the gold elements on the front wing.

There is a serious lack of sponsorship on the cars which is worrying for their future. They are using 2016 Ferrari engine's so it's hard to see them getting anything other than last in the constructors.

dball

AMKC

I think the Sauber looks great but think they should have painted the white section blue as well and it would have looked even better unless they have a sponsor lined up to go there. They still could have put any sponsors name on the blue and it would not have looked as obvious.

lolie

The Sauber looks decent, big improvement on last year's livery anyway. Reminds me a bit of the 96 Ligier.
Thought the silly noses were to be got rid off this year.

Frank Bullitt

Early shot of the McLaren, very orange.

Zaph

The Sauber looks good, but there's a bit too much going on on the outside of the front wings still. I'd like to see them simplified a bit more. But what ruins it for me is that hideous fin. I hate them at the best of times, but that's just ugly and totally detracts from the car. Not that the one on the Williams is much better, but I do like the curve in the bodywork below the air intake.

Jordan 199

Two air-ducts below the airbox on the Sauber.

AMKC

Any early spyshots of tomorrows car the Renault F1 car. I think Renault are going to stay with the same colours as last year.

Jordan 199

AMKC wrote: »

Any early spyshots of tomorrows car the Renault F1 car. I think Renault are going to stay with the same colours as last year.

Last years Renault had a lovely livery.

Jordan 199

Frank Bullitt

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Jesus...thats savage!

Frank Bullitt

Massive airbox on this.



Check the side supports as well, I expect to see some crazy development in that area this year.

Sparks43

The renault looks nice

So its going to be very bloody slow

T-Bird

Sparks43 wrote: »

The renault looks nice

So its going to be very bloody slow

I dunno, I think Hulk will be on podiums with that this season.

Frank Bullitt

T-Bird wrote: »

I dunno, I think Hulk will be on podiums with that this season.

They would do better potentially if they dropped Palmer, why they kept him is beyond me.

AMKC

I think the new Renault looks stunning. Am glad Renault kept the same colours as last year. Think the shark fin looks great on it too. Think this car will be much better than last years and hopefully Renault will score plenty of points this year maybe even win a few races too.

Jordan 199

AMKC wrote: »

I think the new Renault looks stunning. Am glad Renault kept the same colours as last year. Think the shark fin looks great on it too. Think this car will be much better than last years and hopefully Renault will score plenty of points this year maybe even win a few races too.

I think Renault are a year or two away from winning races. I do think they will be fighting for points on a regular basis this year.

Jordan 199

HigginsJ

That Renault is a pretty car, so far the Williams is the least striking of the new cars, which is a good base line.

Merc have teased their nose, I doubt their will be any great colour changes there.

Ghost Train

Renault did launch last year with an all black car and then had the yellow for first race, hope they stick with current colour scheme, and don't reduce the amount of black

ricimaki

Not a fan of this one. The nose is better than the 2014 ones, but still not great. The shark fin looks out of place with no sponsors or colours on it at all

Frank Bullitt

Massive bump just where the nose meets the chassis. Interesting.

Frank Bullitt

Merc sneak peak.

AMKC

Ghost Train wrote: »

Renault did launch last year with an all black car and then had the yellow for first race, hope they stick with current colour scheme, and don't reduce the amount of black

I think they will stick with the car livery as it is now. Last year they were still trying to decide what colour to use as this was Renaults first time back to F1 as a works team since 2010. They could have went for the 2002/6 livery or the 2007/8 livery but eventually decided on the yellow/black that they used in 2010.

As for the Force India. It looks like it has become the worst looking of the 3 shown so far. Not the worst looking F1 car ever just of this years cars. Interesting that they are sticking with the slots in the nose they must think its still worth it maybe with further potential to develop them more. I like the front of the nose don,t like the step in it do and agree that the shark fin looks terrible on it.

Zaph

The livery on the Renault is one of the nicest I've seen in a long time, hopefully it won't change before the season starts. The Force India car is meh. The step down on the bodywork at the front suspension is particularly ugly. But again what's with all the bloody fins? Are they in this year's technical regulations or is this just a fad? Whatever the reason I wish they'd get rid of them, they're really spoiling the look of the cars.

Ghost Train

Wonder will they start using the fin over the engine cover for advertising, there's a lot of space there

ScumLord

Zaph wrote: »

But again what's with all the bloody fins? Are they in this year's technical regulations or is this just a fad? Whatever the reason I wish they'd get rid of them, they're really spoiling the look of the cars.

It wouldn't be the first time teams have used load of body fins, it seems they like to use them and have to be told to stop.

It could be a temporary measure that will change as the car is developed over the year. My guess is less things making contact with the air would reduce drag, so ideally you want less fins for top speed but fins improve downforce which trumps top speed. So maybe they'll look to remove fins as time goes on.

Zaph

ScumLord wrote: »

It wouldn't be the first time teams have used load of body fins, it seems they like to use them and have to be told to stop.

It could be a temporary measure that will change as the car is developed over the year. My guess is less things making contact with the air would reduce drag, so ideally you want less fins for top speed but fins improve downforce which trumps top speed. So maybe they'll look to remove fins as time goes on.

Tbh I can't understand what benefit they actually give. They're vertical surfaces, so to me they're not going to push the car down, and I would have thought that they would act like a sail and catch crosswinds and destabilise the car. But obviously I'm not an aerodynamicist and they don't just stick things on F1 cars for fun, so clearly they have a useful function.

Frank Bullitt

Looks great on track, nice.

Joeseph Balls

Where were they testing?

Jordan 199

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Where were they testing?

Barcelona.

Jordan 199

Dear Sauber,

Paint the bloody shark-fin.

Regards,

Jordan 199.

Frank Bullitt

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Where were they testing?

Filming day/shakedown in Barcelona.

Joeseph Balls

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Barcelona.

Thought that wasn't untill next week. Do the team's testing now not have an early advantage so to speak , disregarding the wealthier team's not needing to test yet.. or is it private and they just decided to release a few pics?

AMKC

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Stops the airflow moving laterally across the car. Acts like a rudder on a plane and reduces yaw and increases stability in fast corners where you have quick changes of direction. Added benefit if the car spins it acts as a nice airbrake.

Negative affects include a nasty habit of pushing the car around in a cross wind as it acts a big sail.

Would they not also redirect some of the airflow that is going over the car from the front back into the rear wing and away from the extra big tyres thus reducing any drag that might have been caused by the air had it hit the new big fat tyres and casing more drag on the car so they are thus reducing the amount of drag that might also have been created by that airflow on the car.

Jordan 199

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Thought that wasn't untill next week. Do the team's testing now not have an early advantage so to speak , disregarding the wealthier team's not needing to test yet.. or is it private and they just decided to release a few pics?

Sauber were having a 'filming day'. You can only do up to 100km distance in a filming day and use special tyres. It's really done for marketing and promotion, and all teams are allowed to do it.

ricimaki

The Merc looks nice

Harika

Looks good, but boring livery, what was expected.

skipper_G

There's a lot of aerodynamic pieces around the front of the sidepod area

H3llR4iser

F1 cars have followed the road cars trend and become absolutely huge - compare that side shot of the Merc with this:



Both cars having V6, both needing to have a fuel tank capable of storing enough petrol for the entire race (as a matter of fact, the 1988 McLaren needed something like 50% more fuel than today's cars).

I wonder how much is due to the crash test regulations and how much with aero and weight distribution.

PopePalpatine

Lewis wasn't kidding when he said it looked like a boat. :pac:

Charlie-Bravo

I am always a little dubious of these launches. I am suspecting that maybe the shark fin, or lack thereof, is a bluff by Merc to get other teams, namely RB, to spend time crunching numbers on if a missing fin is the best way forward. Also, the fairings/vanes at the side of on cars may not be the actually designed ones.

It'll be interesting to see what is tested on cars during the testing days coming up!

PukkaStukka

The overhead shot shows that Merc have got something of a size zero rear end on that thing. It is incredibly slim and bodes well for diffuser performance. That coupled with the alleged leap in engine performance suggests they have built the sword of Damocles.

If that thing performs like another McLaren MP4/4 then F1 is finished. :eek:

ScumLord

I think the old high rear wing looked better.