Renault R29

Looking at the Renault, is it just me, or does the "nose" stick out farther forward vs their front wing?

With the change of nose sections to take longer this year due to cables, would the Renault design allow for a driver (no names mentioned) to punt another driver and take minimal damage to the nose, but *no damage to the wing section*, thus allowing them to continue without spending any time in the pits for a nose change?

Just a thought.

 

I miss the 06' livery.

 

+1

so far, the Renault is definitely the ugliest car...

 

The whole car looks horrible, but that nose is just grotesque.

 

my god that car looks like a cross between a moose and ronald macdonald

 

I keep expecting to see the Mastercard logo on there... I do, however, like their race suits though...

 

And the conspiracy theories already begin.

 

LOL - Just thinking the design idea to make the front end of the car a bit more "robust" may not be a bad idea.

How many times during an average season is there contact that requires the driver to come in for an *extra stop* due to "contact" that results in a nose cone change?
(think turn 1 contact for the most part, but it also happens at other times of the race as well)

If that nose cone change now requires a 20-25 second pit stop due to cables vs 8-10 seconds as before, would it not be a smart idea to let some other part of the car "take the hit" while the front wing plane remains intact minimizing the impact on lap times, thus allowing the drive to continue with their race at a "fairly normal speed" until their regularry scheduled pit stop, and at that point determine from lap times if a nose cone change will allow for faster lap times to make up for the lost time (12-17 seconds) due to a longer scheduled pit stop? Not to mention time loss for the in-lap and out-lap from the "extra" stop.

 

I think the famous quote from Collin Chapman goes something like this; "Any one can design a bridge that stays up but it takes an extraordinary engineer to make one that just stays up." That's how most race engineers think. They want to use the least amount of material (weight) in order to get the job done. Most nose cone changes stem from the wing portion hitting the rear wheel of another car and being damaged. If you really wanted to design something to protect that wing you'd need a bumper in front of it extending ALL the way out to the edges as that's where the contact usually takes place. Or you could just build the wing and extensions from the cone stronger. But, that'd require more weight. Also that'd load the impact into the cone and tub. And if that were the case the car would probably be lifted off the ground by the rotation of the front cars wheels. Maybe it's better to have the wing break away, absorbing the impact and not transferring it? Then you wouldn't have to worry about being out of the race all together from a heavy impact that would come from being launched and touching down. Better to just replace a nose cone than have to replace more components after a DNF like that.

P.S. Like the 348 I always thought they looked a bit better than the 355. At least the front end certainly does.

 

I knew it was too good to be true...

The Williams is so clean looking in comparison to the other cars. The McLaren looks good too, but I think I prefer the darker color on the Williams. I wish they'd run the interim livery all year long. I'm still forming an opinion on the Ferrari but there's something about it I don't like. I've noticed all the cars look really good from the side. The front ans 3/4 view however, not so much...
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Yes I will go with clean lines on 2nd look, it does look better than I 1st thought in better light.

I think it's the colour, not sure I like it quite as dark, my favorite colour is the Mclaren, love it....

 

I agree with you. Dont know what it is with the Ferrari but there is something odd about it. Its like something is missing from the car.

 

Great looking livery...I would like to see a little blue too though...

 

In those two photographs the Williams looks more 'integrated' than the Ferrari. The front wing appears to be more a part of the car on the Williams - it's close to the body, on the Ferrari it seems a long way away, hanging on a couple of little struts. The rear wing on the Ferrari appears higher (probably just the visual effect) and less a part of the car than the rear wing on the Williams. To me, though, all of this year's cars look badly proportioned and it's mainly because the front wing is enormous and the rear wing small.

 

Yep I will go with that..rear wing small and too high, lower and wider would make it look alot better IMO.

 

The colours just clash big time IMO.. the car shape may grow on me.

New nose ....
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I think it's not bad at all. The real question is - which one of these new creations is going to perform? At the end of the day it doesn't matter what it looks like. If it's fast it could look like Godzilla for all anyone cares.

 

is that a PS, Steve? Looks much better tho...

 

No, I'm not that good it's from here, http://www.ing-renaultf1.com/en/media/index.php I'm assuming that the other nose failed the crash test, or was just to ugly to be allowed...

 

Ah..ok mate.

 

Here is a better comparison between the Ferrari and williams. I think what it is that the Ferrari rear wing is just way to big compared to the williams.
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what do you think about ferrari's mirrors?

i'm pretty sure they'll change because they are almost as the banned winglets, and will have to be mounted inboard like the other cars...

 

I'm assuming that they're within the technical regulations, but may be banned once the season starts if someone files a complaint much like in the past with movable front wings, floors, and mass dampers.

 

I think the black color of the Williams hides a lot of shapes that you'd perceive as ugly. That being said, the new cars start to grow on me. Can't wait to see them in action!

 

I'm not really sure that the darker color is hiding anything, the Williams just seems to have a better overall flow to it's lines than the Ferrari does, especially in the front. Ferrari mounted the wing further back on the nose than any of the other cars I've seen so far. The rear wing seems way too high. Also I don't really like the spine wing thing on it's rear engine cover. It's higher than other cars as well. I hope the thing goes like a rocket, cause it doesn't look too great to me.