To be honest, it doesn't look nearly as ugly "in real life" as I first thought... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great spot for the race# Also, so far it's the most extreme nose solution, which makes it beautiful to me. If you're going to do it, do it extreme, not some generic shape that's soon forgotten. I also think the rest of the Ferrari's design is very impressive. Tight package. Makes me wonder if McLaren has missed the boat (again). There's no beauty contest in F1.
Overheard a conversation in the bus this morning were one guy was explaining to his friend that the step in the nose was mandated because there had been too many accidents were the front wings of the cars cut the legs of bystanders at shows were the F1 cars were presented... ooooooookay.....
I´m not talking about that, i´m fine with team orders, drivers are payed to do what is best for the team, no argue about that...i´m talking about new rules that don´t alow a driver to protect himself, chganging position more than once!!! Swerving in one thing but, not being able to block and adversary if you already changed your trajectory once it´s stupid.
.... most important change seems to be the PULL-rod suspension rear and front. Lets hope this will bring a significant advantage. As far as I've seen its the only 2012 car with pullrods front and rear.
Sure looks like the exhaust exit to me!...... If not, they've got some *serious* overheating issues Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
I also assumed those outlets had to be for radiator exit ducting, since the new rules are quite specific that exhaust pipes can't point downwards for 2012 and bodywork attempting to aerodynamically redirect the exhaust is not permitted. Your picture, and one posted on Adam Cooper's blog showing the top few inches of that same charred duct cut back, confirm that those are exhaust exits. I expect Charlie's imminent visit tonight will result in new bodywork on the Ferrari next week! (In other words, I don't believe that the Ferrari exhaust body ducts are even close to legal).
Here's the picture of the F2012 exhaust duct cut away - you can see the actual exhaust pipe inside, pointed upwards as required by the regulations, but it's pretty obvious that the duct was trying to direct the exhaust flow downwards. Here's Craig Scarborough's analysis of the new exhaust regulations: http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/2012-exhaust-position-and-blown-effects/ Of special interest relative to the Ferrari exhaust ducts: It seems pretty clear that the Ferrari duct falls foul of the wake clearance regulation... Image Unavailable, Please Login
As per new 2012 regulations the noses have to be 550mm above the reference plane (previously they could be 625mm high). This is to ensure that all parts of the nose are definitely below the height of the cockpit sides in the event of a T-Bone type of crash. Here's a neat side-by-side comparison of the profiles of the various team cars:
I doubt i'll have any of the 2012 F1 cars on my desktop wallpaper folder. Besides the Mclaren, everything else is ugly as hell. I wonder why only Mclaren went for the snooped version. We'll have to wait for Merc's launch to see what Ross has for us. As for the exhaust, Ferrari's and Mclaren...pretty similar. Are they legal?
news today re exhausts - Charlie Whiting declared all the teams' exhausts legal. However, I think he was specifically referring to the exhaust tubing itself - apparently he had some words with Ferrari and McLaren about their aggressive ducting around the exhausts... http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/whiting-says-2012-exhaust-layouts-legal/ A recent clarification from the FIA said that the actual exhaust pipe itself must be visible from an overhead view, and Ferrari's original Acer downward-pointing shroud hid the pipe along with falling foul of the exhaust 'cone' regulation. I did see one pic from the 2nd day of testing that showed the Ferrari exhaust, and the Acer duct was cut back further on the sides and bottom, so it is just short of the length of the actual exhaust pipe now.
From Andrew Benson, BBC Sport's chief F1 writer; "Ferrari have been perfectly open about their decision to build an 'aggressive' car in an attempt to close the gap to Red Bull, and so far at least they have not done so. Felipe Massa chose his words carefully on Wednesday, but even he admitted that 'it is a car that needs a lot of work'. Insiders say Ferrari were finding it complicated to achieve a good set-up, and that they are a little disappointed with the performance so far. The car is proving problematic in the middle of corners, and it seems Ferrari have yet to fully understand the workings of their radical pull-rod front suspension, which was chosen for aerodynamic reasons, but works very differently from a conventional push-rod system - with the arm that operates the springs and dampers going from the top of the wheel to the bottom of the chassis, rather than the other way around. Their troubles are inevitable to an extent - if you choose a difficult path, you will inevitably suffer at the start. Ferrari's hope is that, unlike last season, they will not suffer at the first race. A clearer picture may emerge now Fernando Alonso has taken over the testing."
I really hope this is not going to be another f 92.....altough that one was at least a beautiful car...and had a great driver!!! Felipe´s words are not very encouraging nad normaly if a car doesn´t begin well...it rarely finishes well!!
They absolutely should do that. Heck they would make so many fans through out the world with that . Great idea, seriously! Take a stupid rule and make some humour out of it, perfect solution. Pete
