Comparison between F60 and F1.09

Hey guys, been a long time since i've been on f-chat. I did this little comparo and thought we'd like to discuss it on here. I am waiting for some good shots of the other cars to use too. Like the TF109 and the MP4-24.

Enjoy:

Compared the BMW F1.09 with the Ferrari F60.


Interesting....


HOLY ****. Ferrari sidepods are CRAZY when you see them compared to the BMW. WOW. Look at the gap from the sidepod to rear wheel. Talk about coke bottle!

Right off the bat, the cars have very similar wheelbases, but the Ferrari has an obviously longer nose. The BMW has a slightly (maybe 25-50mm longer(?)) wheelbase. When the rear axles are lined up, the cockpit position becomes apparent, with the BMW being slightly further rearward, and with the BMW's front wheels slightly further forward. However, the BMW's wings are slightly further rearward than the Ferrari's.

When you line the cockpits up, you can now see that the cars are fundamentally the "same" as far as packaging mechanical components. Even suspension pickups on the chassis are nearly identical. The main difference being the angle of the suspension arms, and of course the bodywork. The BMW's being more traditional, and the Ferrari's being aggressively swept back, to move the wheels in position to the chassis. This is interesting, cause this allows the chassis pickup points to remain basically the same. I would imagine this would not compromise the safety, integrity, and strength of the already well established and rigorously tested chassis dimensions.

The shapes of the bodies are interesting different too. The Ferrari appears to be "LESS IS MORE" while the BMW is more trying to manage the airfow with quite honestly a lot of bodywork. This adds to the visual mass of the BMW (as well as many other teams). Ferrari's approach very much seems to be long, slender, beautiful shapes (nose and cokebottle sidepods) with fine tuning and aero tuning from turning vanes ("bargeboard" underbody, and mirror "supports").

Cliff Notes:

BMW: fairly safe debut, imho, compared to last year's F1.08 which was perhaps a bit too radical (and they suffered developing the radically new car rather slowly, though eventually they found the performance). Very similar overall dimensions with the F60. Shorter, blunter nose. Front wing larger, more complex. Complex, intricate sidepods.

Ferrari: Swept back suspension arms. Longer front nose. More simple front wing. Smoother, slimmer sidepods.

Overall: Tire graining big for '09! Seems like BMW's solution to the rear tire graining is less rear aero, more front, and a rather traditional layout. The Ferrari's solution to the rear tire graining is a swept back suspension that places the CG a bit further forward between the wheelbase.
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