A teaser from Williams:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report...-2017-williams
Allison confirmed at Merc so that's the last, I think, major move ticked for the season.
In other news, Pedro de la Rosa has gone on record as saying that Merc will have an aerodynamic advantage this year as they would have been able to start working on the car before the other teams. Doesn't take much forethought to come up with that theory...
Not long now until the first cars are unveiled and the first test session commences, really looking forward to seeing the visual differences and technical solutions each team applies to extract the best performances. Don't expect the launch cars to reveal all the pre-season secrets, there'll be plenty of mock or disguised parts fitted for those first off track 'photo opportunities, the real details will start to reveal themselves when they're on the circuit.
A teaser from Williams:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report...-2017-williams
^^^ So far,so good. Certainly works well with the Martini livery in my opinion.
Doesn't give much away, does it?
Sauber will be first out of the blocks with their launch due next Tuesday, followed by Mercedes on Thursday with Ferrari and McLaren on Friday. These teams are taking advantage of the rule which allows a certain number of "Filming" days during the season to shake the cars down before the first pre-season test which starts at Barcelona on Monday 27th.
And just to prove myself wrong, here is an actual schedule of confirmed 2017 car launches:
Date Team (model name) Launch venue Tuesday, 21 February Renault (RS17) London, England Wednesday, 22 February Force India (VJM10) Silverstone race circuit, England Wednesday, 22 February Sauber (C36) Barcelona, Spain Thursday, 23 February Mercedes, (W08) Silverstone race circuit, England Friday, 24 February Ferrari Fiorano race circuit, Italy Friday, 24 February McLaren (MCL32) Woking, England Sunday, 26 February Toro Rosso (STR12) Barcelona, Spain
Apart from the air intake, dorsal fin engine cover and silly stubby nose cone, that is a looker. Glad to see Sauber paid someone to design their livery this year
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It's a shame that sponsorship is notable only by its absence on the new Sauber.. I suspect that Mercedes may have contributed in order to secure the seat for Pascal Wehrlein (who will miss the first pre-season test next week, having injured his neck in that rather bizarre incident during the Race of Champions), and Ericsson brings some money, but 2017 will be a long year for Sauber, who will be using 2016 Ferrari power units.
Renault will launch their car today, and it will be interesting to see whether they have reconfigured their power unit along the lines of Mercedes, given that they will also power Red Bull (badged as TAG Heuer) and Toro Rosso. The abandonment of the token system was intended to allow the engine suppliers to get on terms with Mercedes and reduce their advantage. I doubt that the guys at Brixworth have been idle over the winter, though.
More car launches will follow in the next few days and next week the track at Barcelona will be awash with Flo-vis paint as the teams try to figure out the real-world aerodynamics of the new cars.
...and here's the Renault
Edit: better picture
Last edited by hogthrob; 21st February 2017 at 16:55.
I didn't really notice with the Williams, but the rear wings this year are tiny.
I watched the live unveiling of the Renault on YouTube, didn't get to see any close-ups however the basic shape of the thing is impressive. The rear wing, as it does on the Williams and Sauber, looks very low and wide and the rear tyres look huge!
As a side note, the blonde event host was also pretty cute.
They are. Hence the elongated fins from the airbox, to guide as much air as possible towards the rear wing.
The cars will produce much more downforce this year from larger front wings and much larger diffusers, the intention being to reduce the aerodynamic dependence on the rear wing, and allow the cars to follow each other without losing downforce. Something we've heard many times before.
Renault are, apparently, making modest claims about their ambitions for the next couple of seasons, but after the loss of so many of their engineers to rival teams in recent years when money became tight, they have much to be modest about, as the saying goes. No details yet about the improvements to the power unit, but they have apparently secured the services of Alain Prost in a consultancy/ambassadorial role. And Sergey Sirotkin as reserve driver.
Alain Prost is already quite involved with Renault Dams e-formula, it's good he gets in a more prominent role with the Formula one too.
Whereas the Force India:
With an ugly 2012-style "step" at the bulkhead in front of the cockpit and a fin which appears to have come straight from the shelves of B&Q is the least elegant of the cars revealed so far. However, in 2016 Force India managed a loaves and fishes performance and managed to finish above Williams, despite their lack of in-house resources such as a wind tunnel. This year, without the experience of Nico Hulkenberg they may struggle, but they're a good team and can punch well above their financial weight.
Later today we'll get the first look at the new Mercedes. But today's Big News is that Lewis Hamilton has decided on his helmet design for 2017:
Much has been made of the competition, and there are some excellent spoof designs available from a casual Googling, but as an exercise in fan engagement it seems to have worked, and I must admit that the winning design is very good.
Last edited by Backward point; 23rd February 2017 at 13:07. Reason: Confusion over step-nose
I like that new helmet - as you say, as a way to engage fans, Lewis seems miles ahead of the rest.
Like the Renault (don't like the little fins and aero bits and pieces re-appearing on cars again) and the evolution of the livery, the Sauber looks okay. That FI though...wow. What a mess. The stepped bulkhead/nose is clunky and the fin looks like a GCSE project. Not a fan of the colours either, prefer the older white/orange/green approach.
These cars aren't fully representative of what will hit the circuit though that Force India certainly looks clumsy compared to the Renault, Sauber and Williams. Looking at the FI's nose a little closer I can't see any evidence of an S-duct, in fact so far it's only the Renault that appears to have such a device evident.
You're right. I wonder if the new aero regs, and the reappearance of barge-boards mean that the S-duct is no longer necessary? The barge boards will help to scavenge and straighten the turbulent air under the nose, so the S-duct might be consigned to the history books.
Or they will reappear next week in Barcelona.
Mercedes have been working hard over the winter, and produced the best looking car so far, in my opinion:
There's a lot of nice detailing there.
I've seen pictures of the Williams with and without though I think the "with" 'photos are CGI rather than the real thing.
Just watched the unveiling of the Merc before the official press launch, as can be seen in the shot above they appear to be sticking with the duct. Much smaller rear fin than Sauber, Renault and FI, and a lot more going on around the bargeboards and sidepods than the very ordinary looking Sauber and Williams.
Explanation behind the nose of the VJM10 and confirmation that this is how the car will look for Barcelona...
Still, someone once said that a fast car is a good looking car, this one is going to have to be very quick indeed
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f...e-step-876274/
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
All those cars look in essence the same, only details differ. But why do I think that the Merc is ugly? Hamilton referred to his car as 'Das Boot'. I can seen his point.
Menno
The new cars do look better than they have in quiet a few years.
I might not give up on F1 just yet.
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Macca keeps dropping hints of a return to orange. Guess we will see today. They definitely need something good this season.
It has been rumoured in the past yet hasn't happened, maybe orange again for testing and back to something else for the races? Car is being unveiled at 11am GMT, I'd like to see some orange on the race cars personally.
Edit - just watched the live unveiling - predominantly orange and black then, doesn't look too bad at all. Large rear fin and an interesting nose/front wing integration plus S-duct.
Ferrari pulled off the covers of their new charger earlier this morning. Very aggressive looking sidepods, a T-bar across the rear fin (Merc is also experimenting with a simular set-up) and some small fins (with holes at the tips?) near were an S-duct would normally be residing.
Last edited by CardShark; 24th February 2017 at 12:37.
Part of the process of "de-Ronning" perhaps?
I hope, for the sake of Formula 1, that Honda have found some power from somewhere, and McLaren have finally managed to produce a decent chassis and aero package.
There's probably more sponsorship on the Sauber.
Glad to see Manor Marussia has been saved
Hmmm....
Maybe when they are together on the track it shows more differentiated.
For the moment I think it look like very much one car with a different paint job.
Keeping my fingers crossed that they are as akin in performance.
Only 3 days to go before we know a bit more.
Good god it looks like the 2002 Arrows colour scheme, only on an uglier car.
Something I've noticed more this year (although you can see it in certain areas in recent seasons), is without minimum dimensions how small the cars could be. The engine cover fin and rear wing end plates would disappear and shrink massively if the FIA removed the template for those areas and without minimum dimensions for the side pods they'd all but disappear. From above all the cars rear ends are tiny and beautifully sculpted
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One of the uglier colour schemes I think.
I was hoping for something a bit more, well, orange.
I'm led to believe that the Mercedes will have a full-size fin when it emerges from the garage in Barcelona on Monday. Briefly, that area is largely unrestricted by the regulations and the fin contributes to straightening the airflow to the rear wing, and directs more air to the wing when the car is in yaw, i.e. when cornering. So there's an aerodynamic advantage, which means that everybody will have them.
On the matter of McLaren, most of the column inches generated by the new car concentrate on the colour of the paintwork. There's very little mention of the revised driver lineup, the supposed performance improvement from the heavily revised Honda power unit, or whether McLaren might possibly come up with a decent chassis and aero package. It would appear that it won't matter if the undoubted talent of one of the best drivers of the modern era is scrapping with the rats and mice at the blunt end of the grid as long as the car is painted in a pretty colour. Which it isn't.
No one, including the teams, has any real idea how good their cars are. I don't feel I can comment on a car's likely performance by looking at what probably isn't the real thing anyway. So at this stage, I'm quite happy to talk about paint jobs. I heard that the Toro Rosso are going to have a light blue Red Bull Sugar Free colour scheme.
Anyway ... New driver pairings ... Hamilton/Bottas and Alonso/Vandoorne - which junior driver is going to push their senior harder?
Ive always liked Bottas, and it's good to see him in a top car. I am a little worried that he might struggle to find his feet at Mercedes, particularly if Hamilton is motivated this year. Hamilton doesn't have too many more years to add championships - I have no doubt he'd like a fourth to equal Vettel, and probably a fifth for good luck.
Vandoorne showed a good turn of pace when he had a go last year, so his challenge will be developing race craft. I wonder if we'll see Max Verstappen levels of over-enthusiasm while he learns his way? I really hope the McLaren isn't a clunker this year, as Alonso must surely be bored of having an uncompetitive car. If McLaren struggle, he must surely ask himself why he's bothering.
The New Ferrari sounds impressive I have to say, things are looking up :-)
https://instagram.com/p/BQ7PKtOjo4f/
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Are the cars getting longer or is it just the shallow rear wing that's changing the overall look?
Some artfully dark photos of the new Williams:
http://www.pitpass.com/gallery/1907/...aunch-Williams
The team have elected to make a feature of the now-ubiquitous fin, and have rather optimistically positioned the car alongside some of their Championship winning cars from the past.