Formula One - 2020

[T Pot]

1 minute ago, SneakyNinja said:

 

I read on here somewhere that they've wised up to that and only act once you cancel? But yeah, once I work out how to watch F1 without them I'm going to ring up fully intending to cancel unless they make with the discounts! (I'll probably go for SkyQ too if they dangle a big enough carrot)

 

 

I've done it multiple times (The latest being a few months ago). Usually threaten to cancel, but say you'd sign a new 18 month contract if they give you a good deal. Always worked for me. 

[SneakyNinja]

Just now, Mr Tony said:

 

I've done it multiple times (The latest being a few months ago). Usually threaten to cancel, but say you'd sign a new 18 month contract if they give you a good deal. Always worked for me. 

 

Good tip about the contract, thanks. I'm waaaaay out of contract so that might swing it. I'll give it a go.

[ryodi]

5 hours ago, Dudley said:

Just to be clear, that is last year's car.

 

It was more a comment on the livery which looks very similar to last year just with some INEOS red slapped on it. If they are supposed to be a similar tier to Petronas when it comes to sponsorship they aren't getting much car real estate for their money.

[McCoy]

On 10/02/2020 at 14:54, SneakyNinja said:

 

Good tip about the contract, thanks. I'm waaaaay out of contract so that might swing it. I'll give it a go.

 

Or just go ahead and cancel.  Normally they will offer you a good deal before they process the cancellation.  If not, properly cancel and then sign back up using one of the new Member deals. 

[T Pot]

Ferrari car reveal soon!

[JPR]

45 minutes ago, Mr Tony said:

Ferrari car reveal soon!

 

I'm not sure about that, the launch just keeps going on, more car less dancing.

[mexos]

I thought I’d missed it, arriving 25 minutes late. What a load of bollocks. Glad I was late!

 

Car looks nice. But MASSIVE. It looks bloody hueg!

[marsh]

Er....looks like last years....?

[wev]

Have they gone for a matte paint job

[kiroquai]

Ferrari looks the same on first glance, but they've gone a bit Red Bull with the car in a lot of ways. Kind of an about-swing from last season where the car didn't generate enough downforce. Paint scheme is still a bit of a mess though; kinda wish they'd invert the red/black on the front and rear wings.

 

Whilst we wait for Renault to show their car/testing livery today, here is a random motorsport incident for your amusement. To explain this, remember that in qualifying for the Indy 500 teams have to get in line to leave the pitlane, and once they have done their single-car-on-track 4-lap run they can choose to join the line again if they want to try again. Quite often, the session will expire with cars still in line (as happened with James Hinchcliffe a few years back).

 

Anyway, in 1972 Jim Hurtubise had already had his run and wasn't anywhere near fast enough to qualify, but joined the line again near the end of the final session in his Miller Beer sponsored car. He'd gotten a reputation as someone who often tried to qualify hopelessly outdated machinery which kind of made him a hero to spectators but pissed off other teams who felt he was taking time away from their efforts to qualify genuinely decent equipment.

 

So Jim is in line with everyone and it quickly becomes apparent he's not going to get to the front in time to get out again. People also begin to notice a slightly curious puddle of water dripping from underneath his car. When the traditional final gun fired to signify the end of qualifying, rather than be disappointed, he grinned, popped off the engine cover of his car and people realised the car didn't actually even have an engine in at all.

 

No. In possibly the greatest PR move of all time, he'd filled the engine compartment with an ice trough packed with beers from his title sponsor. He then proceeded to hand these out to any pit crew member or official within nearby range of his car. The spectators and most involved found this very amusing. Unfortunately, certain other people didn't and from the next year cars were required and visually inspected to ensure that they were in running order before being allowed to join the qualifying line again.

 

Now, back to 2020 and waiting for Renault to launch a car that looks exactly the same as their 2019 car, which looked exactly the same as their 2018 car and confounded the team when - surprise surprise - it had almost exactly the same shortcomings.

[kiroquai]

Red Bull RB16

 

 

Looks like they've gone for a Mercedes-style nose.

[JPR]

Looks like the Chinese GP will be postponed. Earlier comments did seem to suggest if this happened it would likely end up cancelled, as it's difficult to find a spot to put it back on the calendar.

[marsh]

I guess the ink was still drying as Stroll sank a pile of his cash into Aston then? Didn't think that would still be all over the car.

[LowCostMonkey]

Autosport's analysis of the Ferrari. Spoilered for length 

 

Spoiler

Autosport said:

 

As the candy-striped interpretive dancers preceded the unveiling of Ferrari's SF1000 challenger for 2020, carrying their partners on their backs, one wondered if it was an allegory for the weight of expectation on the Formula 1 team's shoulders.

 

Arming its car with the grandiose title of 'SF1000', Ferrari certainly has a great deal to prove this season. While Autosport waxed lyrical about the team's chances following testing, we - and many others in the paddock - were ultimately left disappointed as the SF90's limitations in low-speed corners were exposed dramatically at the Australian Grand Prix season opener.

 

The new car bears significant similarities to last year's chariot, but there are many changes both over and under the skin as Ferrari seeks to reignite its form after 2019 ended with a whimper. Power unit controversies certainly didn't help, but the SF90's blistering speed wasn't tempered enough with the other attributes required of a championship contender.

What's clear is that Ferrari has attempted to take the SF90's high-speed, low-drag nature and augment that with more downforce and better packaging. The front wing retains the downward-sweeping form that last year's design pioneered, but given it looks plenty similar to the 2019 design, it could be that the wing is merely a placeholder.

 

Regardless, the inboard-loaded front wing design has been something of a revelation, so much so that it has been explored by a number of teams seeking to find the balance between creating load at the front and pushing air outwards so that the floor can develop a greater amount of downforce too.

 

 

The nose design introduced at last year's Singapore Grand Prix, complete with idiosyncratic nostrils blending into a cape design, remains to bolster the overall front-end downforce output and assist the drivers with a more responsive car. The turning vanes at the front end are also strongly rooted in the layout seen towards the latter half of last season, suggesting that Ferrari has opted for evolution rather than revolution with its front third.

 

Team principal Mattia Binotto spoke of a revised powertrain design to improve the overall packaging, and the rear end boasts a much tighter midriff.

 

But there's some significant changes to the bargeboard package. Around the letterbox inlets, a design trait instigated by Ferrari a couple of seasons back, the team has continued to develop the array of turning vanes around the sidepods. Those are now broken up into two pieces, following a trend pursued by the likes of Mercedes last season, which can provide more options in the way the airflow is directed down the sidepods.

 

By breaking up the vanes, there's more scope to send a tip vortex down towards the Coke bottle section of the car, energising any airflow that stagnates in that area and improving the pressure differential between the topside of the floor and the diffuser volume. Altogether, those work together to boost the rear-end downforce.

 

Ferrari has also expanded on the boomerang package around the bargeboard area too. Although the team had a boomerang design last season, they were neither as large or pronounced as the teams around them. By extending them to the sidepod turning vanes, there's more dimension to the bargeboard area, giving the airflow spilling off of the front tyres more direction when faced with the labyrinthine aero appendages in front of the sidepod inlets. In short, they're a lot more complex than last season.

 

 

The bargeboard's highest point, just behind the front suspension components, is broken up into three elements. That aims to provide a better service to the airflow coming off the wishbones, where there's also a distinct effort to send that down to the sidepod undercut.

 

At the launch, team principal Mattia Binotto spoke of a revised powertrain design to improve the overall packaging of the SF1000, and the rear end boasts a much tighter midriff to make use of that added space. The engine cover remains a one-piece component, designed to reduce the amount of time Ferrari mechanics spend putting bodywork on, while the shark fin retains the small cut out behind the air intake to straighten out the airflow ahead of the rear wing.

 

That ethos also extends to a pair of horns, situated next to the TV camera pods. As a number of F1 teams have introduced a wider air intake above the driver's head, Ferrari has retained the narrow triangular shape to give it more space to improve the aero. Akin to the horns pioneered by McLaren and BMW Sauber in the mid-2000s, Ferrari seems to be taking advantage of a bounding box in the regulations to straighten out the airflow around the air intake one step further.

Allied to the shark fin, the airflow drifting towards the rear wing is ideally cleaner, and is less affected by the drawbacks of turbulence.

 

At the rear, the wing endplates remain strongly rooted in last year's design, containing the same number of overhanging strakes. The T-wing at the rear of the engine cover is revised, perhaps looking to inject a modicum of extra downforce in this area. Of course, this area remains highly adjustable and the T-wing can be replaced quite readily depending on the demands of the circuit, but Ferrari has elected to show off its seemingly highest-downforce part.

 

While the SF1000 seeks to address last year's shortcomings, Ferrari must also get itself in order - or risk another wasted season with a false dawn

The floor does not feature the fins that it ended 2019 with, but it's not uncommon to see teams holding back parts in their launch schedule - lest any other outfits copy their innermost secrets early on in the season.

 

Other detail changes concern the mirrors, where Ferrari has revised its conventional 2019 design and opted for a Mercedes-inspired shroud to inhibit the overall drag these produce. Given the choice, engineers would prefer not to include mirrors at all, but as they're a mandatory inclusion the aerodynamicists will naturally seek to limit their shortcomings.

 

 

As teased by the Haas reveal, Ferrari has opted to showcase its new car with a larger-bore main exhaust with a smaller wastegate mounted atop it, but it remains to be seen whether the split-wastegate design seen in Abu Dhabi practice will be trialled again. One of the biggest controversies over Ferrari's engine last season was with regards to fuel flow and, while it was never categorically proved that the team was circumventing the regulations, it remains to be seen whether the FIA's technical directives drafted at the end of last year will inhibit the team's latent top speed and acceleration.

 

Ferrari's overall strength last season was clear to see in the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, where a healthy turn of pace more than covered the inadequacies of the SF90 in the slower sections. Although a brief turnaround in Singapore suggested that the concept has potential in climates where downforce is much more of a factor, the team must be able to hit those high notes on a far more regular basis.

 

The team has shown glimmers of potential in its technical make-up, and the fact that so many have developed their own attempts at a Ferrari-style front wing suggests that the team is capable of innovating.

 

While the SF1000 seeks to address Ferrari's shortcomings, the Scuderia must also get its stable in order - or risk another wasted season with a false dawn.

 

The expert view

 

By Tim Wright, Autosport technical contributor

 

 

Ferrari obviously has confidence in the structure and performance of the front wing, as the geometry looks very close to last year's example. The top three elements are very slightly flattened towards the outboard edges, aiming to help the airflow around the front wheels. The team has persisted with the anhedral set up, which helps when the car is in roll and makes the car more consistent when cornering. The pylons are mounted slightly further back which gives more room and directs the air better onto the vertical vanes under the nose.

However, the biggest difference is in front of the sidepods, where a lot of attention has been paid to the bargeboards and turning vanes, both to help straighten out the turbulent air from the front wheels and also to better direct that air down and around the sidepods to the rear diffuser. Without seeing these elements in detail, it's rather difficult to determine exactly which element does what.

 Introducing Tim Wright - Autosport's new technical expert

There are two winglets now on the roll hoop, which maybe help bring the air onto the engine cover. Also, there's extra shrouds on two sides of the wing mirrors.

Ferrari has kept the shape of the fin on the engine cover as at the end of 2019, but the cheese-cutter wings under the main rear wing are lower, and the rear wing itself looks the same as last year at this current stage. By keeping the wastegate pipe above the main exhaust, this is perhaps why the smaller central wings have been lowered.

 

The front suspension geometry is very subtly changed, with the trackrod and front leg of the top wishbone not contained within a shroud. At this stage, it's very difficult to see if there are any differences to the rear suspension, but once we get to testing we'll be able to see the true differences on Ferrari's 2020 car.

 

 

 

[wev]

1 hour ago, kiroquai said:

Ferrari looks the same on first glance, but they've gone a bit Red Bull with the car in a lot of ways. Kind of an about-swing from last season where the car didn't generate enough downforce. Paint scheme is still a bit of a mess though; kinda wish they'd invert the red/black on the front and rear wings.

 

Whilst we wait for Renault to show their car/testing livery today, here is a random motorsport incident for your amusement. To explain this, remember that in qualifying for the Indy 500 teams have to get in line to leave the pitlane, and once they have done their single-car-on-track 4-lap run they can choose to join the line again if they want to try again. Quite often, the session will expire with cars still in line (as happened with James Hinchcliffe a few years back).

 

Anyway, in 1972 Jim Hurtubise had already had his run and wasn't anywhere near fast enough to qualify, but joined the line again near the end of the final session in his Miller Beer sponsored car. He'd gotten a reputation as someone who often tried to qualify hopelessly outdated machinery which kind of made him a hero to spectators but pissed off other teams who felt he was taking time away from their efforts to qualify genuinely decent equipment.

 

So Jim is in line with everyone and it quickly becomes apparent he's not going to get to the front in time to get out again. People also begin to notice a slightly curious puddle of water dripping from underneath his car. When the traditional final gun fired to signify the end of qualifying, rather than be disappointed, he grinned, popped off the engine cover of his car and people realised the car didn't actually even have an engine in at all.

 

No. In possibly the greatest PR move of all time, he'd filled the engine compartment with an ice trough packed with beers from his title sponsor. He then proceeded to hand these out to any pit crew member or official within nearby range of his car. The spectators and most involved found this very amusing. Unfortunately, certain other people didn't and from the next year cars were required and visually inspected to ensure that they were in running order before being allowed to join the qualifying line again.

 

Now, back to 2020 and waiting for Renault to launch a car that looks exactly the same as their 2019 car, which looked exactly the same as their 2018 car and confounded the team when - surprise surprise - it had almost exactly the same shortcomings.

 

But how did he do his first run if he didn't have an engine?

[kiroquai]

Oh he had an engine at that point; when he came in after his first run they knew they hadn't got a hope in hell of qualifying so they removed the engine completely and then joined the line in a position they knew would mean they failed to get out again just to do the PR stunt

 

Another interesting Jim Hurtubise fact. Earlier in his career he had a horrible crash at Milwaukee that permanently disfigured both of his hands. Sitting in hospital and knowing he'd barely be able to move them in the future, he had doctors shape his hands as if he were holding a steering wheel so he could continue his racing career.

 

Badass.

[ryodi]

1 hour ago, marsh said:

I guess the ink was still drying as Stroll sank a pile of his cash into Aston then? Didn't think that would still be all over the car.

They are ending the Aston Martin deal at the end of this year. It wouldn’t have been worth the effort to rebrand everything I think.

[LowCostMonkey]

Chinese GP is officially postponed now.

[JohnC]

China officially postponed. They say they will look for an alternative date once the virus is contained. But that will be difficult.

[T Pot]

4 hours ago, kiroquai said:

Red Bull RB16

 

 

Looks like they've gone for a Mercedes-style nose.

 

Looks like they still have a fair sized air intake just below the tip of the yellow though with possibly an exhaust for it at the top of the nose just below the 33?

[T Pot]

15 minutes ago, JohnC said:

China officially postponed. They say they will look for an alternative date once the virus is contained. But that will be difficult.

 

The one I have seen chucked about is delaying Abu Dhabi by a week or two and slotting China in as the second last of the year. 

[Blue]

Bottas 3.0 means business for real this time. 

 

[JohnC]

Vietnam also at risk.

[JohnC]

Renault have launched. But without their car. Instead, Cyril basically had a go at others revealing fake cars. Says we will see their real car at Barcelona testing. But with special livery rather than the final one. I suppose you could follow his spirit and call it fake livery.

[Dudley]

Cars not finished then.

[JohnC]

In fairness, he did say that too

 

Quote

There is no way that we can have a car here because the car frankly is still in bits, still being produced or being shipped to Barcelona.

 

[Dudley]

Then that's a problem because as he was saying that, Red Bull were running theirs.

[T Pot]

 

MCL35 Revealed. Another team with a matte paintjob. 

[mexos]

Front looks really interesting and different. I'd love to see they back up fighting for podiums. Fingers crossed!

 

[marsh]

Eyes drawn to 'spunk' as a sponsor.

 

Cannot un-see 

 

Amazing that a Renault customer can release images of the car that the factory team are unable to manage. The sidepods on that Mclolren look really tight.