2019 car launches

It is embarrassing for such a big team. Crappy launch event, incorrect information (although every single Italian motor manufacturer posts nonsense performance figures - Ducati's inconsistencies with their own marketing and technical material for the V4S launch was hilarious) and the car being leaked beforehand. I hope they hit the ground running on Monday.

With regard to the livery colour, I've seen quite a few of these in the flesh now. The matt finish is definitely duller and darker than the gloss when it is in the shade or cloudy. It just comes to life and shines when it is illuminated. I don't think that Ferrari colour looks any different, although it was difficult to tell at the launch event due to the poor lighting. That was the same as McLaren's launch last year, when the launch lighting made the car look a very rich orange / red but the reality turned out to be different.
 
Halo aside, it does look quite nice from a side profile

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Amazing how much better these cars look with the fin taken off. Now if they could just mandate that and a shorter wheelbase we'd have some half-decent looking race cars.
 
Decent afternoon and night out in Sabadell as normal. Met up with a couple of chaps working Ferrari sponsors, doing on-board filming on the car today. That new Ferrari paint is pretty slippery - they lost a camera or two trying to use suction mounts.

After the last couple of years, the weather is pretty good. But it is still cold at night, so if it is at all possible to look at laps times then mid-afternoon is when things will be at their warmest for air and track. New camera and lens to try out this year (Sony A7iii) so looking forward to seeing some cars on track tomorrow. A pity for Williams, but there's been far worse for pre-season testing than losing just one day.
 
@KiNgPiN83 As in, the size difference?

I think I've posted about it on here before, using Ferrari as an example. The 1989 car, the 640, had a wheelbase of 111 inches. Last year, the SF71H had a wheelbase of just over 146 inches. And the 640 had a 3.5 litre V12, bulky first generation semi-auto gearbox and gigantic fuel tank crammed in there. But the drive to get drag down has turned these cars into darts, with ever narrower bodywork. And safety concerns have added some length as well.

Upshot is, these cars now have such a high polar moment of inertia that they don't rotate as easily. Thus making them rather less spectacular when/if driven on the limit (if any of you have a copy of Grand Prix Legends, you'll know all about it - the difference between driving the Lotus 49 and the Eagle T1G). The extra ballast weight that the current cars are carrying also doesn't help things.
 
Thanks for that! @JRS Sorry, posting from my phone didn’t go as well as I thought it would... Haha! Yeah, that’s the picture. I just couldn’t believe the size difference. Although carrying the fuel as well as the stuff JRS explains above makes sense for the change. I get what you are saying about the longer cars too. Do you think that mitigates no traction control to an extent? Or at least makes it easier for the drivers to not spin out like they would with a shorter wheelbase? Or am I talking balls?! :D
 
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