F1 Winter Testing / Driver Line-Ups for 2007

So McLaren have already got their corporate hooks in to Alonso :( . He looks really nondescript in those pictures without that tangle of hair. Ol' Ron Dennis must have strapped Ferdy in to a chair and shaved his head the moment his Renault contract expired.

Just hope McLaren Mercedes can give the guy a car that actually complete a race distance for a change.
 
They're coming thick and fast now. The BMW Sauber F1.07 was launched at Valencia this morning, the only pic I've seen is a small head on shot on autosport.com which doesn't give much away. Once the team site is updated I'll let you know.

No testing for McLaren today as a result, BMW have booked the track for their exclusive use today.
 
Well the BMW site is possibly the worst one I've seen in a long time, 20s+ flash intro and then the only content is a streaming video of the launch and the last three news stories which are text only...

Found some photos here though.

Car looks pretty clean in comparison to the McLaren, Ferrari and Toyota, the horns have gone but the car has gained Honda style flow conditioners on the sidepods plus some daft looking spikes on the trailing edge of the bardgeboards. Other than that everything is as to be expected, the high spined airbox of last year has gone to be replaced by conventional shape albeit with a prominient ridge running down the centreline.


EDIT: Didn't realise quite how big the height difference is between Hedfeld & Kubica, must be almost a foot! That must have caused them a few headaches trying to design a tub so that Kubica doesn't affect the airflow into the engine yet still letting Nick see out.
 
Last edited:
Nice pics again Type_R. You've got to say that BMW is aerodynamically very clean, discounting the colour schemes (still love the chrome McLaren) it's the best looking one so far.

EDIT: Is it just me or is the Ferrari getting more orange year after year? The sooner they get shot of the Marlboro influence and get the proper scarlet back the better.
 
Yep BMW looks good all round. I can see them doing very well this season, alongside Honda hopefully.
 
rpstewart said:
Nice pics again Type_R. You've got to say that BMW is aerodynamically very clean, discounting the colour schemes (still love the chrome McLaren) it's the best looking one so far.

EDIT: Is it just me or is the Ferrari getting more orange year after year? The sooner they get shot of the Marlboro influence and get the proper scarlet back the better.
Click to expand...

BMW looks superb in technical terms. I hope they do well this season.

Ferrari red is now, as you said, a dark orange and ugly as! Its all the Marlboro money, they would have done better with a brand like coca-cola! Anyways, scarlet should be back when tobacco is finally banned!
 
rpstewart said:
EDIT: Is it just me or is the Ferrari getting more orange year after year? The sooner they get shot of the Marlboro influence and get the proper scarlet back the better.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the camera and the light as in some of the pics it looks a dull red and others its orange.

The BMW reminds me of a Ferrari from a few years ago.
 
Anyone else tink that there could be a lot of punctures due to the design of the front wing end fences? If the cars get close enough that is :p
 
Looks like f1 will be crap within a few years (already more than it is know).

f1 isn't just about driver ability. If I wanted to see pure driver skill I would watch some other race where the cars are identical. F1 was and always should be about technology and the driver skill. It should have energy saving devices ect. it should be about pure speed. With only limiting certain electronics so drivers still actually have to drive. They should be removing rules so new designs can be made. Not trying to force the cars to be identical :mad:

I really hoped they constructors would split of and form there own race. But they didn't :(
 
Fire 1 said:
Anyone else tink that there could be a lot of punctures due to the design of the front wing end fences? If the cars get close enough that is :p
Click to expand...
There shouldn't be that many compared to 10 years ago, the rules have for a few years now stipulated minimum thicknesses for the end plates and minimum radii for the top corners. Or are you thinking Ben Hur style with the horizontal elements on the end plates?
 
rpstewart said:
There shouldn't be that many compared to 10 years ago, the rules have for a few years now stipulated minimum thicknesses for the end plates and minimum radii for the top corners. Or are you thinking Ben Hur style with the horizontal elements on the end plates?
Click to expand...

Yeah it was the horizontal end plates I was thinking about.
 
Fire 1 said:
Anyone else tink that there could be a lot of punctures due to the design of the front wing end fences? If the cars get close enough that is :p
Click to expand...

Did you not see Fisi taking care of Schumi in Brazil?

Just to be pedantic they are called Front Wing End Plates. Fences in aero-speak are vertical plates/ribs located somewhere on the mid-span of the wing, like the new legality fences you see on the 2007 rear wings.

edit: seems I hadn't refreshed the thread before replying.
 
BMW looks clean and simple - hopefully a winner;)

Mclaren looks ok but I don't like the chrome all that much

Ferrari looks like a bar of chocolate left in the sun, all warm and squidgy making it look just plain wrong.

Toyota looks pretty simple as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom