Motors The Official bit-tech F1 2011 Thread

Well, if it works, I reckon watch Renault pull a Brawn/RBR this year.
But I am pretty usre that it'll lead to reliability issues mroe than anything else. Watch out for McLaren, I reckon.
With them running the old car this week, They're the ones who'll have a good idea where a car needs to sit in order to be good on the new tyres. And they were close enough for two years now, they'll grab the WDC this year. at least I hope so.

 

Ooh, Renault have been crowing about having something special on this year's offering. Fingers crossed it'll work for a bit more inventiveness.

I'm a bit sad that Sauber have sponsors - it was great having a blank F1 car similar to Brawn '09.

 

Is the testing being broadcast tomorrow at all?

 

Gotta agree witrh Krikkit, i really liked the Sauber car sans-sponsors, similar to when they originally entered (all black, white wings, single Mercedes logo due to engine if memory serves).

However i still like the way it's looking. Aesthetically the Saubers have had a very racy look over
the last few years.

 

Really interested to see if a) Lotus Renault have done something really innovative with their exhaust and b) if so if it works as intended. Love the ideas F1 engineers come up with to find ways to gain performance when existing systems/ideas are prohibited.

 

I wonder if Red Bull will be the first to complain about it just to say 'Yeah, how do you like it!'.

 

Well I suppose they'll have to find something they can pretend not to care about yet mention it at every possible opportunity.

 

RB7, looking like a pretty simple evolution of the RB6 so far. The only car thus far to use the maximum allowable sharkfin.




Williams have also popped out renders of the FW33 in their usual testing livery:



edit - it's since been put out for real:

 

I wonder if RB's front wing will flex as much as it did last year...

 

Expect to see lots of flexing bits and pieces this year thanks to the FIA setting a precedent - "if it doesn't fail our tests; it's legal".

Mercedes have also taken the wraps off the W02:



And Toro Rosso have shown off the STR6, which is interesting for it's massively undercut sidepods:

 

Love the black and gold LRL. And hate that very very boring Merc. Bleh.
/Colour fanboy

 

Testing about to get underway:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9383263.stm

Are Renault / Lotus running an interim car or the real deal? I guess if it's the '11 car, we'll get to see what they've done with their exhaust system. Speculation has it that they're going to exit the bodywork somehwere near the front of the side pods, in an attempt to blow the whole floor of the car...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9383263.stm

 

the hype is building

 

Personally, I like the Merc. I think it's a sensible evolutionf rom last year, and the colouring is less awkward. Though that probably stops the moment El Schu steps into it with his red helmet and big chin.

RB7 looks largely like a slightly evolved 2010 car, as does the STR.
It WOULD be cool if Williams ran in that colour, though... white sponsor logos, otherwise the navy blue.

Still to be seen:
FIindia, McLaren, HRT, Virgin, ...sure I am missing someone here.

 

I'll laugh at them if it dies in the first 10 laps.

 

I bet it melts itself

 

this is my expectation, really.
Also, while I get what they're talking about, forcing more air under the body (consequentially increasing airflow under the body, giving the diffuser more "suck", and increasing what little ground effect they can have, I can see (though i am not even almost an aerodynamics specialist) some issues there (besides the heat): that's quite a bit of flow, and in some of the slower sections, this could mean LESS downforce, as weight could be offset... btu I reckon we'll have to wait and see a breakdown of how the system works to say anything at all.

 

http://twitpic.com/3vf0o2

 

Great video from Sauber showing how the moveable rear wing looks:

 

I read yesterday somewhere that Pirelli will mark their tyres differently to Bridgestone:

Slicks have a black Sidewall, inters will be red, and wets yellow.

At the same time, the writing on the sidewall will be coloured according to the compounds:
Super Soft: Red
Soft; White
Medium: Blue
Hard: Yellow

We'll see how that goes, if it goes.