F1 F1 2008-2009 Winter Testing

[Gene]

A first taste of what the '09 spec cars will look like, from Barcelona testing 17th to 20th November.

May look ugly as hell, but as long as its fast, I don't care.

Apprantly BMW and Ferrari are also running KERS as indicated by the pitcrew wearing large rubber gloves. Unsure about the other teams.

Oh, and although this is the first day of the first test of the build up for the '09 season, it looks like BMW is in a good position (I hope) as they and Ferrari are the only ones doing long runs, with BMW in the 1min 21s, and ferrari's in 1min 26s

 

[Centurion]

The proportions are definitely messed up. All the effort of increasing overtakings using new aero kits, is cancelled out by the number of street circuits added to the calendar.

 

[Deleted member 25]

BMW is clearly ahead of everyone in their 2009 preparations.

 

[PanterroR]

Wth is that?

 

[Deleted member 25]

A 2009 Spec hybrid car.

 

[bmwownage]

This looks very stupid.... the aero technology looks like something from year 2000, or even earlier. but seriously it looks really dumb, the front wing, looks like some street cleaner or lawn mower

 

[Centurion]

BMW is clearly ahead of everyone in their 2009 preparations.

..............or they are out early simply because they are the team that need most improvements for the 2009 season.

From Canada and forward they stood no chance against Mclaren and Ferrari and coming to the end of the season they were outpaced by Torro Rosso and Renault as well as having Toyota chasing behind.

 

[PanterroR]

..............or they are out early simply because they are the team that need most improvements for the 2009 season.

Yeah, right. C'mon, most improvements? Kubica's 3/4 place and clear 3rd place in CC won't agree with you. And i also don't agree...

From Canada and forward they stood no chance against Mclaren and Ferrari and coming to the end of the season they were outpaced by Torro Rosso and Renault as well as having Toyota chasing behind.

With clear 3rd place i think they concentrated much earlier for upcoming season than RB, Renault and Toyota.

 

[Centurion]

Yeah, right. C'mon, most improvements? Kubica's 3/4 place and clear 3rd place in CC won't agree with you. And i also don't agree...



With clear 3rd place i think they concentrated much earlier for upcoming season than RB, Renault and Toyota.

A solid 3 place finish was well expected but with Alonso at Renault BMW has quite a bit threat. Further more they don't want to be third, they are looking into advancing up the ranks battling against Ferrari and Mclaren, which is a goal they are quite far away from at the moment. On the track Kubica wasn't anywhere near Hamilton or Massa in performance.

As there's going to me major changes we might see quite a shuffle as slicks might benefit aggressive drivers who recently graduated from GP2. Teams who have a long history in F1 will be at an advantage since they've constructed cars with ground effects in the past.

 

[Monster]

BMW is clearly ahead of everyone in their 2009 preparations.

Because they gave up on their 08 season and focus on 09 right after their Canadian GP victory. I think BMW was 2nd team to launch their 08 cars this year, behind Toyota. And look at how those 2 teams performed through out the season. The reason they might appear to be ahead of everyone is that they might need more track time to varify their design.

 

[warot]

Why is that rear wing on the BMW so much narrower than everyone else's? What could they possibly testing.

Ugh I'm still too full from last year's season. I think I'll keep watching soccer and american football for a few more months

 

[Monster]

Why is that rear wing on the BMW so much narrower than everyone else's? What could they possibly testing.

Ugh I'm still too full from last year's season. I think I'll keep watching soccer and american football for a few more months

The 2009 aero regulation restricts the width and the height of the rear wing, so I guess they are trying to recreate a similar rear downforce level to a 09 spec rear wing.

 

[warot]

The 2009 aero regulation restricts the width and the height of the rear wing, so I guess they are trying to recreate a similar rear downforce level to a 09 spec rear wing.

Geez, that narrow? These cars are going to end up looking like F2 cars

I'm excited about next season though. Can't wait to see the R&D come into play.

 

[Monster]

Geez, that narrow? These cars are going to end up looking like F2 cars

I'm excited about next season though. Can't wait to see the R&D come into play.

Probably, they are trying to minimise the turbulence generated by the rear wing, which right now is the reason why cars cannot follow each other closely on the track.

 

[Monster]

Testing gets underway at Barcelona

http://imageshack.us

Testing for the 2009 F1 season got underway at Barcelona this morning with a few new faces and looks in the paddock.

Red Bull Racing, using this year's RB4, put World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb through his paces while Honda made use of 2008 Renault tester Lucas di Grassi.

But while Loeb is just testing for fun, di Grassi is hoping that his run this weekend lands him a 2009 Honda race-seat.

BMW are also in action with a interim car that was fitted out with several 2009 specifications. These included a new wide front wing as well as a much smaller rear wing.

Likewise Williams are running using next year's rear wing spec while Ferrari have two cars present.

One, which has the new 2009 aero package, is fitted

with ballast that simulates the weight of a KERS device while the other is set to this year's specs.

Testing gets underway at Barcelona - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com

 

[Remy Zero]

while i have to say it maybe looks dumb and ugly, this is no beauty contest. i'm just sick and tired of every lap being a parade. the fun is just the 1st corner, then it's done.

remember Valencia? or Spain? Malaysia? SIngapore? Australia? the only fun GP was Canada, year in year out, and now thats gone too.

so, i'm willing to take the risk, no matter how the car looks like.

 

[Deleted member 25]

..............or they are out early simply because they are the team that need most improvements for the 2009 season.

No, they are ahead, you cannot just make such a car just to verify things. In term of Kers BMW and Honda are miles ahead of everyone and now it appears that BMW is ahead in term of the complete 2009 package. They sure had a slow progress rate in the 2nd half of 2008 but that was partly du to the fact that they focused on 2009 earlier than others.

 

[Sunny]

Man, that BMW is fugly. I can make cardboard models that look better! And while I hope BMW is ahead I wouldn't jump to any conclusions based on first few tests.

 

[modena_360stradale]

A first taste of what the '09 spec cars will look like, from Barcelona testing 17th to 20th November.

Yuck. Besides the slicks, wings, etc. what exactly are the new specifications for the cars this season? The car looks really narrow here

The cars last season were proportioned beautifully.

 

[Centurion]

Can't wait to see Bruno join F1. There's will be a massive battle between him and Hamilton over who loves Aryton more. Peep the guys helmets:


Ayrton


Lewis

Bruno