F1 2011 season, car launch etc.

[Deleted member 25]

Very conservative base, visuallu well proportionned car, i like it.

 

[Monster]

From the cockpit forward the car resembles the F60. The biggest change I see is the side of the side pod intakes as well as the fin that's not attached to the rear wing any longer. The most radical changes are likely beneath the surface where Ferrari are said to have an innovative suspension system.

Guess they don't want to give it all away before the start of the race season, just like how Mclaren didn't equip their cars with the F-duct at the launch.
I suppose with the new active rear wing, there is no need for the fin to be attached to the rear wing. I am impressed by the tiny size of the air inlets, considering the car will need more air flow to cool the KERs system.

What caught my eye was the blatantly obvious Marlboro advertising. Subliminal advertising doesn't get more obvious than that. To my surprise they are lost Etihad and Mubadala as sponsors and opted for TATA. Worth mentioning is that the Fiat Group purchased back the 5% of the company they sold to Mubadala a few years ago.

At first I thought I was looking at the Marlboro sticker on the engine cover, until I took a closer look at it. They are very very sneaky indeed. It is surprising to see a top team like Ferrari to lose sponsors, makes you wonder how will the lesser team survive.

 

[martinbo]

Martin, maybe you can kill my curiosity. If I'm not mistaken these cars use seamless shift gearboxes. Is it any different from a lets a Ferrari Sequential box cos apparently only one clutch allowed in F1 cars. Thanks in advance.

Braaf, in brief, whilst the essential operating principle is very similar between something like a road-going Scuderia's F1 gearbox and a pukka F1 race 'box, there are still some very distinct differences. Whilst selector forks are still used to engage gears to output shaft, the shift actuation mechanisms, gear set arrangement and overall packaging is quite different between the two.

The actuation of the selector forks is a significant difference - the Formula One gearbox uses a keyed, rotating barrel to move the selector forks, whilst the robotised manual gearbox follows a more conventional approach - selector forks moved by shift rods operated by hydraulics.

Of course an F1 gearbox is much smaller and lighter and is only required to last 7 races as opposed to hundreds of thousands of kms.

The actual shift speeds in an F1 gearbox is also much quicker, 'box manufacturers like X-trac are able to pre-engage the next gear simultaneously with the decoupling of the current gear. The whole process operates on a knife-edge.

 

[Remy Zero]

Look how high the seating position has been changed because of the front wing. Looks like Mubadala and Etihad are gone as well, and Tata has come on board.

Looks wise, i hope they don't use that hideous shark fin. Other than that, looks pretty much like the F10

 

[Centurion]

Guess they don't want to give it all away before the start of the race season, just like how Mclaren didn't equip their cars with the F-duct at the launch.

Yeah. There's no point in giving rivals a head start in catching up with your design. I'm curious to see how much Mclaren and Renault will reveal. During the past two weeks or so they have been bragging about radical and controversial designs. However, Mclaren won't be testing the MP4-26 until the second week of testing. Next week getting familiar with the Pirelli tires will be Mclaren's goal.

I suppose with the new active rear wing, there is no need for the fin to be attached to the rear wing.

In addition to banning the F-Duct and Double Diffusers, FIA has imposed restrictions on how close the fin can extend to the rear wing. I can only imagine how quick the Mclaren would have been if the had KERS, F-Duct and the adjustable rear wing.

 

[Bartek S.]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Remy Zero]

The new Merc...

 

[Remy Zero]

Mclaren's almost done too...

 

[Monster]

The new Merc...

That front end is a shameless copy of last year's Red Bull.

 

[Remy Zero]

That front end is a shameless copy of last year's Red Bull.

Yeap i agree. But very different sidepods from the Ferrari. having saying that, the car we're gonna see this next few days and the cars that will arrive in Bahrain will scarcely look alike.

 

[fortuner]

The merc looks quite nice i hope it performs with the top this year and not after top 3 hope nico and michela have a good car so we can see michale against alonso ,hammi and vettel..

i just dont like the turquise colour on merc but i guess petrones is the main sponser so it goes hand in hand...

 

[Bartek S.]

 

[Monster]

Ok... so we have 2 teams using the Lotus name on the grid?

The color scheme on the Renault looks very retro, and it can do without the red. After looking at some higher res photos, it seems the Renault team has copied Red Bull and gone for the pull rod rear suspension, resulting in a very low, compact rear bodywork.

 

[braaf]

Braaf, in brief, whilst the essential operating principle is very similar between something like a road-going Scuderia's F1 gearbox and a pukka F1 race 'box, there are still some very distinct differences. Whilst selector forks are still used to engage gears to output shaft, the shift actuation mechanisms, gear set arrangement and overall packaging is quite different between the two.

The actuation of the selector forks is a significant difference - the Formula One gearbox uses a keyed, rotating barrel to move the selector forks, whilst the robotised manual gearbox follows a more conventional approach - selector forks moved by shift rods operated by hydraulics.

Of course an F1 gearbox is much smaller and lighter and is only required to last 7 races as opposed to hundreds of thousands of kms.

The actual shift speeds in an F1 gearbox is also much quicker, 'box manufacturers like X-trac are able to pre-engage the next gear simultaneously with the decoupling of the current gear. The whole process operates on a knife-edge.

Thanks Martin, my curiosity is now killed. Just one qusetion. Is this the same type of tech that will be used in the new Lambo.

 

[Centurion]

Ok... so we have 2 teams using the Lotus name on the grid?

The color scheme on the Renault looks very retro, and it can do without the red. After looking at some higher res photos, it seems the Renault team has copied Red Bull and gone for the pull rod rear suspension, resulting in a very low, compact rear bodywork.

The rear is indeed rather compact and will have a low center of gravity. The mid-section of the car packs most junk and that's because Renault will employ a radical exhaust system which will blow the fumes to the front of the car, probably close to the outer edges of the side pods. This explains the size of the side pods which will need to swallow plenty of air to cool the extra spaghetti of exhaust pipes extending to the front. The hot air will likely be accelerated across the tea-tray by the cold air directed by the splitter. It's a cunning way of innovating a blown-diffuser.

Just like Ferrari and Sauber, they have opted for a low concave-shaped nose while Lotus have a flat one.

View attachment b264bb02095a68696df9d1f97186cd43.png

 

[martinbo]

Thanks Martin, my curiosity is now killed. Just one qusetion. Is this the same type of tech that will be used in the new Lambo.

Definitely not. The ISR (Independent Shifting Rod) transmission is the next evolution of the robotised manual box we've seen in SMG et al and follows much the same technical principles of selector fork actuation. Nothing like the X-trac gearboxes in Formula 1.

 

[LaArtist]

Whoa that gold black Lotus/renault is HOT

 

[braaf]

Definitely not. The ISR (Independent Shifting Rod) transmission is the next evolution of the robotised manual box we've seen in SMG et al and follows much the same technical principles of selector fork actuation. Nothing like the X-trac gearboxes in Formula 1.

Thanks Martin. Do you think we'll ever see the x-trac gearbox in production vehicles one day bearing in mind that they will have to be beefed up to last longer.

 

[Centurion]

Whoa that gold black Lotus/renault is HOT

It's massive too. BTW. I welcome the return of Romain and Bruno who both haven't been given a fair chance at a career in F1. In a few days we'll find out where the exhaust outlets are and how Renault's boundary pushing technical solutions perform on the track.

 

[Bartek S.]

Press release


Team Lotus Unveils 2011 Car

The Team Lotus 2011 challenger T128 was launched on Monday 31st January exclusively in Team Lotus Notes. The special launch edition of the team's magazine has a number of first-see images of the 2011 car and insights from key players within Team Lotus into the design and build process of the new car, including people from the Aero, R&D and Vehicle Dynamics, Design and Senior Management Teams.

Here are a few selected highlights, but click on the link to the launch edition on the homepage of Team Lotus for the whole story.

Marianne Hinson, Head of Aerodynamics: "In aero we started thinking about the new car around Spring last year, a bit before any of the other departments. The start of the process is a really fun period, when you're looking through the new rules, thrashing out ideas and trying to find loopholes."

Lewis Butler, Chief Designer: "The biggest design challenge was trying to package everything a bit smaller. We were trying to get that area around the driver really tight so the aerodynamicists were happy with it."

Elliot Dason-Barber, Head of R&D and Vehicle Dynamics: "We're definitely going to take a step forward with this car. Quite how much we'll close the gap to the teams in front of us we'll see, but my hope is we'll be competing with the teams that were a second or two ahead of us last season."

Keith Saunt, Chief Operating Officer: "You can just see that this car will be faster than last year's. It's got the right sweeps and curves on it - it's the very latest iteration of what an F1 car should be."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "I think that basically this car looks like a front-running car in every area. We said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams and I think that's very achievable."

Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: "T128 takes Team Lotus in exactly the right direction. We have said since day one of the Team Lotus dream that the plan for our second year was to take the fight to the midfield, and with this car we are all confident that is what we will be able to do."

Team Principal Tony Fernandes: "There has been so much focus off-track it's a thrill to be able to get back to talking about racing. The launch of the T128 is a big step forward for Team Lotus and I want to thank the whole team for the amount of hard work that has already gone into the car, and I want to thank Renault and Red Bull Technology for their tremendous support in helping us make this step forward and for being such great team partners."