Formula 1 2009: The Launch Season

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The rear diffusers of the Toyota and Williams teams have been cleared by Formula One's governing body, according to FIA president Max Mosley.

Mosley says, however, that the FIA has seen nothing illegal about the "clever" design, although he admitted a protest could not be ruled out during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

"The current FIA view is that Williams and Toyota have been clever and have exploited the wording of the rules in a clever way. But somebody may challenge it and the stewards may take a different view - it could happen.

It's settled, for now...
 
Until post first race official complaints if any of these cars so much looks like getting a podium you mean?
 
Could anyone offer a more detailed description, of how Toyota and Williams have got taken advantage of the loophole. I am sure it will make for an interesting read.
 
great video by red bull now just another few days untill they show us what they got in there hand for this years car.
 
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Win.
 
wow,that front wing attachement looks fragile...one little stone and its a goner...so it seems...


spyrrari.
 
I think I'm warming up to the 2009 cars, the RB5 looks great, I just love that front wing and those rear wing end plates are so long. I really want to see some pics of it from the rear.
 
Looks like RBR went the opposite way of all the other teams. While all the other cars are very rounded, the RBR looks very curvy to me. Especially that "chunk" that pops up all of a sudden when following the shape of the car from the side, going up from the front wing, looks very akward...
 
From the side and from the front it looks hideous, but the 3/4 view (with the team in the background) it looks absolutely sexy. Let's hope for unique camera angles in Melbourne..
 
Count on Adrian Newey to do something interesting, heh. Hope this is Red Bull's championship winner, I think we'd all like to see Vettel up there this year challenging for podiums. With the more powerful Renault engine, Adrian Newey and Vettel its certainly looking good for them.
 
well the red bull car isnt ugly but it isnt that great of a car either. i have to wonder what is up with the hump on the front end of that thing for?

but looks arent everything id much rather know how the thing performs then how it looks.
 
I've been thinking about it and thinking about it all day, trying to recall what the RB5's nose reminds me of, and I've finally got it: the Concorde.

Red Bull RB5:
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Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde:
concorde%20nose.jpg
 
The RB5 is bloody mental. Newey ticked every possible loophole in the book so far!

  • Ferrari-esque mirror-shields, with integrated huge bargeboards:
    117919.jpg
  • Incredibly complicated front wing: A small element near the endplates curves sharply upwards to shield the wheel (Blake, we saw that one coming!), triple-plane wing with a large adjustable flap, plus two extra upper planes. Probably the best front-wing so far.
    117916.jpg
  • "Cobra-nose": Note how the side of the nosecone bulges, channeling air towards the rear.
  • McLaren-style steering arms: They're not integrated into the suspension - who knows why, who knows if it'll help?
    117909.jpg
  • Tightly-packaged radical rear: Not undercut at all, but closes very tightly - rear exit exhausts channel the hot air onto a "wing" created by the crash-structure: Effectively creating a second rear wing. Radical suspension too: "Pull"rod instead of the usual pushrod suspension, which gives them advantages in terms of packaging and CoG, but harder access to the part. Also incorporates very wide rear endplates.
    u2mbn4293yh3.jpg
  • Partial sharkfin: Not a complete one, but a definite bump behind the engine-cover, like an extended version of the 2008 McLaren/BMW "whalebacks" - extended, but not completely. Also, there's a miniature removable sharkfin present: Potentially removable to improve cooling.
    diapo_179.jpg


Also, haters of the Renault nose, you may weep and cry: It stays, and it's grown bigger! I'm very, very unsure whether it's any good at all, but they just extended the "splitter" further on down the nosecone. Looks like it's here to stay.
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Has anyone read about what purpose that little pod, hanging down under the nose between the front wheels, has?
 
Has anyone read about what purpose that little pod, hanging down under the nose between the front wheels, has?

Yup. It's a laser ride-height sensor. They've been on the cars during testing for the past two years, but are more visible now that the turning-vanes are less dense.
 
Interesting little design finaglings going on in addition to the Renault changes Metar noted above. F1.09 seems to have adopted the turning vein/shield/sidepod mirror and the TF109 has a few changes to their front wing, including some elements that seem unique to TOYOTA.

TF109 Front Wing at Sakhir

F1.09 Mirrors

Also, it's interesting how low the rear wing side panels extend on the RB5. Seems to be the lowest of the bunch. I'm also curious about the Carbon Fiber weave design on the RB5. I wonder if this is for strength advantage, aesthetics, or just to reduced manufactured cost.
 
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Interesting little design finaglings going on in addition to the Renault changes Metar noted above. F1.09 seems to have adopted the turning vein/shield/sidepod mirror and the TF109 has a few changes to their front wing, including some elements that seem unique to TOYOTA.

TF109 Front Wing at Sakhir

F1.09 Mirrors

Also, it's interesting how low the rear wing side panels extend on the RB5. Seems to be the lowest of the bunch. I'm also curious about the Carbon Fiber weave design on the RB5. I wonder if this is for strength advantage, aesthetics, or just to reduced manufactured cost.

Your two links have the "http://" bit twice. ;)

The RB5 endplates extend as low as legally possible - 50mm above the reference plane - which slightly narrows the diffuser, but who knows if the endplates don't make up for this?

In Toyota's case, the front wing "cascade-wings" are no longer unique - the Red Bull has them now, too - and two planes, at that. The F1.09's mirrors are a weird thing, though. A mix between the usual "stalk" setup and the Ferrari-style shieldmirrors...
 
Links Fixed :)

The Toyota wing does have a unique space/scoop on the sideplate to the wing plane portion. Looks almost like an extension of the moveable elements leading edge if view from the front like in the link I posted.
 
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