The Best (or Worst) Looking Car of 2009

[Peter]

Well, 2009 has probably made the ugliest and most differently designed F1 cars ever, so different that Ray Charles can tell them apart. So this thread is to share your opinions of these cars. That the Williams has the best livery, or the Brawn is total ugly, the Force India is the best improvement in looks over it's predecessor, anything you think of them. This thread is only for opinion and discussion, no negative comments about someone's opinion, it's their thoughts and you have no right to criticize someone's thoughts, failure to abide by this rule results in the reporting of your post and the possible closing of this thread. Let's see the comptitors:

McLaren MP4/24- Silver and red never looked better.

Ferrari F60- Simple design, nice side mirrors, but needs more colour.

Renault R29- The colours match very nicely, and they're in the right places to look their best, but an ugly nose.

BMW Sauber F1.09- Blue and white look ok, but the nose is appalling

Williams FW31- Undoubtedly one of the best livery on the field, it does a good job hiding the ugly of 2009 cars

Red Bull RBR5- The best looking car on the grid IMO, the best livery on the field, with a really nice aero kit, but those brake ducts are ugly ,if you notice them, hope you don't

Scuderi Torro Rosso STR4- Looks alright, but the darker livery compared to the RBR5 brings it down.

Toyota TF109- I adore the red and white, never looked better, and the aero looks very nice as well.

Force India VJM02- Not the best looking car, but it's a tremendous improvement over it's predecessor, the last one was very ugly.

Brawn BGP01- All I can say is . Lack of sponsors and that nasty acid yellow makes it the ugliest car on the grid. I don't like the aero kit at all either.

 

[Ardius]

Can't you use smaller resolution images? I hate how these large ones screw up the fit of the posts and forum, is it really necessary?

Also, the Honda isn't the RA109, the BGP001 is. That picture is of the RA108 with 2009 spec wings testing, its not what the finished car would look like, Tyrrell/BAR/Honda/Brawn had 2(3?) wind tunnels testing different solutions and they came up with the BGP001 in the end. What you see there is an early test of one of the solutions, but it is not the end product.

I already kind of liked the 2009 spec cars in the first place, but now after half a season's racing, I like them even more, very reminiscent of the 80s Grand Prix cars, with the large front wings and smaller rear wings and very few silly additions (winglets, etc) to the bodywork.
This year has brought out the largest obvious spread of design ideas in Formula 1 in a very, very long time. Just compare the front wings, each team has a noticably different design, when was the last time we saw such large differences in physical appearence with such small differences in track performance.

In conclusion, this year has been one of the best seasons for 10 years if not more easily in terms of interesting and fast designs. The cars are within a second of each other and are visibly different in design, what more could you want? Who needs spec series racing for close competition?
And my favourite looker is the Williams and my least is the BMW Sauber. The McLaren's front wing is gastly though and I don't really like the newer Red Bull front wings.
I like the Force India for its mid-90s-retro look. As well as being the best performing car to come from the team for a long time, oh and the Indian flag works nicely as a livery.

 

[PeterJB]

Your Renault picture is messed up, unless it's just my Computer.

 

[LSX]

I really like the BGP01, thought it was ugly at first, then it grew on me and now I really like it. The updated RB5 IMO, is bar far the best looking car as far as bodywork goes. BMW Sauber F1.09 is IMO, not so good as far as body work goes.

 

[Peter]

I'm liking the RA09, it's a shame Honda dropped out.

 

[Ardius]

I'm liking the RA09, it's a shame Honda dropped out.

The RA109 doesn't exist.

 

[Greycap]

Contrary to the common opinion I think that the Renault looks fabulous - even with the nose, it gives it character, that the McLaren looks like it melted in the sun (and the faded red isn't helping) and that the Williams is ugly as sin, with the second most boring paint job in the field. Newey has made another magical looking car in the RB5 (although I liked the narrow nose better still) and the rest are just, well, in existence.

 

[Tired Tyres]

I like the BGP001. The first time I saw it I knew it was going to be quick. I just looked so right. I love the colour scheme as well. It's quite understated and not in your face like some of the others.

The only other car I like the look of this year is the Toyota.

 

[Peter]

I hate the BGP001. No sponsors, acid yellow, that air intake. It looks like someone used vomit to paint those stripes.

 

[LancerEvo7]

I like the what would have been Honda RA109 and the Williams.

 

[Ardius]

Brawn BGP01- All I can say is . Lack of sponsors and that nasty acid yellow makes it the ugliest car on the grid. I don't like the aero kit at all either.

Honda RA09- Never made it onto the grid, unfortunately, but here's what the Honda 2009 F1 would have looked like. Very nice actually.

I'm liking the RA09, it's a shame Honda dropped out.

I hate the BGP001. No sponsors, acid yellow, that air intake. It looks like someone used vomit to paint those stripes.

Oh I do enjoy reading the same thing over and over. Can I read it again?

 

[Peter]

I hate the current car, but love the concept with the big wing. Time to remove it. Does everyone see the red bull because I can't see it.

 

[Ardius]

Isn't this borderline spam? I mean, come on, there isn't much being added here. We're getting into youtube-comments levels. At least put a bit more discussional value into your posts, PJ-FFL. Or put all your thoughts in one post rather than one after another in single sentences.

 

[Peter]

Rule added to first post, you can't miss it, it's the only one. I have to keep this thread clean and alive.

 

[daan]

Rule added to first post, you can't miss it, it's the only one.

Who died and made you mod?

I have to keep this thread clean and alive.

Why? If a thread is dying, let it. Don't keep it alive by posting stuff that you've posted already.

 

[Peter]

I don't want this thread to be closed because it turns into a thread full of youtube-like comments.

 

[daan]

I don't want this thread to be closed because it turns into a thread full of youtube-like comments.

It's you who is making the youtube-like comments... 💡

 

[Crashbroke23]

Williams does indeed have one of the best liveries on the grid, but the livery shown at the FW31's unveiling is a lot better than anything from this year.

The Red Bull cars now look (f)ugly with the the duck bill nose though. I'm surprising how good Force Inida's is though, the colors were off in the VJM01.

 

[Boundary Layer]

Ferrari F60- Simple design, nice side mirrors, but needs more colour.

Funny... 'simple' is one of the last words I'd use in describing any modern F1 car, even if we are only talking about the overall aesthetic of the vehicle.

I may be alone in this, but during all the pre-season hype I was (and still very much am) of the opinion that the Brawn was one of the best looking cars on the grid in terms of its overall shape.





They're all ugly though.
To me the cars looked there best in the late 90's, and specifically in 2000. I really liked the low wide look pre-98, but it was after 2000 when the minimum front wing height was raised that things started to degrade as the aerodynamicists started to flex the brain muscles a bit more.

 

[damez]

My top 3...

1. Brawn - Love the design, its minimalistic. I don't understand how people don't like it. IMO best looking car on the grid.
2. McLaren - The soft gun metal grey/silver with red hints make it look dangerous and that colour scheme has always been beautiful.
3. Torro Rosso - IMO looks much better than the ordinary bright and vivid Red Bull counter-car. The drawing of the bull on this car is much better than the Red Bull, and its darker colours look much better.

From there its...

4. Red Bull
5. Ferrari
6. Renault
7. Toyota
8. Force India
9. Williams
10. BMW