Ferrari F2012 launch

[Joie de vivre!]

very interesting, they are running with pull rod front suspension

 

[ZEROX]

Now by the front view, looks like the longnose truck to me.

 

[csmeteora9]

very interesting, they are running with pull rod front suspension

I read somewhere the other day that the last car to use pull-rod front suspension (up to now) was the 2001 Minardi PS01. So I'm curious if it actually offers any advantage or if this is just a result of Ferrari trying to be different. Although to be fair I wouldn't expect that from Ferrari.

 

[Joie de vivre!]

well they said this one is going to be aggressive ... speculations were that they'll use pull rod ... obviously they are

i am eager to see the results

 

[tankuroded]

Regarding ugliness, has anyone compared this with F310 (1996 car)?

 

[Ardius]

Well I see that that joke USF1 image from a few years ago was somewhat prophetic:

 

[CromaTurboIE]

Well I see that that joke USF1 image from a few years ago was somewhat prophetic:

OMG

 

[Robin]

Now I remember what all these noses remind me of.... Garden Vacuums!

Actually this Flymo has a better looking snout than the Ferrari

 

[HKS racer]

Oh, they'll all take what they know to work - but at the same time, they'll add their own ideas in. Like Force India's ultra-thin nose. Or McLaren's "snow plough" under the nosecone. Ferrari, on the other hand, just copy and paste.

and this

No, it's not. It's got a McLaren double-airbox, Red Bull sculpting at the rear and tiny in-vogue airboxes. Once again, Ferrari have just taken the best ideas from the year before and grafted them together.

You sound way too snob, the below part, on the nose is way different from Mclaren. Look at the huge nose supports, in Ferrari they are trying to direct as much air as they can stright under the car and then on the rear end. Mclaren clearly have a different approach. And the rear doesn't look like a RB either. Ferrari nose indeed is quite strange but we don't know if that's the final version or if that thing help generate a diserd turbolence.

 

[csmeteora9]

Regarding ugliness, has anyone compared this with F310 (1996 car)?

Personally I don't mind the appearance of the F310 at all, although I do prefer how it looked with the nose raised. For comparison...

Never noticed this before, but Ferrari changed the shape of the air-intake above the drivers slightly at the same time they raised the nose.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

I find it very strange how aesthetics suddenly don't mean anything when Ferrari produces an ugly car. I can't think of the last truly ugly car that won a race, so I don't have much in the way of hope for the Ferrari combine harvester.

Somehow I doubt that Adrian Newey will be putting a stepped nose on the RB8.

 

[csmeteora9]

Somehow I doubt that Adrian Newey will be putting a stepped nose on the RB8.

I'm not so sure frankly. Remember a few months ago when Adrian Newey was quoted as saying that the 2012 Red Bull would 'suprise' the F1 paddock? Also do you remember when he also stated that the RB8 would be an evolution of the 2011 challenger? To me this suggests there won't be a dramatic change in the front end since that would be a departure from last years machine. I suspect the nose will be similar to last year, albeit stepped. This being Newey however I'm sure he has developed a much more elegant solution than Ferrari have. Personally I expect the 'surprise' to be at the rear of the car.

 

[Dotini]

very interesting, they are running with pull rod front suspension

Any beauty to the new Ferrari will be found in its innovative engineering and on-track performance.

I presently do not understand the front pull-rod system, and how/where the springs and dampers are packaged. I'm looking forward to Scarb explaining how it works. Ferrari have gone to great effort in the attempt to exploit improved aero.

Let's hope they can get some heat into hard tires for a change, and achieve parity with Red Bull and McLaren. Alonso deserves better than one win in a season, and Massa's best placing last season was a depressing 5th. Ugh!

Respectfully submitted,
Steve

 

[Joie de vivre!]

Yeah I hope Scarb makes a review some time soon.

 

[Sting]

True story

The only thing I really like on the new ferrari is the roll bar structure this year. They did a good job placing the Kers intake.

Ditto. The rest of the car is quite shocking, but that roll structure and the intakes looks like an impressive solution.

 

[United6694]

My eyes, that nose...

But overall the car looks good

 

[csmeteora9]

My eyes, that nose...

But overall the car looks good

That really is the only issue with the aesthetics I'd say, the nose. Everything rearward of the nose looks sleek and aggressive, I like it. But then you have the nose and it's the exact opposite. Not only does it look awful in the first place but the fact it doesn't match the rest of the car makes it even worse.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

The nose looks weird because its so flat on the top, I think it will be more crafted like the Force India and Caterham by the first race.

 

[The Outlaw]

Looking past the bird beak, I think she is mighty sexy (although I may be a bit biased). A bit of a butterface I guess you could say

"Jamesallenonf1 James Allen
#f1 There are so many legality question marks around 2012 F1 cars apparently, that FIA's Charlie Whiting is going to attend Jerez test..."

I find it very strange how aesthetics suddenly don't mean anything when Ferrari produces an ugly car. I can't think of the last truly ugly car that won a race, so I don't have much in the way of hope for the Ferrari combine harvester.

Well you're negativity is to be expected (particularly if it's Ferrari or Kimi Raikkonen ), as you wouldn't give props or have hope for Ferrari's 2012 challenger regardless of what it looked like...

And since when did aesthetics have any valid correlation to on track performance? Basically you're trying to imply that because the car has a rather awkward looking front nose cone shape (which is mainly a result of the new regs in that area), that the car is ugly and won't perform - which is all rather short sighted.

Oh, they'll all take what they know to work - but at the same time, they'll add their own ideas in. Like Force India's ultra-thin nose. Or McLaren's "snow plough" under the nosecone. Ferrari, on the other hand, just copy and paste.

I don't see anything really inovative with Force India's nose. The nose dimensions are what you would expect to see given the new regulations. And Mclaren have always been pushing the boundries looking for outside the box solutions in the last decade or so... but how many WCC has it gotten them?

No, it's not. It's got a McLaren double-airbox, Red Bull sculpting at the rear and tiny in-vogue airboxes. Once again, Ferrari have just taken the best ideas from the year before and grafted them together.

First of all, aggresive doesn't necessarily mean the car has to be revolutionary in outward apperence or have to have the latest silver bullet. Secondly, to judge only on what you've seen and know so far regarding the trickery of the car, is jumping the gun a bit (and basically judging a book by it's cover...in that we certainly don't know all of the secrets of the car or just how incredibly efficient the car might be aerodynamically).

Just from a simple outside perspective, the car is aggressive in that it will likely be one of the few, if only cars to use a pullrod front suspension, will likely be using exhaust energy to blow the rear brake ducts, has a massive venturi/funnel like area under the nose cone with massive uprights to guide a lot a large quanity of high energized air to the t-tray, an interesting diffuser/floor concept which the legendary Rory Byrne is said to have come up, and side pods and a rear end which is unique in shape (with the radiator cooling soultion as well) and extremely tidy.

Beyond that, I think this years Ferrari will be more aggressive/or pushing the boundries further in terms of maximizing the design/performance of each compenent, at the expense of pushing the reliability/strength envelope.

And being that Ferrari's main disadvantage was the exhaust blown diffuser last year and that underneath it all they actually had a very solid package (minus the tire issues...which will likely be resolved this year), they didn't neccesarily have to reinvent the wheel entirely to have a good shot at being succesful in 2012.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I would think that little "bump" would be bad for aero, right?

 

[The Outlaw]

Tbh, I can't really see it being that bad for aero. It's mainly a result of the new regulations and the design philosphy to try and shove as much air under the nose, which will then be diverted around the sidepods to the rear diffuser (which is the most crucial and efficient means of producing downforce on the car). I'm also not sure if this is something that Ferrari might try and re-sculpt prior the first race, assuming they are even allowed to.

You could say Mclaren have come up with a much more elegant/smoothly sculpted nose cone, which is much lower and might have a slightly lower C of G from outside appearence, but they are likely risking giving up the potential volume of air that could be injected torward the t-tray and back to the diffuser. On the other hand, the Ferrari might have a slightly higher C of G with their design, and a bit of a turbulence producer (but which also likely creates a bit of downforce) having the rather awkward hump on the nose. The reason I don't see the hump on the nose being such a big deal is mainly because it creates a bit of air disruption right in front of a area (the cockpit) which has poor aerodynamics to begin with. On the other hand, the aera under the nose is one of the most crucial aerodynamic areas of the car. Either way, it's a bit of a give and take you could say.

At the end of the day, who's to say which is better or worse atm....they are simply 2 different design philosphies which have come about due to the new nose regulations for 2012. As usual, the teams will likely converge on a more similar design philosphy in the not to distant future once they have studied and understood each others design.

 

[Dotini]

In terms of wetted area, I'd say Ferrari have the smallest nosecone of any seen so far. It's just a smoothed bracket to hold out the front wing - and get itself out of the way of airflow going underneath to the interesting bits.

Even though the nose looks high, I venture to say that the pull-rod suspension more than compensates in getting the CG as low as possible.

Respectfully,
Steve

 

[The Outlaw]

Here's another picture I found - From here it's looks like the hump has a bit of a valley sculpted into it...although the lighting might just be playing tricks on me.

In terms of wetted area, I'd say Ferrari have the smallest nosecone of any seen so far. It's just a smoothed bracket to hold out the front wing - and get itself out of the way of airflow going underneath to the interesting bits.

Even though the nose looks high, I venture to say that the pull-rod suspension more than compensates in getting the CG as low as possible.
Respectfully,
Steve

This is likely the case.

That said, it will be quite interesting to see just how well the F2012 will be mechanically and particularly in its abililty to manage the tires in all circumstances with the pull rod front suspension and rather strange geometry of the actual pull-rod itself

 

[HKS racer]

I would think that little "bump" would be bad for aero, right?

Well, generally yes, but this is not a conventional car. That thing for sure is supposed to generate some drag and downforce. But from this photo, now I kind of understand what they are doing.

Look at the front end where they placed Kaspersky logo, it looks thin and total flat, probably that part makes zero downforce and it's used only to push the air under the car. Look at the huge nose supports (Abu Dhabi sponsor), they are used like a tunnel. Now, having the first part with zero downforce, they can exploit that bump to maximize downforce on front wheels axis. Maybe that's why they didn't smoothed it out. They don't need it at all. Now, it IS a weird solution and we are not sure it's going to be the final one but now it make kind of sense.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I find it very strange how aesthetics suddenly don't mean anything when Ferrari produces an ugly car. I can't think of the last truly ugly car that won a race, so I don't have much in the way of hope for the Ferrari combine harvester.

I think the BMW F1.09 is one of the last ugly cars to win a race:

 

[stig's helmet]

Looks ok.....but then I saw that nose and I thought it was a car made in minecraft. The square stepped nose is

 

[csmeteora9]

I think the BMW F1.09 is one of the last ugly cars to win a race

The BMW F1.09 never won a race. You're thinking of the BMW Sauber F1.08 that won the 2008 Canadian GP. Although the F1.08 wasn't ugly in my mind and it certainly performed a lot better than its successor ever did.

 

[peter_vod69]

I think it looks fine.


Wait, I meant the BMW - that Ferrari looks hideous.

 

[Cowboys965]

That front end looks like it was inspired by Legos.

 

[Alex.]

What are Legos? I know what Lego is but Legos don't exist.