Formula 1 2009: The Launch Season

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Metar

Metar

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Tomorrow will see the unveiling of our first 2009 contender, Ferrari's F2009. A whole raft of new regulations will see the first radical change since 2005, and nobody knows which team will reign supreme. Next week, we'll also see these cars on the track for the first time. I will update the list below with links to the car's pictures as they are unveiled - and the thread will grow gradually less 56k-friendly as the week progresses.

  • 12 January: Ferrari F60 + High-res details
  • 15 January: Toyota
  • 16 January: McLaren
  • 19 January: Renault F1 and Williams
  • 20 January: BMW Sauber F1
  • 09 February: Red Bull Racing
  • Early March: Force India and Scuderia Toro Rosso
 
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Ferrari also changed their launch from Fiorano to Mugello recently, suppose Mugello is a better test track.
 
Alex.
Ferrari also changed their launch from Fiorano to Mugello recently, suppose Mugello is a better test track.
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Its because Fiorano has recently had bad conditions.

Also, Toyota are not unveiling it on a track, they're revealing it online I believe, or something like that.

Might be an idea to put the locations of the launches in the first post?
 
Yup, the forecast for Fiorano currently reads "Snow". Not the best condition to shake down the car...
 
Matt Bishop, McLaren head of communications and public relations, told Autosport: "It won't be a lavish affair of the type we staged in Valencia two years ago, but it'll be slick and professional and there will be an interesting twist to the format."
 
The Williams' front wing didn't look too bad, though its mostly down to their black livery, hopefully they're keeping it.
I'm intrigued to see what the differences are between each team, Honda, BMW Sauber, Williams and McLaren's front wings looked fairly different to each other.
 
Ardius
Also, Toyota are not unveiling it on a track, they're revealing it online I believe, or something like that.
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Yeah, I think they're having a really low-key affair at the Algarve circuit and releasing photos of it afterwards.
Ardius
The Williams' front wing didn't look too bad, though its mostly down to their black livery, hopefully they're keeping it.
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They've already said they'll be doing their traditional winter test livery - last year it was their celebration of 500 Grands Prix starts - and they won't show their final race livery until the season opener in Melbourne.
PeterJB
They're gonna look so funny! Christian Klien has already described the BMW Sauber F1.09 as the ugliest car he has ever seen!
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And yet, he still hopes to get a drive in the not-too-distant future. Kind of like criticising the chef and then asking to be taken on as his apprentice ...
 
Do you race?
They've already said they'll be doing their traditional winter test livery - last year it was their celebration of 500 Grands Prix starts - and they won't show their final race livery until the season opener in Melbourne.
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Yeah, I know they're alternating liveries again, I just hope they stick with their black(dark blue?)-white scheme when it comes to Melbourne, it looks really nice.
 
We can finally get some interesting news! And while on the subject of liveries, I hope McLaren go back to using the orange livery during testing again, that one was great.
 
Ardius
Yeah, I know they're alternating liveries again, I just hope they stick with their black(dark blue?)-white scheme when it comes to Melbourne, it looks really nice.
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Im actually hoping they change it a little. Them or Honda; there's too many similar cars on the grid. Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, and Force India are the only ones that really stand out; BMW and Honda both looked pretty similar this year, while Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Williams were all predominantly dark blue, and Toyota and Super Aguri both had the red-and-white liveries going on.
 
Really? I think this year's cars were ugly. They struck me as being like a Christmas turkey that came with four drumsticks instead of two; not because it was packaged that way, but beause the animal was genetically modified to have more meat. Sure, the aero aids helped make the cars go faster, but I felt that all the shark-fins, devil-horns, wing-bridges and reverse fins on the nosecone just made the cars look like too much stuff packed into too little a space.
 
Ferrari F60

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I like how they made the mirrors into pseudo-bargeboards.
 
Now that looks like a Formula One car! Very clean lines, and something that you'd expect results to come about as a product of a driver's skill, not of aero aids.

However, I thought tobacco branding was banned for 2009 ...
 
It’s boring. :indiff:

Normally at new car launches I spend hours going over every little detail but I’ve looked at this thing for 5 minutes and it’s just plain.

:(
 
It does look terrible. I actually feel slightly sick looking at it.

...Evolution ends here :sly:
 
For a car that is supposed to be supermegafugly, it ain't half bad... the rear wing doesn't look as lame as I thought it would, and the whole car has a leaner, slender look that is really quite appealing...
 
If I was awake enough to discuss the car in detail, it would look like that^ :)
 
Its profile doesn´t look halfbad, but the rest of the angles; :yuck:
I actually liked the way they looked last year, cluttered with wings and stuff. This is just...too plain...
 
Blake
It’s boring. :indiff:

Normally at new car launches I spend hours going over every little detail but I’ve looked at this thing for 5 minutes and it’s just plain.

:(
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I believe that was what the FIA was going for by eliminating free-thinking. I supposed compared to the BMW, it looks somewhat sleeker. Interesting how the bodywork is not sculpted around the exhausts and I do like that pointed nose.

Still prefer the 08 car tho, gonna miss the way its front bridge wing flowed into the nose.
 
I was expecting a more drastic change, but I suppose the cleaner look makes the car look a lot better than before.

But still, the real question is how they perform...
 
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