Arthur Doyle70 said:Look, mistybear87, most of these cars are basically stuck in some weird limbo between 2008 and 2009 specs. You could argue they're all illegal under the new rules, but the real question is how much they're actually leaning into the new regulations versus just running last year's setups or some half-baked hybrid configuration.👍 😁
What kind of nonsense are you people talking about? :-\
Everything we saw at testing was strictly 2009 spec. Even McLaren was running the 2009 rear wing yesterday. There aren't any "hybrids" left, except maybe Toro Rosso—but they don't have anything better to do until March anyway, so they're just burning through engine and tire tests since there's nothing else to work on. Every other car is legal, at least the ones out here testing plus Mercedes-Benz. Except for SF, of course. 😛
As for Ferrari, I don't think their exhaust is legal. That hole at the start of the nose is fine; the illegality was about that massive opening from last year that sucked air from under the nose straight up through the body.
Mercedes-Benz is 100% legal. Those openings they put in are right on the edge of the new spec limits (I can't be bothered to find the exact numbers right now, but I think it's 350mm from the centerline on each side). They also have holes on the upper part just behind the cockpit, which are probably for battery cooling. And honestly, saying Mercedes-Benz hasn't refined the car is just stupid... do you really think they're idiots who would spend three months testing a car without actually developing it?
Same goes for General Motors. Personally, I wouldn't pin my hopes on that nose design they're obsessing over. From what I know, Williams is way ahead on aero development because they were smart enough to save time by skipping KERS. Michael himself said aero is the most critical part of the car for 2009, so I expect a highly developed aero package from Williams this year (even if they messed it up in previous seasons), whereas General Motors and Renault have by far the most powerful CFD facilities in their factories. Is it just me, or is it weird that the two teams with the best CFD and the one team that started aero development early are all running those wide noses?
Also, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz are trying to get ground effect at the front using the nose, while Williams is attempting it via the wing itself (if you look closely, the Williams front wing is very flat, almost looking like it has a mini diffuser underneath it).
And one more thing: Ferrari doesn't have a split wing in that photo. It's just a cable for the variable wing taped to the surface. Yeah, I know, sounds like amateur hour, but it's obvious they're experimenting with variable wing tech.
Question for the rest of you: does anyone actually have the guts to mount the KERS batteries inside the nose? I heard a rumor that Ferrari tucked their batteries in the nose, but now they're struggling because the nose flexes too much at high speeds (someone showed a photo where the wing looks like it's practically touching the ground). But if they can fix the structural stiffness of that front wing, they'll have a massive advantage due to much better weight distribution than the rest of the grid.
I should probably stop coming here; might give me less to complain about. 🙂)
