thats maybe why its a bit bulkier...

More surface aera but less drag because of the outlets?

alos looking at those profile pics it seems the McLaren's weight is much further back than the Ferrari and Toyota, this helped them last year with getting heat into tyres but will this cause problems with the slick tyres drop off that Massa has noticed so far?

ah, but when they tested the KERS they had a massive housing on top of the sidepod big enough to hide an aircraft cannon. So i wouldnt be too sure about them managing to fit KERS into the sleek body we see here

More of an optical illusion than anything else, because on the 24 the pods don`t fall off at the back.

Nope.

Maybe their 'fat' design will make their car more understeery.

Just because its Red!

exactly, rear tire management is a key to succes judging by the comments made and its obvious ferrari has done a lot in that area

Possible. It was quite clear in the later 90s that Ferrari's philosophy was to minimise frontal area at all costs, even if it meant quite angular bodywork whereas the McLarens were always bulkier but smoother and more rounded.

In practice drag force = 0.5 * Cd * A *rho * V^2. It is Cd * A (i.e. drag coefficient multiplied by frontal area) that matters not frontal area or drag coefficient alone. So in the Ferrari vs. McLaren comparison I just made it's likely that the Ferrari had higher Cd but lower frontal area and the McLaren had lower Cd but more frontal area, probably resulting in similar drag levels for both cars.

Onto the MP4-24 the front suspension looks insane. Yes the car overall is bulky, but for me it's the best proportioned of the three so far in side vew. Somehow the rear wing looks less stupid, but that's probably because the main body is that bit larger. The exhaust outlet's really nice on the Mac. The F60 has a ridiculous amount of exposed pipe.

Ben

dude where were u all these days??

That massive inlet they ran last year with last years' car!! :\

They tested KERS when they launched their new car on Monday! Yes , inside that sleek body with a lot smaller sidepods!

I'm not entirely sure how you can call the lack of concavity an optical illusion, but have it your way.

I think after the tyre management issues they've had for the last two seasons, surely it must have been of paramount importance when designing the 24 aswell. I must say from profile it doesn't look that sexy, but from other angles looks pretty good.

we'll not know the answer to the tyre thing till Melbourne, or more likely Sepang. All very exciting tho, bring on the first race!

They seem a bit slow releasing information on the car, i'm looking on the autosport page only to find the same information.

The pic shows nothing, as for the toy rear and from the promo vid, apart from the two big holes, the rear is closed unlike the ferrari one wich is open.

One other quick point. Some people here seem to be getting upset and saying "I thought barge boards and winglets were banned" Unfortunately you can't ban a barge board, because someone will just change something slightly and claim it's not a barge board. The term is ill-defined.

In practice the regs have to use a generic term like "bodywork" and restrict the location where you can have bodywork. There are some small areas where you can still have some additional devices, but those areas have been virtually eliminated.

Ben

so far MP4-24 is for me the ugliest one from the three 2009-spec cars we saw :\

well, but doesn't KERS itself add a lot of weight to the back already??

I like the look of the rear wing. I think its because of the cutout, it makes it look less large, more proportioned that the Ferrari's.

Obi

Like the Ferrrari, there is an air vent between the rear wishbones. Bodywork cleary not shrink wrapped around the gearbox like with the McLaren.

I was mistaken about the F60 and KERS. The F60 has been on track with a functioning KERS system.

Obi

But good and strong like a heavy weight boxer rather than the delicate looking Ferrari. that reminds me of a 1970's fiat, you just know its going to break down! Even Massa said it seemed really small like a F3 car.. Hamilton and Heiki will be able to simply press the boost button get down the inside into turn1 and The Ferrari's will have to back out of it or fall apart with any sign of contact, which there should be plenty of with the new regs. Smart move by Mclaren

Why aren't you an engineer or at least a commentator?

hahahaha , great reply!

Bulky, innovative cooling and most of all, weird front suspension concept

Dennis to step down with martin replacing him at the top.

As far as i remember this is not allowed in F1.

HaPe

looking at this picture, you can se that the outlet is made of carbon, its not the exhaustpipes extending backwards, so what do we make of it, are the pipes just letting the gases out beneath the cover or, do i dare say it, have they once more tried to let the exhaust gasses out in conjuction with the diffuser like the huge failor, mp4-18. Back then heating was a problem and the gearbox. In order for it to work the diffuser needs constant flowing and that is possible with theese new gearboxes, but what do i know



http://www.sutton-images.com/previews/dgb0916jan24.jpg

That's better.
Thanks.

And Ronzo leaves Mclaren

Huh?
Shit, it's true!

No, he doesn`t.
He just lets Martin be the boss of the F1 team.

1st of March, Reuters

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72820

'Shark-nose' Jordans and Ferraris -> old-school.

Obviously Ferrari have tried the other way with their bulky nose F2005.

Perhaps the contribution of the nose to the balance/stability of the front of the car is more significant than a little bit of drag?

What happens to RonSpeak now?

no they haven't
look on monday's test performed by massa.
you remember a pic of an interim car from last year.

i am talking about them running kers in this design

Ron's leaving

[img]http://www.autosport.com/gallery/picture_free.php/dir/2008mac1/image/XPB_284742_HiRes.jpg-2[/img]

Watch out - Pedro is texting again ;)

[img]http://www.autosport.com/gallery/picture_free.php/dir/2008mac1/image/XPB_284742_HiRes.jpg-2[/img]


Unlike the youngsters Pedro still had not got the hang of the teams new cost cutting radio system

/facepalm


On a more serious note. I'm really loving the muscle car stance of the MP-4/24. Can't wait to see it on track. A bit surprised that we didn't get a front on, and rear on view of the thing :\.

The prettiest of the bunch so far from the pics I've seen. It's difficult to tell if the packaging is as tight as it is on the Ferrari though. Thank god they didn't launch the car with the stupid fugly wheel covers!

Not good looking as Ferrari :\

Maybe KERS have impact on this fat design. Is Ferrari tested KERS in F60?

Ferrari has confirmed F60 was fitted with KERS!

Toyota confimed that they not using KERS, and Ferrari have sleeker design with KERS (as they told us). Let's put logic into this, not imposible.

With that front wing?

The Macca looks good from all angles, the Ferrari only looks decent from the sides, even then, it still doesn't look good on track. I believe that's when people will change their opinions, when testing comes.

I may be wrong, but Williams already tested double pillar rear wing back in September

BTW, wasn't Lenovo going to sponsor McLaren, I don't see their logo...

You do realise that won't be the front wing Ferrari will be starting with in 2 and half months time.... Not that it matters what it looks like as long as it goes like the clappers

Yeah the deal doesn't include advertising space on the car.

Neither on the drivers clothes??