2020 F1 car launch dates

[TheDeuce]

First one running and on track in 2020: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.watch-v...

[SturdyHSV]

TheDeuce said:

In fairness they did say in advance there would be no car.. During the event Abiteboul explained the car was ready, but that bringing it to show off is expensive and a waste of money. Some might argue that having the expensive press launch without the car to 'launch' is an even bigger waste of money haha!

I didn't see the event but other news stuff has reported Abiteboul's reasoning being that showing a car a week ahead of testing is pointless because it wouldn't be representative of the car.

It's sort of a fair point, the car isn't finished until it's on track, it's not as if development stops between the reveal and testing.

His general phrasing I think was that the car isn't 'ready', but it is on schedule (so it will be ready for testing), and that doing anything else than that wouldn't be an optimised schedule.

[TheDeuce]

SturdyHSV said:

I didn't see the event but other news stuff has reported Abiteboul's reasoning being that showing a car a week ahead of testing is pointless because it wouldn't be representative of the car.

It's sort of a fair point, the car isn't finished until it's on track, it's not as if development stops between the reveal and testing.

His general phrasing I think was that the car isn't 'ready', but it is on schedule (so it will be ready for testing), and that doing anything else than that wouldn't be an optimised schedule.

He did say that, but also said it was a waste of money to bring it.

I agree with him that the cars best left where it is, being worked on. It's just a distraction to take it to a launch event. But for that reason and the expense... Why have the launch event itself? If the launch event is important for PR/sponsors then go balls out and bring the star to the launch. I'm not sure I can be convinced that a car launch event is 'worth it' without the car being present.. feels more like a formality than an event that actually built any hype or exposure.

Red bull and Mercedes launch combined with shakedown makes the most sense to me. They have to down tools and take the car to the track at some point.. makes some sense to leave the launch until that time too.

[TheDeuce]

McLaren MCL35 launch stream today 13:30:

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/

[dunc_sx]

So what are the rules about testing (or 'film days') prior to the first official tests?

Dunc.

[TheDeuce]

dunc_sx said:

So what are the rules about testing (or 'film days') prior to the first official tests?

Dunc.

It is a 'promotional event', not technically a test. As such, the teams that wish to do so have to stick within a limited distance total running, and crucially are given special promo tyres - which don't offer representative performance. I think the teams also need to 'ask permission' for the run, but I assume that's just a formality so the FIA are aware and can double check the correct tyres etc. The teams can run two such 'events' each year.

The teams will doubtless be able to make some very useful observations even under such limited running. As such, I'm not sure why all teams don't take advantage - I can only guess it's as simple as some teams just wanting to keep their car hidden from prying eyes as long as possible.

[TheDeuce]

Found the 2020 regs covering promotional events running...


10) TRACK RUNNING TIME OUTSIDE AN EVENT AND WIND TUNNEL TESTING

10.1 Testing of Current Cars (TCC) shall be defined as any track running time, not part of an Event,
in which a competitor entered in the Championship participates (or in which a third party
participates on behalf of a competitor or a supplier of a homologated power unit), using cars
which were designed and built in order to comply with the Formula One Technical Regulations
of the Championship, or those of the preceding year’s or the following year’s Championships.
No competitor may sell or make available any such car of the current year to any third party
without the prior authorisation of the FIA.

Each competitor will also be permitted to carry out two Promotional Events (PE) with the
above cars which will not be considered TCC. A PE shall be defined as an event in which a
competitor participates purely for marketing or promotional purposes. No such test may
exceed 100km in length and only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose by the
appointed supplier may be used.

At the sole discretion of the FIA, and with the full knowledge of all competitors, each
competitor will also be permitted to carry out :

a) Two Demonstration Events (DE) with the above cars which will not be considered TCC. A
DE shall be defined as an event in which a competitor participates purely for
demonstration purposes.

b) Other demonstration events organised by the Commercial Rights Holder.
No such demonstrations may take place on track configurations currently approved for use by
Formula 1 cars nor exceed 15km in length, and only tyres manufactured specifically for this
purpose by the appointed supplier may be used.

In order that an FIA observer may be appointed, competitors must inform the FIA of any
planned TCC, PE or DE at least 72 hours before it is due to commence, the following
information should be provided :
i) The precise specification of the car(s) to be used.
ii) The name(s) of the driver(s) if known.
iii) The nature of the test.
iv) The date(s) and intended duration of the test.
v) The purpose of the test

[DanielSan]

TheDeuce said:

It is a 'promotional event', not technically a test. As such, the teams that wish to do so have to stick within a limited distance total running, and crucially are given special promo tyres - which don't offer representative performance. I think the teams also need to 'ask permission' for the run, but I assume that's just a formality so the FIA are aware and can double check the correct tyres etc. The teams can run two such 'events' each year.

The teams will doubtless be able to make some very useful observations even under such limited running. As such, I'm not sure why all teams don't take advantage - I can only guess it's as simple as some teams just wanting to keep their car hidden from prying eyes as long as possible.

Most teams end up using the 'film' days once the European season kicks in more and they've put one or two updates on the car. Even with the limited running they get more data if the conditions are closer to that of the average grand prix.

[TheDeuce]

DanielSan said:

Most teams end up using the 'film' days once the European season kicks in more and they've put one or two updates on the car. Even with the limited running they get more data if the conditions are closer to that of the average grand prix.

That makes some sense. Equally, given the value of the long run testing they can do at Barcelona ahead of the first GP, I can also see that shaking the car down ahead of that just to ensure no fundamental issues exist can be useful. Could avoid losing part of or all of day one at Barcelona due to something like an electrical issue etc.

I remember last year Williams had planned a shake-down, but obviously missed that date. In the end it would have been useful as once they did arrive at pre-season testing, they almost immediately had to pull the car in and lost a full day fixing something that had gone awry almost straight away.

[DanielSan]

Drastic change with the Mclaren livery it's now matt orange and blue.

[TheDeuce]

DanielSan said:

Drastic change with the Mclaren livery it's now matt orange and blue.

Is it fair to say... it's not exactly a looker? The Matt makes it look more bloated and the same-colour matt orange halo really looks nasty to me. It makes the car look too tall in fact.




Looks a bit better in this light/angle at least..

[groomi]

I wish teams would employ graphic designers to create their liveries.

[pits]

Comparing the rear end of the Ferrari Vs the McLaren, the McLaren has a very unusual sidepod/engine/suspension cover.
It covers the whole rear suspension and the channeling below seems very aggressive, forcing more air to the rear diffuser for a little ground effect?


Or am I reading into it too much?

[StevieBee]

It strikes me looking at the new cars so far that the busiest departments over the winter have been the paint shops. And even then, only mildly.

To be expected of course but still.....

[SturdyHSV]

Are McLaren reserving that space for some big sponsor that's not been announced yet...? Or was that where they were supposed to stick the McLaren sticker but they ordered it in matte orange? I can't actually see 'McLaren' on there anywhere

[TheDeuce]

pits said:

Comparing the rear end of the Ferrari Vs the McLaren, the McLaren has a very unusual sidepod/engine/suspension cover.
It covers the whole rear suspension and the channeling below seems very aggressive, forcing more air to the rear diffuser for a little ground effect?


Or am I reading into it too much?

The rear cover is huge, in-spite of relatively tight packaging being evident beneath. I think you could be right, that it's a unique aero development, possibly for GE. On the other hand, it could be that they want the cover to house more spread out components in order to better handle heat > reliability, and the resultant aero arrangement is simply to allow for the larger rear cover. I'm sure it'll be picked apart by some F1 techie experts very soon.

Whatever the reason, it's more of a design change than any other 2020 car we have seen so far, more than I expected.

[pits]

TheDeuce said:

pits said:

Comparing the rear end of the Ferrari Vs the McLaren, the McLaren has a very unusual sidepod/engine/suspension cover.
It covers the whole rear suspension and the channeling below seems very aggressive, forcing more air to the rear diffuser for a little ground effect?


Or am I reading into it too much?

The rear cover is huge, in-spite of relatively tight packaging being evident beneath. I think you could be right, that it's a unique aero development, possibly for GE. On the other hand, it could be that they want the cover to house more spread out components in order to better handle heat > reliability, and the resultant aero arrangement is simply to allow for the larger rear cover. I'm sure it'll be picked apart by some F1 techie experts very soon.

Whatever the reason, it's more of a design change than any other 2020 car we have seen so far, more than I expected.

That was a thought I just had as well, pictures are hard to tell but perhaps it's too throw the hot air away from the rear and stabilise the rear wing air flow and over suspension, but it also looks to maybe channel air to the rear wing slats on the lower lateral part, possibly creating blown rear wing, without creating a blown rear wing.

Definitely different to everything else I've seen so far, that white stripe on the under side looks like it is there to hide something, it just breaks it up and you can't make out anything in that area.

We do need a rule to stop this matte paint, just looks crap

[TheDeuce]

pits said:

That was a thought I just had as well, pictures are hard to tell but perhaps it's too throw the hot air away from the rear and stabilise the rear wing air flow and over suspension, but it also looks to maybe channel air to the rear wing slats on the lower lateral part, possibly creating blown rear wing, without creating a blown rear wing.

Definitely different to everything else I've seen so far, that white stripe on the under side looks like it is there to hide something, it just breaks it up and you can't make out anything in that area.

We do need a rule to stop this matte paint, just looks crap

Agree about the matt, but it apparently saves weight and increases efficiency so I guess it ticks the boxes and will remain.

I wondered if the white stripe, was actually the edge of a duct, with the photo taken at such an angle we can't see any more of what it is, where it leads. If so the air attached to the mid-section of the car would be split, part through that duct, part continuing along the floor and over the rear diffuser.

Here is another angle - it looks like a duct..



I think there will be a lot of scrutiny over this design - it's clearly a radical change, the new features ain't there for no reason!

[TheDeuce]

Check out the new side pods. The intake look far smaller. Also, who needs an s-duct anyway?

[pits]

It does look like a duct from that angle and quite sharp up towards rear wing, what if.
Engine cover (easier to call it all that) at the top is designed to create low pressure under the wing, the perceived vent is designed to then channel high pressure into that area, but the shape and flow of the above low pressure aimed towards floor, pushes the high pressure towards the car floor and diffuser, get what I mean.


Body work chucks the high pressure over rear wing.
Engine cover low pressure through wing hits the high pressure from that vent to try and create suction and in essence ground effect?

Before anyone points out I don't know what I'm on about with aerodynamics etc, you're 99% correct, I know nothing about them I just using basic knowledge to try and create an idea.


Front wing as well, no more vents, allowing free flow of air down sidepods to lower engine cover vent