2021 F1 cars thread

[M5-911]

They are back to silver.

[Deesee]

M5-911 said:

They are back to silver.

Well. The PU is.

[ajprice]

Starting tomorrow we have got Mercedes, Alpine, Aston Martin, Haas* and Williams car launches this week.

• So Haas may not be showing the updated car until Bahrain, and putting the 2021 paint on the 2020 car on Thursday?

[TheDeuce]

Just one and half weeks from the start of a very busy season of F1

[Mark-C]

TheDeuce said:

Just one and half weeks from the start of a very busy season of F1

Thank god ... cars on tracks

[ajprice]

More Merc, not long to go

[resolve10]

Looks really smart from the teaser shots

[ajprice]

First full Merc photo, the video launch starts at 11



More https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/136669735...

[anonymous-user]

Substantial bulge in the bodywork on the side below the airbox area.

[Fundoreen]

Great launch and the camera dwelt on the car plenty . All sensible stuff and not the goofing around that spoiled the mclaren launch of their car that wasnt even there.

[anonymous-user]

Looks awesome.

[resolve10]

Livery looks really smart. I like how they always manage to freshen it up a little without losing the identity of previous designs.

Anyone know what the two bulges are in the engine shroud? Looks unusual.

[ajprice]

They said in the video that they're hiding their new floor edge until testing, they think they've got something the others will want to do their versions of and hiding it now stops any copying.

[anonymous-user]

resolve10 said:

Livery looks really smart. I like how they always manage to freshen it up a little without losing the identity of previous designs.

Anyone know what the two bulges are in the engine shroud? Looks unusual.

Changes made to the PU require it, i suspect it's to give clearance to a change in exhaust routing and turbine design.

[andburg]

its a shame the red on the car isnt as vibrant as the pictures.
There was also spec difference between the car in pictures and on the video.

Be interesting to see some of the video analysis thats coming

[resolve10]

jsf said:

Changes made to the PU require it, i suspect it's to give clearance to a change in exhaust routing and turbine design.

Thanks. It's not a very elegant solution by usual F1 standards. I guess it's a result of having limited scope to change this years' cars?

I'm sure someone much smarter than me has done the analysis to ensure it has minimal affect on the cars performance, but they are pretty large bumps and must be less efficient than a smooth surface in terms of airflow.

[anonymous-user]

resolve10 said:

Thanks. It's not a very elegant solution by usual F1 standards. I guess it's a result of having limited scope to change this years' cars?

I'm sure someone much smarter than me has done the analysis to ensure it has minimal affect on the cars performance, but they are pretty large bumps and must be less efficient than a smooth surface in terms of airflow.

It's possible the design change is targeting proving out the 2022 spec, which could well need a higher exhaust header design to increase the size of the new underfloor tunnels. Get a season of testing in the bag as it's a fixed engine from the end of the season for 3 years.

It's what was done back in the old ground effect days, the exhausts had to go from low down at the side of the engine with a conventional setup to up high above the tunnel floors.

[andburg]

jsf said:

resolve10 said:

Thanks. It's not a very elegant solution by usual F1 standards. I guess it's a result of having limited scope to change this years' cars?

I'm sure someone much smarter than me has done the analysis to ensure it has minimal affect on the cars performance, but they are pretty large bumps and must be less efficient than a smooth surface in terms of airflow.

It's possible the design change is targeting proving out the 2022 spec, which could well need a higher exhaust header design to increase the size of the new underfloor tunnels. Get a season of testing in the bag as it's a fixed engine from the end of the season for 3 years.

It's what was done back in the old ground effect days, the exhausts had to go from low down at the side of the engine with a conventional setup to up high above the tunnel floors.

Also possible that the bodywork around has been shrunk in slightly which would make the hump necessary to accommodate something they didnt change

[anonymous-user]

andburg said:

Also possible that the bodywork around has been shrunk in slightly which would make the hump necessary to accommodate something they didnt change

It's a bigger surface area than before. James even made specific mention of it as being required for a change in the PU.
We are all guessing what that change is, i'm just trying to apply some logic to it, but i could be completely wrong and its something else they are accommodating.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Alpine launch about as laggy as their engine. Nice to see the return of French Racing Blue however,