McLaren MP4-X

I only just discovered this... the pictures and video (link here) speak for themselves...!

 

 

Article link: http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/inside-the-mtc/mclaren-mp4-x/

F1 New 2017 Regulations

So everyone pretty much knows what the changes are to the F1 2017 regulations; wider cars, wider tires front and rear, wider front and rear wings and proper tyre compounds that will let the drivers push their cars to the maximum.... The idea with the geometry changes to the car and tyres (i.e. everything wider) is to make the cars look more aggressive and menacing - more like real race cars.

 

We even had one team already modify an existing car to match the wider dimensions and strap on a sample of the new tires from Pirelli:

Oh I'm sorry...did I get that image mixed up...??  Let me just correct that, my apologies...

So what we have here, is a look to the future of F1, a bold new vision never before seen ..

Except... we have.

The McLaren MP4/4 above shares a lot of the look of the newly proposed regulations and illustrates that there is nothing new in the 2017 regulations that we have not seen before. The changes will not make overtaking easier (it may make mistakes more costly however) and the only people to benefit from the suggested changes will be the drivers themsleves, as they are going to have a much more physically challenging and demanding vehicle in their hands... Lucky them.

F1's 'new' regulations is just history turning full circle... desperately trying to strike that magic Formula that will make F1 more exciting again. I remember when they narrowed the cars to make it easier to overtake. I remember when they narrowed the tyres to reduce the danger that a loose and flying wheel would represent to spectators and marshals alike (now somehow forgotten). I remember when they added grooves to the tyres to slow the cars down in corners as the cars were judged to have become too fast. All attempts to liven the spectacle of F1 - and now these changes are being, one by one, undone.

I think going back to the 80s style of car is the right thing to do but the only way to really make F1 exciting agian is to reduce the formula's dependency on aerodynamics, by clamping down even harder on what is and isn't allowed and by simplifying and standardising the design of wings and undertrays. This would also, incidentally, bring down the budgets reuquired to run an F1 team; removing the need to run wind-tunnels 24/7 or purchase and use expensive super computers to crunch away at CFD calculations all day and night.

Only then, I believe, will F1 successfully recpature the magic and entertainment they seem so desperate to find of the glory years of Formula 1 in the 80s and earlier.

Roborace....?!?!

The guy (Daniel Simon) who designed this for the film Oblivion....

And this for the film Tron Legacy...

Has designed this...

for a new racing series that will support the various races held across the Formula E season. Looks great except this racing series is Roborace with all teams having the same car but with no human drivers allowed and only AI and algorithms creating the racing spectacle....  Now, unfortunately this is where my excitement (and most probably yours) .... stopped. So what is being proposed here is a battle of the nerds (no offense to those guys involved) to code their way to victory...

I am sorry but this will be about as exciting to watch as watching paint dry... Sure, it may be interesting to watch a race or two just to see how such a thing may be possible (self driving cars racing each other) but as soon as the initial novelty wears off, a Roborace event will be as stale as a 5 week old loaf of bread...

The whole essence of racing is the combination of man and machine... the only thing that makes F1 vaguely watchable these days are the drivers behind the helmets, because the mental / psychological aspect of the battle that takes place between driver and driver is what fans relate to and keeps people interested; How driver's deal with set backs and obstacles throughout a race and a season and their reactions to them is what creates the racing drama.

No drivers = no personalities battling it out to be champion. Sure the coders behind the scenes will be experiencing a few competitive urges whilst they code through the night to stop their car driving itself off the road but this will be mostly out of sight.

For me, the greatest thing about Roborace has been to discover the awesome visual and design work of Daniel Simon Design and realising he has been behind the design and creation of some of the vehicles I have dreamed of actually getting behind the wheel of, like the Light Runner from Tron Legacy and the dragonfly-like flying vehicle from Tom Cruise's film Oblivion. What an awesome job he has, working with the likes of Bugatti and Disney crossing the worlds of motor-sport and film to bring to life his ideas. Dream job anyone...?!

Adrian Newey AM RB Hypercar = Pure Genius

Adrian Newey has been the not so secret talisman of success for F1 teams for the last 20 years and his departure from full time duties at the Red Bull F1 team was always going to be a downer for them, regardless of what team management say. The idea for Adrian to step back from day-to-day duties at the team was to allow him time to work on other projects with racing sail yachts most often mentioned. Thankfully for the world he did this as he has produced what can only be described as a mind-blowingly beautiful and complex new shape of a hypercar in the form of the Aston Martin AM RB 001.

Just when you think that no one can surely produce a more beautiful car than such creations as the McLaren P1, La Ferrari or the Pagani Zonda F, along comes Adrian Newey to make all these so called hyper cars look like 2 tonne gorillas. The level of detail in the various shapes that comprise this car is just mind boggling. It is no surprise to hear that Adrian would analyise parts of the car, section-by-section describing in detail how the airflow would behaves and react to the contours of the car.

In summary, an absolutely awesome car that has raised the bar to new heights that other car manufacturers will now struggle to follow but I will enjoy seeing them try...!

Formula E Adopts Futuristic New Front Wing

I continue to beleive that Formula E is one of the most exciting racing series around at the moment given its focus on purely electric driven vehicles (unlike F1's current hybrid philosophy) and given the still relatively level playing field with respect to car performance across the field (albeit differentials in performance were clearly present in season 2).

One of the key elements that still remains the same is each car's aerodynamic package which helps to immediately avoid F1's largest problem at present - the large dependence of a car's aerodynamice package on its performance and the insane costs incurred by teams by running wind tunnels and super-computers to carry out CFD. This is one element, that if FE remain to keep in place, would allow it to potentially rival F1 in the future in terms of providing a real racing spectacle.

This has not stopped the evolution of the look and feel of the standrad aero' package but the latest changes have not been made to improve performance but to improve the aesthetics of the cars. For this I once again applaud FE and believe it reveals the genius of the series. By developing a more futuristic front wing they have begun a journey into making their race cars look more futuristc than other single seater race cars out there and they can use this element of the 'Formula' as a key differentiator going forward. 

As you can see from the pictures, the new front wing looks amazing and even resembles some of the concepts we saw from Ferrari and Red Bull  for their visions of the ultimate racers. Unfortunately for these two F1 teams, it looks like FE will get their cars closer to the look and feel of their futuristic racers long before F1 ever does.