Formula One car development blog

Red Bull have always claimed that taking the time to develop the new car would prove right, and thus far it appears to be true. From all launched cars, the RB5 is without doubt the most interesting. Those who expected a dull car from Adrian Newey don't know their history too well, as the designer tends to shine upon radical regulation changes.

This time around, the RB5 has the most advanced front wing out there, featuring a triple element base wing that points sharply upwards ahead ... Read more

Strangely, the more you seem to look at the F1.09, the more louvers, also known as shark gills - you discover. I have already reported about the little outlets close to the car's floor, but there is a series or openings just aside of the head protection bumps on the car's body. Being located so close to the car's centre line, this falls just within the regulations.

Article 3.8.4 states (among other notices) that no openings are allowed in "the volume between the rear face of the coc... Read more

The new BMW Sauber has been developed in two phases. A first one that started very early was a project of evaluating different solutions for pretty much everything about the car. Then, after choosing the better solution, the component is developed and fitted onto the car for evaluation.

The nose section of the new F1.09 underwent the same development procedure in which the team found that the wide nose worked best with the new front wing. Obviously BMW have done their homework rathe... Read more

BMW Sauber's newly launched F1.09 features an interesting solution to provide cooling in the sidepods. It is already a wide known fact that openings other than the exhaust exit are forbidden on the sidepod shell, but the team of Hinwill managed is exploring the edges of legality. Just above the car's floor, the team added a very small series of louvers to provide an exit for hot radiator air.

Williams' new FW31 is a very elegant design and ahead of schedule as the team started its development earlier than most of its rivals. One of these details is the addition of 2 air inlets - one on each side of the airbox - to catch cooling air for the hydraulics.

Last year, the team mimicked Ferrari's idea of splitting the airbox itself in two, but the team have now apparently found a better solution. The result is also that the main airbox inlet could now be made smaller, something... Read more

The new regulations do not only create problems in finding downforce, but they also give engineers a harder time in trying to cool the engine down. More specifically, since shark gills, chimneys or any other cooling opening in the sidepods is forbidden, all radiator air must come out of the sidepods at the back. Renault have therefore taken a similar approach to Ferrari by making the sidepod some kind of a tube that direct hot air towards the rear. Such wide sidepod however allows i... Read more

The newly launched Renault stunned many fans and experts because of its chunky nose. While it is arguably not aesthetically pleasing, it is this kind of creativity coupled to efficiency that make Formula One to what it is today.

As the image shows, there are many points of interest to this new Renault, starting with the nose. The team have come a long way from the very thin and designs of the Renault R25 and Renault R26, but have found it increasingly important to have room to posit... Read more

McLaren have taken a fairly predictable approach as far as the front of the sidepod goes. During the course of 2008, the team often partially closed the radiator air inlet of the sidepod as reduce the car's overall drag on circuits that require less cooling. Since the new engines will require even less cool air than last year due to the drop in maximum rpm, the smaller inlet could be made a standard feature of the new car. As a result, the undercut could be smoothed to improve its i... Read more

McLaren have introduced its new MP4-24, and it features the most advanced front wing of any of the 2009 cars that have already been launched. While Ferrari attempted a modest double decker wing and Toyota displayed a basic version, the new McLaren wing looks ready to be raced. The main panel features sweeping curves starting from a minimum-height horizontal leading edge. The red coloured moveable flaps are similarly curved in an attempt to improve the airflow in the inside of the fr... Read more

While many claim the new Ferrari F60 front wing as a simple implementation of the new rules, its simplicity is actually surprisingly deceiving. When taking a closer look at the outer part of the front wing, it becomes apparent that the end plates are once again very curvatious. Contrary to last year, the 2009 style panels aim to direct air to the outside of the front wheel, contrary of the inside as last year's front wings were considerably smaller. You can also notice a small wingl... Read more