Back at the beginning of this year,
"FIA has asked teams to supply its technical department with details of the design and construction of the noses, specifically the “Cross sectional areas of the nose, taken vertically and normal the car centre line, at points 50mm, 150mm and 300mm back from the tip of the nose itself. The same cross-sections as above showing the construction of the parts in the relevant sections." (
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news ... se-safety/ )
The first two cross sections mentioned made it into the 2015 regs, maybe we'll see the addition of more cross sections for 2016 if the FIA/fans are not satisfied with look?
The nose of the 2014 Red Bull for me is the most likely version. A bit lower as you correctly pointed out, Blackout.
A comparison of the endplate(top dimension 275mm above the ref. plane) and the 2015 nose tip(top dimension 220mm above the ref. plane) gives an idea how low the tip has to be located.
Article 16.2 also gives a hint where things will change, today's long finger noses would probably not pass part d.
"The resistance of the test structure must be such that during the impact either :
a) The peak deceleration over the first 100mm of deformation does not exceed 10g.
b) The peak permissible deceleration increases linearly from 10g at 100mm to 20g at 150mm of deformation.
c) The peak deceleration over the first 60kJ energy absorption does not exceed 20g.
d) The average deceleration over the first 150mm of deformation exceeds 2.5g.
e) The average deceleration of the trolley does not exceed 40g.
f) The peak deceleration in the chest of the dummy does not exceed 60g for more than a cumulative 3ms, this being the resultant of data from three axes."
Dear FIA, if you read this, please pm me for a redesign of the Technical Regulations to avoid finger nose shapes for 2016! :-)