Such a strange day. Bizarre launch. A handful of photos taken in a dark room that looks like a back-alley with seedy looking neon & flourescent lights? Weird. What are they doing.
My optimistic part says that this was intentional. Gaslighting the competition & some fans as well...
Unfortunately the speculation thread is closed. Could the poorly fitting engine cover be a clue? Is this just their fan-event demo car?
I think they'll reveal the real mccoy tmrw. Ready for some long chassis and front engines?
ha ha
Consider why RB would pursue something like this. A long fore-chassis. What would this accomplish? Well, it would be an identification of the largest unregulated volume of the car, and a decision to maximize its size. It goes like this: you find the least regulated area, and increase its size relative to the rest of the car. Potentially you end up with a car that is volumetrically less regulated than your competitors. You are, say, only 90% aerodynamically regulated whereas your competitors are 95% regulated.
So, perhaps there is some brain-exchange going on between Milton Keynes & Wall Street, if you catch my drift.
More specifically, you could design a car with a long barge-board area, the "fore-chassis" as I'm calling, and potentially, but not necessarily, reduce the length of the spec-floor by moving the engine & drivetrain components around. Ending up with an arrowhead shaped car, when viewed from above, sort of like a Brabham BT 52 (in very general sense, referencing only the plan-view shape of the floor-cockpit junction).
This all depends on the accuracy of my reading of the rules, which is subject to flaw, as I'm only one brain having spent only a few cumulative minutes trying to decipher the rulebook in this specific area.
But the principle interests me. Differentiation as potential advantage. Beyond fine-tuning a convention approach.
And notice RB's tweet from yesterday: "Break with tradition. Break superstitions." Now, obviously this is a reference to the number thirteen. But could this message also be offering a double meaning?
Soon we'll know, and then I'll have to shut my trap about this topic.