Anybody gonna miss the stepped noses?

[timbo]

So, with them set to go away, what do you think?
Some implementations were damn ugly, but some looked fine to me, and added a sense of character. So I won't cry a loss, but would remember some of the cars (and their noses) fondly.

[turbof1]

I will not miss them, though I do think we'll still have ugly and flat/square noses, just without the step in it.

[stefan_]

I will definitely not miss the stepped nose.

[Websta]

I liked the VJM05 and W03 noses because they looked nicely sculpted and interesting:





They just look too weird with the rest of the car, I would prefer to see some nice curves like the Brawn 09 style low noses (fat chance though).

[raymondu999]

Personally, I won't miss them, as I didn't mind them in the first place

[Morteza]

I detest those stepped noses. Will be quite glad that they are gone

[Holm86]

I won't miss them at all. They were terribly ugly.

They were a great examble of FIA's bad thought through regulations.

[FrukostScones]

I won't miss them at all. They were terribly ugly.

They were a great examble of FIA's bad thought through regulations.

I think they were a compromise between FIA and teams reducing nose height and leaving the team the high front bulkhead height (because I think the tubs were aleady in the final design process when the low nose regs came in).

I will miss some, Lotus Sauber and Findia, RB looked fairly interesting. F1 cars are never pretty ,they don't have to. They also don't look like road cars at al, they don't have to.
Maybe the vanity panel nose look interesting too, at least a new aspect to talk about. Still a shame a rule with quasi nonfunctional BS was introduced.

[RB7ate9]

While I won't miss them, I will reflect on them with some respect and fondness because they were a distinctive aspect that separated 2012 from any other year. In 2010, there were the F-ducts and shark fins, 2011 were "normal" and "clean" for the most part, 2012 had the step noses and coanda ducts. 2013, unfortunately, will just have the "modesty panel" which probably won't have complex geometry and will just have the cars more closely resemble 2011 contenders.

Some of the step noses were, IMO, poorly executed (Caterham, Ferrari, STR), some where elegantly produced (FI, Merc, Williams, Lotus) and some were adapted to serve additional purpose (Sauber, RBR). Overall, it will be seen as an exercise in how teams adapt to rule changes (but please don't do ridiculous rule changes like that again, FIA ).

[Mika1]

I won't miss them, they are terrible.

[Scorpaguy]

I WILL miss them. They reinforced the fact of just how far removed the FIA is from lucidity. After seeing the Caterham launch and all the negative reviews....I began rooting for the underdog. I guess they grew on me.

[Slife]

Why didn't the FIA mandate that the nose on the 2012 F1 cars be similar to the BGP001 nose ? It would look better, prevent t-boning drivers, and the lower nose would reduce downforce levels (which is one of the FIA's goals).

[RB7ate9]

Why didn't the FIA mandate that the nose on the 2012 F1 cars be similar to the BGP001 nose ? It would look better, prevent t-boning drivers, and the lower nose would reduce downforce levels (which is one of the FIA's goals).

That would've COMPLETELY altered the aerodynamics to the cars. The reason for the step was because they wanted lower noses, but all the teams pretty much had their tubs (with the higher bulkheads) dialed in already. These tubs, and the rest of the car, were designed to have a high nose to allow maximum air underneath and around the sidepods. Having a BGP nose would've essentially brought the nose so low that it would've disrupted the path of the air and affected the aero right through to the rear wing and diffusers. Had the FIA mandated BGP-like noses, we would not have had a 2012 season.

[Red Schneider]

The stepped noses were never a big deal to me. Frankly the whole cars are just not that attractive these days. The wing proportions are all wrong, and fiddling with the nose is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Personally I have fond memories of 2007-2008, and the baby blue Renaults before that.

[AlpineF1]

From certain angles I actually thought some cars looked good with the stepped nose like the RB8 for instance