Formula 1 - The 2011 season

With the first cars for the new season being presented, I guess it's time for a new thread.

First, the Ferrari F150:







It seems to be an evolutionary step from last years car which is probably a good thing, given that it was highly competitive towards the end of the season.
Of course there's no more F-duct.

 

Next, the Lotus Renault R31:







This is one handsome looking car. Both the livery as well as the general shape are great. It's a rather big step from last years Renault with its clumsy nose. It does remind me a lot of last years Ferrari.

 

Team Lotus T128:







Another great looking car. This one kinda reminds me of last years Mercedes, only that the pulled the nose further up.
As is obvious by now, we'll start the season with two Lotus teams. There's still a court case pending regarding naming rights but it certainly won't be decided before the beginning of the season.
Also interesting: Both Lotus teams will be on Renault engines this season...

 

Sauber C30:





Inspired by last years McLaren, no?

 

Also, Mercedes has been teasing the W02 with this rendered image:



The livery looks good while the car looks a lot like the Red Bull, which is probably a good car to copy. In terms of shape, I really liked last years Mercedes with its lower nose and the split air intake:


But unfortunately, having a very different design once again led to being slower than the rest...kinda reminded me of the debacle BMW-Williams had with their ray-shaped nose a couple of years back:


So it's back to normal for Mercedes this year, let's hope it's for the better.

 

Apparently, Lotus Renault has come up with an innovative exhaust system. There are no classical exhaust pipes, instead we see this under the cars nose:


It is speculated that the exhaust pipes have been moved to the front where they're used to support the airflow into the diffuser. Sounds like a straightforward idea. It will be interesting to see how this will work.

 

Mercedes W02:








As was apparent from the teaser picture, Mercedes was guided by Adrian Newey's Red Bull design. But they announced that they will introduce some changes before the start of the season. Also, Brawn said that Mercedes' KERS system is very good and very light, which makes me wonder, how many teams will use KERS this season, how many manufacturers are there and who will get which KERS system? For example, will McLaren also get the Mercedes KERS? What about Red Bull? Will they once again opt out and not use KERS? And will the drivers be able to cope with both KERS and the new movable rear wing at the same time?

 

Apparently the split airbox Mercedes used last season has been outlawed. So that's the reason for its disappearance, not the performance. Too bad, as this was something I really liked.

Also outlawed were the fins from the airbox to the rear wing. Now that's a good thing. These things were really ugly.

 

Red Bull RB7:







Red Bull kept as much of the fin as possible.
Let's see if this year, the Red Bulls can be beaten.

 

Williams FW33:







This is the 2011 Williams, but it's not the new livery. That will be presented later.

 

Toro Rosso STR6:

 

McLaren Mercedes MP4-26:

You can watch it here in 3D (pretty cool)







Once again McLaren presents a unique design. Especially the sidepods are noteworthy but also the double-airbox (although Lotus Renault has a similar system) and the relatively low nose.
It will be very interesting to see how the McLaren stacks up against the competition.
Also, I finally want to know what the double air intake is good for...

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89312

Robert Kubica had a severe accident in a Rally Race in Italy today. There are somewhat conflicting reports (the one linked above says that his right arm and leg are injured, another one I read said that it's the left arm and leg).
Apparently the situation is not life critical anymore and the doctors are still fighting for his hand.
He has broken several bones and might still lose his hand.

Let's wish him all the best and that he can recover completely from his injuries.

Here are some pictures of the car (out of respect, I will not post the pictures of Kubica being carried away that start popping up on the internet)




Apparently Kubica was trapped for almost an hour before he was finally cut out of the wreck. His co-pilot suffered only minor injuries.

 

So the latest news are that the doctors could indeed save Robert Kubica's hand. They won't need to amputate it now. However, it's doubtful whether the hand will ever be fully functional again. Apparently it was completely crushed.


---Update---
The latest news is worse again. The doctors saved the hand for now. In an interview, Igor Rossello who operated on Kubica said that they had to wait for at least another week to see whether or not the hand survives.
But even if everything works out fine and he recovers well from the surgery, it could take up to a year until Robert can normally move his arm again.

So unless a miracle happens, Kubica will be out for the season at the very least.
As sad as it is, this of course also means that speculations about his replacement are coming up.
Lotus Renault does have a host of test drivers: Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean, Ho-Pin Tung and Jan Charouz. Senna is supposed to be the #1 replacement, but with Kubica out, there has been a lot of doubt whether any of these drivers can fill the gap.
So another name has come up: Nick Heidfeld who's without a cockpit.
Well, we'll see. It's obviously still too early to talk about a replacement on the very day of this tragic accident.

 

While we#re waiting for good news from Kubica, Virgin has released their new car:

Marussa-Virgin MVR-02:







It seems to be an evolution from last years Virgin. What's surprising is the relatively low nose.
At a time when most teams try to shuffle as much air underneath the car as possible this seems a strange design choice.
But McLaren also has a lower nose, so we'll see how that works out.

 

HRT F111:





This is the first images of the new HRT. Reminds me a lot of the Virgin.

 

Force India VJM04:







Like the Lotus, the Force India has an air intake like last years Mercedes, while the nose looks more like last years Renault, only slightly higher.

 

Unofficial sources from inside Renault are now confirming that Heidfeld will indeed replace Kubica for the season.
Kubica on the other hand is apparently recovering relatively well. He can already move his hand again.

 

On a side note, Ford is now suing Ferrari over the "F150" name:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89369

 

It's hilarious really. I'm not a fan of Ferrari, but I love their sarcastic press releases, they're always great:

 

A couple of images from todays testing session in Jerez. If you look closely (you might have to open the image in a new tab/window in order to get the full size), then you see that every car has the same message for Robert Kubica printed on it, wishing him a speedy recovery in Polish.





EDIT: Actually, of these pictures it's only visible on the Lotus-Renault, but check out this link, here are pictures of several cars sporting the message to Robert:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/speedy-recovery-robert-jerez-f1-test/#3870431