Pages

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Rate These Beasts: The Hot, Sexy and Whatnot Of 2017 Formula One Championship Team Cars


The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship is neigh! The teams have unveiled their cars for the season in line with 2017 rules and regulations and we await to see whose design conquers motorsports premier event. Melbourne is just under a month away. We weigh in on the cars

Team McLaren MCL32

Constructor's Table 2016 Finish: 6th 
Engine: Honda RA 617H
Drivers: Fernando Alonso (ESP) 10th in 2016 drivers championship & Soffel Vandroome (BEL) 20th in 2016 drivers championship scoring only 1 point.
New Design Features: Decrease weight and lower center of gravity for improved balance
Aesthetics: McLaren's orange and black theme for its 2017 race car rolls back the years for that irresistible retro feel. Orange, the new black, spews confidence and solidity.
What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: If it were a person, McLaren would be Elon Musk thanks to its knack for the impossible. The desire to take humanity into the 21st century whatever that means and whatever it takes.

McLaren MCL32 © McLaren



Constructor's Table 2016 Finish: Aiming to improve/ at least maintain their impressive debut at 8th.
Engine: Ferrari

Drivers: All new cast of Romain Grosjean (FRA) ranked 13th in the 2016 F1 drivers' championship & Kevin Magnussen (DEN) who joins from rival Renault having made seven points to 16th in 2016.

Aesthetics: This I what I'd call 21st century design. The red and ash grey contrast well to give an impression of the aerodynamic clean finish that new age composite materials can give when used to make a car.
New Design Features: Hass team principle Guenther Steiner offers " You always try to make a faster car, which is normally a lighter car. Now we can put on more ballast and get better weight distribution. The aero is completely new, as are the tyres, so we needed to have some built-in adjustability."
What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: Air Jordan VI



Haas VF-17 © Haas

Constructor's Table 2016 Finish: 4th, a position that even team principal Vijay Mallya contends will be a tall ask in the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Engine: Mercedes
Drivers: Face of  team Force India Sergio Perez (MEX), 7th in 2016 F1 drivers' championship & new recruit Esteban Ocon (FRA) from Mercedes junior team.
Aesthetics:  Keeps with the same lively from the previous season. Probably in cognizance of the work needed to observe the new 2017 regulations.

New Design Features: Sharkfin engine cover and thumb-tip nose as in Sauber, Williams and Renault.

What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: The Life of PI - the movie. There is a finality about it in similar fashion to the masterpiece-ness of the Hollywood blockbuster that is difficult to replicate. Just like team Sahara Force India FIA 2016 Formula One World Championship feat.



Team Ferrari SF70H

Constructor's Table 2016 Finish: 3rd. It does feel like it's about time Ferrari won the constructors title  
Engine: Mmh! What else?

Drivers: Sebastian Vettel (GER) & Kimi Raikkonen (FIN). At a reported combined annual salary just shy of $70 million, these two need to better their 4th and 6th finish last time out in the drivers' championship.
Aesthetics: Lady in a red dress!
New Design Features: There is the T-wing at the end of the shark fin exectra but we'd rather your take in the noise from that engine

What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: On one hand: Those miniature F1 racing cars one had as child and held so dearly to sleep with them in your hand.It reminds us of those posters on the bedroom wall that aided greatly our day dreaming racing down the track in nirvana. On the other: Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari SF70-H at Ferrari SF70-H First Run, Fiorano, Italy, 24 February 2017. © Sutton Images  



Constructor's Table 2016 Finish:2nd
Engine: TAG Heuer
Drivers:Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 3rd in 2016 F1 drivers' championship & Max Verstappen (NED) 5th in 2016 F1 drivers championship. This duo is expected to strongly challenge for both titles. 
Outstanding Design Features: 'Breathing nose'
Aesthetics: Solid Red bull branding follow through. We have come to know and trust the "two red bulls charging at each other in front of a sun-like circle" as denoting strength, speed, aggression and vitality. Whatever the phase of Red Bull brand equity building Formula 1 is; it's pretty successful as demonstrable in RB Leipzig (2nd German Football Budesliga), New York Red Bulls and FC Red Bull Salzburg (1st Austrian Football Bundesliga).
What It This Formula 1 Race Car Reminds Urbane Sports Of: A team on the throes of greatness a' la Frank Rijkaard's 2003-2006 Barcelona. The Dutch legend arrived at a Barcelona (having failed at his last job as manager at Sparta Rotterdam) to win a major trophy since the previous century(1999). A Catalan fan base smarting at losing on David Beckham to Real Madrid managing to land ONLY Ronaldinho. He left having introduced Leo Messi, Andres Iniesta and Victor Valdez to the world; was a two time back to back La Liga champion and 2006 UEFA Champions League winner.
 

Red Bull RB13 © David Clerihew/Red Bull


Constructor's Table 2016 Finish:  10th

Engine: Ferrari 2016 specification powertrain enabled early embark on designing the race car as the design team were already familiar with the engine.
Drivers: Marcus Ericsson (SWE) scored no points in 2016 drivers' championship & Pascal Wehrlein (GER) who suffers from a back injury at the throes of the 2017 Formula One season scored one point in the 2016 drivers championship
New Design Features: Team Sauber's technical director gives an insight to how it is designing in the smaller teams "We put greater emphasis on aerodynamic stability as opposed to maximising downforce.  Basically, big teams also have an advantage when it comes to major changes in the regulations, but when the cards are reshuffled new opportunities always present themselves as well." 
Aesthetics: Blue and silver livery in celebration of Sauber's 25 years in Formula One.
What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: F1 early days. In fact, early days for almost anything when things were handmade.
 

Sauber C36 © Sauber F1


Constructor's Table 2016 Finish:  A respectable 7th running on old technology.
Engine: An upgrade to Renault which takes over from old school Ferrari engines which clearly exceeded expectations.
Drivers: Carlos Sainz (ESP) 12th in the 2016 drivers' championship & Daniil Kvyat (RUS) 14th in the drivers' championship 21 points behind team mate.
Aesthetics: Eerily reminds one of the Red Bull 2017 car though with a more can-like finish. The branding guys at Red Bull surely earn their keep. By the looks of it (pun intended) the striking blue color on this car is another Red Bull branding bespoke piece. 
New Design Features: Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost highlighted the teams' efforts to comply with 2017 regulations which nee " wider, longer, lower, faster, noisier (cars) on bigger tires promising more grip, higher cornering speeds and hopefully closer racing."
What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: Team Red Bull Racing's early days in Formula One. We see this car/team as one most likely to spring a surprise in 2017
 
Toro Rosso STR12 Launch, Barcelona, Spain, 26 February 2017. © Sutton Images

Constructor's Table 2016 Finish: A disappointing 5th down two positions from 2015.
Engine: Mercedes
Drivers: Back from retirement, 11th in 2016, veteran Felipe Massa (BRA) & rookie Lance Stroll (CAN) -the only rookie who will be on the starting grid in Melbourne March 2017.
Aesthetics: Another anniversary car this time celebrating 40 years of team Williams in F1. The FW40 stays true to the throwback predominantly white livery.
New Design Features: Conservative play given that this is the teams' 40th anniversary with aggressive shark fin and subtle sidepods not too dissimilar to other cars.
What It Reminds Urbane Sports Of: Something  born out of the Victorian era like tennis, croquet and horse ridding.


The Williams FW40, Saturday 25th February 2017, © WilliamsF1


Constructor's Table 2016 Finnish:  Three time in-a-row (2014, 2015,2016) Formula One World Champions
Engine: W08 'EQ Power+' EQ stands for electric intelligence

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 2nd 2016 Drivers Championship & Valterri Bottas (FIN) 8th 2016 Drivers Championship
Aesthetics: Silver theme blunts sharp edges that are unkind to the eye. Reminds one of a spaceship in a 70's flick. Simplicity is true sophistication.

New Design Features:When Mercedes 2017 car was unveiled, unlike its rivals, it didn't have a a fin at the tail of the car. Mercedes- AMG Petronas Motorsports plan was to reveal as it was being tested ahead of Barcelona. Hamilton clocked the fastest time on day 1 of winter testing on this beast whose (now unveiled shorter fin) featured a large cooling duct at the top. 
What This Race Car Reminds Urbane Sports Of: If I was tortured into choosing one product from the bunch,  the silver arrow's evolution reminds me of the iconic Mac. In may ways Mercedes- AMG Petronas Motorsport is Steve Jobs' Apple: Winner designs. Star boy appeal in Lewis Hamliton (just as Steve Jobs was to Apple). 


Mercedes-Benz F1 W08 Hybrid at Mercedes-Benz F1 W08 Hybrid First Run, Silverstone, England, 23 February 2017. © Sutton Images

Team Renault

Constructors' Table 2016 Finnish: 9th
Engine: Renault
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg (GER) joins the team from Force India Mercedes with whom he was an impressive 9th in the 2016 drivers' championship & Jolyon Palmer (GBR) 18th in 2016 drivers' championship.
Aesthetics: To us, the most beautiful of cars. There is a hint of black on black with the happiness, optimism and confidence of yellow just in the right amounts to perfectly contrast. 
New Design Features: Renault's debut car in design since the motor vehicle's manufacturer's return to F1. The targets are clear: A fifth place finish in the constructors' championship.

What It This Racing Car Reminds Urbane Sports Of: Australia


Additional reporting: Formula1.com


Posted by at
More:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)