The Official F1 2009 Thread

[z31maniac]

To commemorate being the only team in F1 for all 60 seasons.

[NC325iC]

someone should make a summary list of the rule changes all i know of is

Heavy Aero restriction
Slicks
Cockpit adjustable front wing (pretty cool)
KERS with Boost button

those last two should make this very fun to watch, itll be like video game racing

quick edit: how did ferrari get away with the curved wing: thats not the final car, they still have some changes to make before melbourne, every article ive read says that.

[z31maniac]

18k redline vs last years 19k
3 race engines, 4 race gearboxes
No in-season testing
Testing mileage reduced to 15000 kilometers (1/2 of last years I think)

That's what I can think of off the top of my head.

[TDE30]

No internal engine retuning permitted.
No wind tunnel usage to a 60 percent scale.
Engines supplied to private teams will cost approximately half of what they did in 2008.
Budget caps on all Formula One teams will go in effect, cap amount still unknown but likely something in the neighborhood of $150M.
Teams will be limited to eight engines per driver, and an additional four for testing purposes.

[YAN-3]

Eh, looking forward to another year. Hopefully Bernie and Max don't clusterfuck the entire season with ridiculous budget caps/restrictions. I'm hoping for a stronger, more focused BMW-Sauber. I'd love to see them second (or first if things really work out) of the Manufacturer's standings.

Hooray for no more DC.

TDE30, why hooray for no more DC? you didn't like his driving? or the fact that he called Shumi out for being a dirty racer? just curious...

[TDE30]

I liked him back in the McLaren days (when I first started watching Formula One). He was a competitive and all-around good teammate for Häkkinen. In his later days at McMerc and his days at RBR, his performance dropped like a rock and he eventually gained the title of Formula One's grumpy old man.

Instead of leaving Formula One (and going to DTM or another touring car series) he decided to stay until he was long past unwelcome. He seems like a decent guy off the track, but on-track he seems like an idiot.

Another one of my favorite veterans, Barrichello, also seemed to have outstayed his welcome last year. But I still think he is one of the more classy drivers/ex-drivers despite remaining in Formula One for a year or so longer than necessary.

[YAN-3]

Interesting, that Ferrari saves weight by using last year paint?

Following the "difficult" track debut of the F60 on Monday, Ferrari decamped to the engineering transporters on Tuesday to analyse the birth of its new 2009 single seater.

"After such serious rule changes, the shakedown is always a very difficult affair," Brazilian Felipe Massa, at the wheel of the Mugello debut, said.

"In the next tests there will be changes (to the car)," he revealed.

On Monday, the car - also hosting the circuit debut of a Ferrari KERS system - completed only about 100 kilometres.

Even the Italian marque's president Luca di Montezemolo was present for the roll-out debrief. According to reports, the most troublesome areas of the F60 was KERS, and also the new front wing.

It is also suggested that the F60 features a radical solution to the new aerodynamic restrictions for 2009 in the area of the underbody.

Ferrari's aero-detailing of the side mirror mountings is also distinctive, and a subtly different colour of red paint has been used because it is slightly lighter than last year's tint.

Following the Tuesday debrief, Ferrari chiefs arranged to depart Mugello and prepare for the car's proper test debut, alongside other teams next week at the Portimao circuit in Portugal's Algarve region.

"The season is going to be completely unique," team boss Stefano Domenicali said earlier this week. "We have had to make a great many changes in a very short time, but I hope that from the outset we are competitive."

Technical director Aldo Costa added: "The car is not an evolution of the F2008. Quite the opposite: we began with a clean sheet of paper and built a completely new car."

[323iNathan]

Re: the 'rule bending' Ferrari front wing.
The rule change is that there are no flaps, chimneys and the like allowed on the body work (meaning side pods, engine cover, nose cone - just to clarify) so extra flaps like that on the wings, or their rear view mirror setup is completely within the 2009 rules.

And the budget cap is just an idea at the moment, Max said it'd be too much to impose that sought of a restriction so late.

Also, any thoughts on the new toyota?
Who thinks they'll win a race this year?

I don't...

[E30Kaiser]

Well, if it rains as much as last year they won't, at least Jarno won't. He just starts doing donuts when the water hits the track. I like how the new car has the rising sun behind the drivers head though lol. Who knows, I think they need to worry more about just scoring points than winning races. Renault, BMW, McMerc, Ferrari, and maybe even Vettel again are who I think will win races this year depending on their cars, they all got the drivers though.

[Hick]

http://www.tf109-premiere.com/

lol

[SR20Fastback]

should be an interesting season to say the least!

[TDE30]

http://www.tf109-premiere.com/

lol

Haha, I lol'd.

I found a neat video of the TF109 on YouTube...

[Hick]

very cool. what fun would it be to work/engineer one of those car? 1/1,000,000th the fun of driving one but fun none the less

[TDE30]

very cool. what fun would it be to work/engineer one of those car? 1/1,000,000th the fun of driving one but fun none the less

No doubt, getting to travel with the team to every single venue, getting into areas where even VIP's can't get into. The dream job if you ask me, I wonder what positions BMW needs filled.

[E30Kaiser]

Haha, I lol'd.

I found a neat video of the TF109 on YouTube...

They have the original in high def on the main site posted before along with a great close up video of all the parts of the car if you didn't see it.