[Team] 2020 Season Launch/Pre-Season Testing

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Renault reveal their race livery and new sponsor. a bit late and similar to last year...not sure why they waited but here it is.

Maybe with all the focus on the coronavirus, they forgot?

[chillibowl]

thought i would give this a bump as the season hasent started yet.

RB using their filming day to try out some new bits. here

and Renault will apparently be bringing three sets up upgrades to Austria. here

not much unusual about some new parts showing up on a filming day but must say i am very surprised that Renault were that busy over the break and that they will attempt to roll out all three upgrades at the same time?

i feel like that is both unusual for a team to do (i would think the logic is for one at a time for a better reference point) so a very risky move? no doubt their practice sessions in Austria will be particularity interesting.



also new Williams livery but i see that is being talked about in the Williams tread. putting lack of sponsors aside, personally i think it looks cleaner, much nicer blue, the 'Williams' in block letters looks sharp and the #WeRaceAsOne hashtag on the back.

will all the teams be carrying this logo/hashtag? i would assume of course.

[crmalcolm]

Mercedes will run a new black livery in Formula 1 in 2020 as a signal of their commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport.

[E.B]

I like it and think the Petronas Aqua and Matt Black look great together.

[ascarracinguk]

looks great, a lot like the old Vitaphone Maseratis

Twitter, facebook and pistonheads are being their usual swamp over it mind you....of course inadvertently proving why the message is required

[steve_r]

I think it looks nice, as does the new Williams livery.

Twitter has gone crazy, and no one can say anything on there good or bad about this without being jumped on. If someone prefers a silver car livery to a black one, does that make them a bad person? I guess this makes a subtle point, but changing the colour of a car livery isn't directly going to do anything to tackle racism in this world, or indeed doesn't tackle the issue of lack of diversity within motorsport.

[S griffin]

I do like that black livery, goes well with the light blue, although not sure the purple goes with it. Of course it’s not going to end racism, but should help raise awareness. Especially important with the latest foot in mouth comments from Mr E

[BertMk2]

I think it looks better than the silver - then again I've never been a fan of the Mercedes schemes (they never looked as good as the McLaren silver schemes).

The only thing with these livery changes is now we've ended up with 2 mostly black teams (Mercedes, Renault) and 2 mostly white teams (Alpha Tauri, Williams).

[crmalcolm]

A few comments online have queried whether the black will absorb heat too much.

I'm guessing not, given the dark cars we have seen previously (Red Bull, Lotus).

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

looks great, a lot like the old Vitaphone Maseratis

Twitter, facebook and pistonheads are being their usual swamp over it mind you....of course inadvertently proving why the message is required

I agree it looks fantastic. And Kudos to Mercedes.

As to the racists going crazy over this. The recent negative comments on the NASCAR changes got me down recently. But it is heartening to see the number of positive comments on both the NASCAR changes and this Mercedes livery. I also enjoyed Hamilton's recent comments about Bernie Ecclestone's recent tone deaf episode.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/53204012

If someone who has run the sport for decades has such a lack of understanding of the deep-rooted issues we as black people deal with every day, how can we expect all the people who work under him to understand? It starts at the top.

Richard

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Mercedes will run a new black livery in Formula 1 in 2020 as a signal of their commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport.

I prefer it to the original 2020 livery and it is even more minimalist.

[gert]

I like black cars but I'm not sure this one works for me. The Petronas green and red/purple-ish (Ineos?) don't seem to fit on it. Maybe it looks better on TV, or maybe it'll grown on me. We'll see.

If they use black as a statement for more diversity, they should have gone for a multi-colored car, maybe even exaggerated on that and gone really crazy with the colors.

As with much of the pro-diveristy anti-racisms things lately, this just focusses on black vs. white and there is much much to it than that.
A bit of a missed opportunity there, as far as I'm concerned.


EDIT: After taking a few more looks, it is probably the enigine cover that is not working for me. The white dots effect caused by the Mercedes stars doesn't fit in wit the rest. Make that plain black and it would look way better.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by gert

EDIT: After taking a few more looks, it is probably the enigine cover that is not working for me. The white dots effect caused by the Mercedes stars doesn't fit in wit the rest. Make that plain black and it would look way better.

I"m thinking that the render is highlighting the stars much more than they will in in the real thing.

[crmalcolm]

Pre-Season Testing results have forced Ferrari into a major rework of their car.

Binotto: "Apart from that, over and above the actual development of the car itself, these past few weeks we have worked a lot on analysing its behaviour, with simulation work and with the help of our drivers and I think that will prove its worth in Austria. We know that, at the moment, we don't have the fastest package. We knew it before heading for Melbourne and that hasn't changed."

Ferrari getting their excuses in early?
Trying to cover some sandbagging?

If they are right at the sharp end in the first race, should the rest be worried how much better they can be?

[S griffin]

I doubt the others are worried, Ferrari have hardly been stellar in pre season testing. But they shouldn't suddenly be a midfielder either

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I doubt the others are worried, Ferrari have hardly been stellar in pre season testing. But they shouldn't suddenly be a midfielder either

It might be more of a case of Ferrari being worried, as they have been forced into a major rework of their car and the revised season opener is this Sunday.

[Richard C]

I feel like Ferrari is one of those few teams that generally has a handle on what works and what doesn't. I expect they went into testing with very specific ideas of the output and that they didn't see the expected on-track correlation to CFD, tunnel and simulator work. So it probably spooked them (and rightly so)

Richard

[chillibowl]

Winter testing was so long ago now...but i seem to recall that RB were feeling that they had caught up to Ferrari who themselves had dropped a bit further back from Merc.

Cant wait for this season to start.

A couple of extra months of development under covid protocols, Max vs Charles i think is going to be more epic this year, less races means fortune will favour the bold!

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

... less races means fortune will favour the bold!

Or will it? A DNF this season will be more damaging - less races to recover the lost points. Will the drivers risk a move for a couple more points or just pocket what they've got? Fortune might favour the steady.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Or will it? A DNF this season will be more damaging - less races to recover the lost points. Will the drivers risk a move for a couple more points or just pocket what they've got? Fortune might favour the steady.

Fair point.

I guess i was thinking more from the point of view of the midfield driver with more to gain from one outstanding move/race.

Either way though, could be cool to see how this dynamic plays out.

Side thought and perhaps i bit too outside the box...but could their be a problem with the how the teams data analysis/analytics software systems work?

Mind you, I have no idea if their systems are just designed to maximize points for one race at a time or max out points over a season as a whole...or even if this is a thing.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I feel like Ferrari is one of those few teams that generally has a handle on what works and what doesn't. I expect they went into testing with very specific ideas of the output and that they didn't see the expected on-track correlation to CFD, tunnel and simulator work. So it probably spooked them (and rightly so)

Richard

Could the change of direction be from a J Vane to a Cape?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51739796

[S griffin]

Already Leclerc is saying Ferrari are likely to struggle more in 2020 than in 2019

[Born Racer]

I do wonder just which teams have benefitted from the extra 'virtual' development time. They can go through various iterations of development stages without parts seeing the track, so the greater correlation there is between their tools and the reality, the better. Perhaps it's equally accurate for everyone, but Mercedes look particularly mighty; maybe they would have been in Australia, anyway.

[bella]

there wasn't that much extra time though - the teams were on extended shutdown (which is mandatory) for a significant part of the mid season off season, let alone local lockdowns.

[S griffin]

Have to say I'm liking the look of the car's noses this season having seen them racing for the first time