Renault, Sauber and Team Lotus launch thread

[DazzlaF1]

So what are we expecting from these 3

RENAULT - R31
We've already seen the livery but dont know what to expect yet from the design

SAUBER FERRARI - C30
It'll be interesting to see what we get from James Key's first solo effort in terms of F1 car design, as for the livery, the deals signed with Jose Cuervo and Telmex suggest we'll see a white car with sky blue and black flashes.

TEAM LOTUS RENAULT - TL11
http://www.teamlotus.co.uk/media/309649/tl%202011_ArticleTop.jpg
If the teaser image is anything to go by, then the only change we should expect to see in the livery is a few Renault decals, as for the design, we've already been promised of something a bit more radical compared to last year as well as Red Bull style pull-rod suspension

[steveaki13]

Not that it has anything to do with design or function of the car and therefore is not very important, but I hope Sauber's livery is a bit more exciting this year.
As I found last years BMW hangover a bit :s nore:

[DazzlaF1]

Not that it has anything to do with design or function of the car and therefore is not very important, but I hope Sauber's livery is a bit more exciting this year.
As I found last years BMW hangover a bit :s nore:

It will be like I said as they actually have sponsors this year, mostly thanks to Sergio Perez's connections

[RS]

Team Lotus has now launched. Looks more intricate than last year's car although in quite similar style.

One silly little thing i don't like on these new cars is the Pirelli stickers on the tyres, they would look better if they went round with the tyre. Looks like it has just been slapped on lazy at the moment! I am sure their marketing department think they know what they are doing though....

[christophulus]

Yes, they've called it the T128. Two fingers up to Renault..

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/01/31/lotus-tl11-launch-first-pictures/

[DazzlaF1]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89149

That is one gorgeous car

One thing i've noticed is they've adopted the Mercedes style roll hoop, very interesting

[UltimateDanGTR]

Now that's an F1 car! There is something beastly about that magnificent T128, lets hope it goes as well as it looks.

[Sonic]

Spot on Dan. If its as fast as it looks it'll win every race. As it is they are targeting 40 points :eek: Thats one heck of a step up - here's hopping they can do it and stick two fingers up at Group Lotus.

On the 'blade' hoop, I was under the impression it was banned....wonder how they got round that one?

[Tazio]

Spy shot of R31? A Shark Fin? :eek:

http://www.f1today.nl/foto.php?file=10781 :eek:

[UltimateDanGTR]

http://badgergp.com/2011/01/sauber-launch-2011-contender/

The Sauber C30. Another ugly car from Sauber I am afraid, complete with diabollical livery.

BTW, Is it me or do the wheels seem too small?

EDIT: It doesnt look quite as bad in the autosport pic:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89157

[Tazio]

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TL11d.jpg

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/lotus-tl11-roll-blade-analysis/

Could this be a safety issue?

[Tazio]

Ugly yes? no? :eek:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1189/sauber2.jpg

[Tazio]

:s ailor: Well I'll be ding-danged :D


http://i.imgur.com/BTwl5.jpg

[Tazio]

http://i53.tinypic.com/2vlqvb7

What do you think? C29 looks cooler IMHO :idea:

[Tazio]

"Vive la Compagnie"

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg614/scaled.php?tn=0&server=614&filename=gb6w.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

[Tazio]

This car is freakin' sweet :s mokin:

http://i.imgur.com/cOUhS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/C0nCU.jpg

[RS]

Renault is certainly the nicest looking new car so far. Classy sponsor they have there too; 'Japan Rags' Inkeeping with Lada I guess :D

Talking of which there are now 3 car manufacturers displayed on their livery!

[Tazio]

http://media.costumesinc.com/costumesinc/SKUimages/large/CS528-lg.jpg


wee wee mâcheur

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4347/noskvv.jpg

[ArrowsFA1]

I know these pit lane launches are all the rage, and save money, but somehow (for me at least) there's a distinct lack of excitement generated.

The big front & small rear wings are as fugly as they were when they were introduced. We're just used to them now.

Renault have made a pigs ear of a classic black & gold design, and I'm still none the wiser as to why they've gone for that colour scheme.

Sauber seem to have found a few new stickers for this year and the Lotus looks the most adventurous of the lot, but then that is comparing it with their 2010 brick!!

[Tazio]

:s ailor: I think we have a winner boys

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/renault_r31_jl_2011-106-470x312.jpg

http://jyxo.info/uploads/E3/e33e88009d78c661ef8c74e1c0668805.jpg

The blue circle is the exaust???

[Tazio]

http://f1news.cz/pictures/photo/2011/01/31/1296475723-hdd.jpg


http://blogs.amctv.com/future-of-classic/matrix3.jpg

[MrJan]

I know these pit lane launches are all the rage, and save money, but somehow (for me at least) there's a distinct lack of excitement generated.

The big front & small rear wings are as fugly as they were when they were introduced. We're just used to them now.

Renault have made a pigs ear of a classic black & gold design, and I'm still none the wiser as to why they've gone for that colour scheme.

Sauber seem to have found a few new stickers for this year and the Lotus looks the most adventurous of the lot, but then that is comparing it with their 2010 brick!!

Not really a big fan of change, are you ;) Personally I think that the black/gold, while not being a carbon copy of the JPS livery, looks pretty freakin' sweet, as does the rest of the car. No point really commenting on them though, it'll all be change by the time that the first race rolls round.

[Tazio]

http://www.f1today.nl/foto.php?file=10844

What on gods green earth is that? VV
I mean I know what it is, but it looks like someone took a hammer to it.
http://s5.directupload.net/images/110131/3qyiryni.jpg

[Sleeper]

Interesting design to the Lotus roll hoop, I thought that balde look was now illegal on safety issues but the central spar is very thick so it might have been enough to get around it. T128 is definietly the best looking of the 4 new cars so far, too much gold on the Renault.

[Sleeper]

http://www.f1today.nl/foto.php?file=10844

What on gods green earth is that? VV
I mean I know what it is, but it looks like someone took a hammer to it.
http://s5.directupload.net/images/110131/3qyiryni.jpg

What are you on about, if its the concave section on top of the monocoque, its just copying what Red Bull have been doing with their horns for the last two years.

[ArrowsFA1]

Not really a big fan of change, are you ;)
Quite the opposite. It's the lack of change I'm not a fan of.

I'd love to see the cars lined up on a grid, painted in exactly the same colour, and see how well everyone could identify each teams car.

[Tazio]

What are you on about, if its the concave section on top of the monocoque, its just copying what Red Bull have been doing with their horns for the last two years.

Actually what I was concerned about was an optical illusion that was caused by a refletion of a very high resolution picture.
http://s5.directupload.net/images/110131/3qyiryni.jpg
Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrry :rolleyes: :s mokin: :) ;)

[wedge]

I know these pit lane launches are all the rage, and save money, but somehow (for me at least) there's a distinct lack of excitement generated.

I prefer it this way. Hated the days of car launches at places like the Grosvenor and Eddie Jordan and Nicky Fry coming up horse manure from their mouths and printers.

I know its wishful thinking but ideally the day before the tests should be an official media day but different teams have different schedules.


Renault have made a pigs ear of a classic black & gold design, and I'm still none the wiser as to why they've gone for that colour scheme.


Sad that two teams want to pull on people's heart strings for sympathy and attention as an excuse to sort their troubles

[Mark]

Agreed, the days of teams spending millions on a big launch ceremony are gone, and they won't particularly be missed by me. They didn't serve any sporting purpose at all!

Better just to have an hour before the start of the first test where the team has some photos taken around the car and then get back to work!

[AndySpeed]

Talking of which there are now 3 car manufacturers displayed on their livery!

Which, to be quite honest, is just plain ridiculous. The team's identifity is a complete blur now as well.

[RS]

Quite the opposite. It's the lack of change I'm not a fan of.

I'd love to see the cars lined up on a grid, painted in exactly the same colour, and see how well everyone could identify each teams car.

I think I'd find that quite easy actually. Even though the tight regulations mean we don't see wild differences each team generally has it's own design style (except maybe Red Bull/Torro Rosso)

[Mia 01]

So far the Renualt Lotus is the best looking and most innovative car.

Their hidden exhaust blow will be hard to copy.

[Malbec]

Their hidden exhaust blow will be hard to copy.

I think most cars now use a blown exhaust which exits down through or before the diffuser. The holes in the bodywork would be for cooling.

I'm a bit disappointed with the Sauber, they need more sponsors if they aren't going to be pushed hard by Lotus and STR this season. Otherwise everything else looks as I expected. Won't know anything about how good these cars are until Bahrain....

[Sonic]

The Renault Lada Lotus whist a complete mess of a corporate image is perhaps the most aggressively evolved (does that make sense?) of last years top runners. Sauber looks neat and uncomplicated (although I would like to see more shots of the rear as there seems to be something clever going on around the rear wing support - to my untrained eye anyway. Interestingly it seems the Ferrari gearbox is unsuitable for Red Bull style rear suspension but they seem confident in their systems benefits.

Team Lotus has the virtue of last years car looking vanilla, making this years model look positively radical, but aside from the roll hoop (still not sure it's legal) it seems to take most of it's cues from last years top cars.

[billiaml]

http://i53.tinypic.com/2vlqvb7

What do you think? C29 looks cooler IMHO :idea:

Yeah, I know what you mean. For their sake, I hope it drives better than it looks. btw, where's the Jose Cuervo logo?

[DazzlaF1]

Interesting design to the Lotus roll hoop, I thought that balde look was now illegal on safety issues but the central spar is very thick so it might have been enough to get around it. T128 is definietly the best looking of the 4 new cars so far, too much gold on the Renault.

I think they've got round it by making the actual airbox the regulation height and then cutting it in 2 with a thicker central section.

That was what was wrong with last years Merc, the airbox on the W01 barely reached above helmet height

[Bullet]

My first impression is that all 3 look better than last year's version. The Sauber is the least impressive of the group but still a big improvement over 2010... which shouldn't have been difficult to improve on. I agree with other comments here about the Lotus, looks very good but again, look what we're comparing it to. The Renault, very nice but I'm not a fan of the red ends... but then I'm not a fan of no sponsorship either so... Maybe if they had added just a little red into the rest of the livery (other than the mirrors) to bring it together.

[VkmSpouge]

I love the look of the Lotus, the T128 certainly looks a lot more advanced and sophisticated than the T127.
The Renault R31 looks fantastic. I love the livery except the damn red on the end plates.
The Sauber C30 is just boring with a dull livery.

[nigelred5]

That dyslexic GENII capital logo on the LadaLotusRenault will give me fits all season. I hardly think they would be in any danger of an association with JPS with that livery. The striping is far too heavy, the Total logos and the large red endplates totally ruin the livery IMHO. Kinda suprised to see elf AND Total on the car. Can we jsut drop the TOTAL and replace it with a tastefully large gold elf logo on the end plates?

The green and yellow LotusRenault livery looks really nice. They definitely appear to have improved their design.

Sauber, I just haven't seen enough to really judge it. Jose Quervo was a pretty late addition. I wonder if they will update the livery before the season starts to factor that sponsor more (well At all to be honest?

[turismo6]

Has anyone had a close look at Team Lotus front suspension. In the render images they appear normal, however in the photos the front suspension set-up seems to be missing the push-rod (diagonal blade) from it.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/lotus_t128_4.jpg

[nigelred5]

To be honest, I don't see them at the rear either. It is just an unveiling. Maybe they don't have their Renault engines and transmissions to finalize the design yet.? Maybe they are intentionally disguizing something innovative by not showing it at all? who knows?

[wedge]

So far the Renualt Lotus is the best looking and most innovative car.

Their hidden exhaust blow will be hard to copy.

All teams will have them.

You're still allowed to use the exhaust to blow over the diffuser and onto the beam wing but not blown into and underneath the diffuser via slots, holes, gaps.

[SGWilko]

Does the R31 have exhausts that exit forward of the engine?????

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/renaults-radical-r31-exhaust-system/

[wedge]

Yep, now I know what Mia was referring to!

Genius but probably not for very long


http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/renault-r31-front-exit-exhausts-fee-explained/

Unlike the McLaren F-duct, it is possible for this solution to be copied as no monocoque alterations are required.

http://scarbsf1.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/r31_fee.jpg

[Mark]

Looks like another 'trick' that will be banned for next year!

[SGWilko]

Yep, now I know what Mia was referring to!

Genius but probably not for very long



http://scarbsf1.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/r31_fee.jpg

I can see big cooling issues, and possible mapping headaches for the engine dept here. KERS batteries and electrics. oil and water rads all nestle in this area, so why tempt fate by adding an extra 700+ degrees to the mix? It had better work. I'd be wary of the downforce loss when you come off the accelerator and apply the brakes - could make for one tricky car......

[Mark]

It may work brilliantly, but I can also see it being a reliability nightmare.. Renault are my current tip for the 2011 Deconstructors championship!

[AndyL]

You're still allowed to use the exhaust to blow over the diffuser and onto the beam wing but not blown into and underneath the diffuser via slots, holes, gaps.

Except through the starter hole, as mentioned by Scarbs in his blog... that would be a cunning stunt if anyone's taken that approach.

[schmenke]

The purpose of an unveiling is to splash sponsors' colours and logos for the cameras :dozey:
Other than the bodywork, many components may be drastically different in the actual race-spec car.

[billiaml]

Like they say, "It's all about butter -- and which side of the bread it's on."

[Bullet]

I know very little about aero, maybe someone can clarify... warm or hot air is associated with low pressure and by heating the air underneath, reducing the air pressure it should pull the car down? Is this what's going on here?

[SGWilko]

I know very little about aero, maybe someone can clarify... warm or hot air is associated with low pressure and by heating the air underneath, reducing the air pressure it should pull the car down? Is this what's going on here?

Warm air is less dense I think, but the effect Renault/Lotus/Proton/Lada (delete as appropriate) are aiming for here is an increase in the flow of air under the car. Faster flowing air (the more air you get under the car, the faster it has to flow) has less pressure than the slower moving air above the car. Therefore, there is more downforce pushing the car and thus tyres into the ground.....

[jens]

At least Team Lotus' challenger looks like a proper racing car this season unlike that ancient box they were racing with in 2010. :) And this is really a vital season to them - in order to prove themselves as a serious race team with a fruitful future, they must improve massively. So a lot of pressure on them to perform.