have the bargeboards gone?

@Ishy: Yes, the barge boards have gone. There are some more photographs in this post which show the car from a variety of angles.

All those extraneous twiddly bits on the 08 car bugged me – I always felt it looked over designed.

@Cas: To be fair, the 2008 cars were probably over designed and over engineered. The new Williams doesn’t look as bad as the new BMW, so maybe I’m being a bit harsh. They’re gonna take some getting used to though, that’s for sure.

My only reservations are to the finishing of the wings, especially the front wing. The end bits remind me of nothing more than the cross-section of an iron girder! As for the back wing, at the moment is has a slight cardboard-box quality to it, but as you pointed out, this is a concept.

All in all, I don’t mind it. I agree most with Becken in these comments. Simply put, it is because it looks so much more pared back. All those extraneous twiddly bits on the 08 car bugged me – I always felt it looked over designed.

What is this Gp7 series with 200cc peddle engines…

These things look HIDEOUS…I am so disgusted and appalled….I was looking forward to seeing the new Renault´but this issss…Eeeeuuww..

Somebody should have a word with whoever is responsible for this……

You take that indy car mold and put it on a F1 and you have all the 2009 F1 cars so so sad!

I don’t know if it is good or bad publicity to Formula 1, but another point is that the ultra technological Formula 1, the pinnacle of the motorsport is under an odd situation where we have the new cars looking much older fashionable than the previous ones. Very, very odd…

I don’t know if Steve Jobs would love this new “clean design” but Ron Dennis has made an interesting statement about form and function:

“…My first comparison is between a state-of-the-art Formula 1 car and the Lockheed SR-71 ‘Blackbird’. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they say. Well, I think they’re both beautiful – but their beauty resides in the beholder’s realisation that their form follows their function. No ornamentation for ornamentation’s sake. Not one stylist was involved in either design. Just form following function. And the result is beauty.

But, going further than that, the Lockheed SR-71 ‘Blackbird’ has always fascinated me because, like a state-of-the-art Formula 1 car, it’s an expression of what at first sight seems an unusual and perhaps incongruous combination: namely, big-picture thinking, rapid development and attention to detail…”

- RON DENNIS -

I love this speech…

Ever since I laid eyes on the Williams prototype, and now this Bimmer, I’ve been the saddest person

This really looks terrible. It looks so bloody… american…

Actually, I think if they just changed the supports on the rear wing a bit, it would look much better. At present, the rear wing looks too much like a box with two sides missing. If, instead of having the straight up and down wings, they had them flare out a bit (like the 2008 car was), it would look much better.

Greg

it looks a lot less streamline

Okay, Esther doesn’t like it, that means it really is bad! [ollie_whisper]Esther drives a new Mini.[/ollie_whisper]

I know what you mean though, it isn’t as streamlined, or aerodynamic or as good-looking as its predecessor. It just doesn’t look as fast as a Formula One car should.

On the radical side, when’s Bridgestone really going to go green [...] and make tires that’ll last an entire race, or even an entire weekend, or dare i say 3 weekends?

Bem, what you doing? Don’t go putting ideas into Max’s head. Formula One isn’t green, it isn’t meant to be green. It’s meant to be fast, hard and courageous. The day F1 becomes a pathetic advert for planet-saving activities is the day I switch off and sell BlogF1. (And yes, I am well aware that day might be already be upon me.)

Don’t worry, I’d never sell. Well, not yet anyway.

On the radical side, when’s Bridgestone really going to go green (in the environmental sense, not that silly stunt they pulled with the stripes), and make tires that’ll last an entire race, or even an entire weekend, or dare i say 3 weekends to match the engine life?

but if it leads to closer racing, actual ability to overtake and suchlike then I’m sure I’ll come to love the new look

So here’s a question then…

…was there not enough overtaking this season? Personally, I thought there was just enough. I mean, Valencia was crap, as were a couple of other races, but on the whole, there was plenty to keep me occupied.

Personally, I don’t particularly like the look at the minute but if it leads to closer racing, actual ability to overtake and suchlike then I’m sure I’ll come to love the new look!

No more creativity

To be fair, Arnet, BMW are highly unlikely to reveal their 2009 car this early in the off-season. What you see above is merely a concept – the actual 2009 car will look a little different, and I hope, more creative. Having said that, the teams are constrained by the rules of the game, and they seem to be very anti-creativity at the moment.

But then you see the rear wing and it just throws the whole thing into the yeugh category.

The more I look at, the more I see how the rear wing is just the ugliest thing. I think you’re right Christine; if it was one or the other, it wouldn’t be so bad, but both wings does send it straight into the “yeugh” category.

Also, if you remove the wheels and driveshaft/suspension assemblies, it does look a little like my Wilkinson Sword razor – the nose being the handle, the rear wing being the blades. Ah man, I’m never gonna shift that imagery now until this time next year…