Cars of 2018

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Obviously no cars yet but we do have the first launch date of a 2018 model:

Williams - 15th February
Ferrari - 22nd Feb
Mercedes - 22nd Feb
McLaren - 23rd Feb

Two more months

One and a bit to go

19 days and counting....

[Chrill]

Rumours about what kind of cars are being developed:

Ferrari will run a car with a longer wheelbase, similar to what Mercedes featured in 2017, but hopefully managing to maintain the advantage they held over the Mercs last year, namely a car that was easier to set up.
Mercedes, meanwhile, are supposedly going the Red Bull route and opting for a car designed around a high rake setup.

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Unexpected move by Ferrari given the strength of last year's car - shorter wheelbase definitely an advantage at certain tracks/types of corner so clearly convinced that the negatives (such as poorer high speed stability) outweigh any such gains.  Hope they can pull it off.

Williams to launch car (not off a ramp) on 15th Feb: https://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2018/01/26/williams-announces-earliest-2018-car-launch-date-yet/

[Chrill]

Launching the car of a ramp would produce some headlines in the news though. Might not be a bad idea.

[Chrill]

Could the McLaren go from orange to yellow this year? Maybe.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/motorsport/673030/F1-News-New-McLaren-car-Fernando-Alonso-YELLOW-Formula-One-Lewis-Hamilton

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The Daily Star might have a factually accurate story (bound to happen eventually) but my computer refuses to visit the site on grounds of taste and decency....

[Chrill]

The Williams has landed:

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If I hold a finger over the halo the car looks great; and if I ignore who'll be in the cockpit I can daydream about Williams having a strong season.

[Chrill]

I'm already beginning to accept the halo. Embrace it, no, but after FP1 in Australia I will not think about it much at all.

The blacker bottom part is possibly a way to cover some of their clever sidepod solutions. Perhaps this car will be whiter in Australia.

[Penfold]

The aesthetics I can likely ignore, what I'm waiting to see is whether helmets are obscured to the point of making identifying drivers difficult.  That will piss me right off.

[Chrill]

I fully expect the halo to do just that which you mention. And perhaps after 2-3 races there will be a mandatory identification on the halo itself. You know, the three letters or something.

I'd really like it if a team painted the halo in the colours of the driver helmet. That'd actually be rather neat. Surely FIA would stop that on the basis that "cars need to look alike!"

[Chrill]

Launch week is here. Red Bull first to go. We'll basically get a car or two every day this week.

No word on whether this paint job is an interim testing livery or the actual one they plan to use this year. My vote is on the former, although I expect the arrival of Aston Martin to affect the livery to a certain extent.

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Visually, the halo is a turd that can't even be polished. 

... perhaps after 2-3 races there will be a mandatory identification on the halo itself. You know, the three letters or something.

I've never found the large numbers on the cars useful for identifying drivers; a flash of colour from the helmet is so much easier to spot on a fast moving object. 

I'd really like it if a team painted the halo in the colours of the driver helmet. That'd actually be rather neat. Surely FIA would stop that on the basis that "cars need to look alike!"

Yes, that would be a neat way to show us who's in the car; and yes, of course the FIA would never allow it....

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Sidepod (well, just in front of) detail - someone's been working overtime at the carbon fibre machine:

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Sauber Alfa Romeo thingy.  Some good aero detail.