F1: 2009 car launches

**overdrayv** · January 13th, 2009 03:51 AM

Ferrari F60

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/12/s...s-the-new-f60/

**Monseratto** · January 13th, 2009 08:30 AM

I'll miss all those winglets and bargeboards of the older cars. Mukhang they place the car on a diet and they are ugly. Long and skinny...

**coiter** · January 13th, 2009 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by Monseratto

I'll miss all those winglets and bargeboards of the older cars. Mukhang they place the car on a diet and they are ugly. Long and skinny...

onga. parang mas hitech tignan yung mga cars last year. the combination of oversized front and mini rear spoilers for 2009 make the car look awkward. though i hated the huge "fin" at the rear of last year's cars.

**Taurus** · January 13th, 2009 01:56 PM

Ferrari back F60 for 60th anniversary title

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/01...ari/index.html

Ferrari launched their latest Formula One car -- the F60 -- on Monday hoping it will help the Italian team celebrate the 60th anniversary of F1 with a title triumph.

Ferrari are determined to celebrate the 60th anniversary of F1 by reclaiming the driver's crown in their new F60.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali underlined the significance of the car's name at the Mugello circuit where Felipe Massa was behind the wheel for the first time.
"We wanted to celebrate the fact that Ferrari is the only team to have always been in the World Championships," said Domenicali. "The history of Formula One is twinned with the history of Ferrari. For us F1 is our life -- our aim is to stay at the top."
Brazilian Massa was denied the driver's crown by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in the final race of last season in Sao Paulo.
The 2009 campaign will see the introduction of a kinetic energy recovery system (Kers), designed to give cars an optional energy boost.
After completing approximately 100 kilometers in the F60, Massa was happy with the new technology.
"The car is completely different to what we were used to up to last year," he said. "Today was not the day to do 100 laps and post times because when the rules change so greatly from one year to another, like KERS, for example, you have a completely different feeling for driving the car.
"Today we resolved little problems that arise on the first day, but I am quite happy to do 100 kilometers and use KERS, which was the most worrying aspect of today.
"In the end, we used it a little to start with and gradually increased the power and this is very positive."
Like everybody else in F1, Massa is on a learning curve. "At the moment, we are at the start of a different cycle in Formula One and it won't be an easy experience," he said. "But I am convinced we can be competitive again."
Ferrari retained the constructor's championship in 2008, but F1 is entering a new era with cost-cutting measures and rule amendments set to change the landscape of motor sport.
"This is a very significant moment as we are giving a very strong input on how the future of Formula One should be," Domenicali added. "What we are aiming for is the common good.
"The unity among teams that we have seen in recent months is unprecedented, but totally necessary. We live from and for Formula One so compromises have got to be made.
"We know we are standing before a very challenging season and one which will be very stimulating in every sense, from the political to the technical."
Ferrari tested their Kers system for the first time at Mugello and Domenicali admitted even he was still in the dark about what advantages -- if any -- it may bring.
However, he confirmed that Ferrari would try to win the "technological battle" to get the most out of Kers, even if he still has reservations about the inherent "contradiction" in introducing an expensive new system while trying to reduce costs.
"If Kers can really be beneficially in certain situations, then we really have to exploit it," he said.
Aerodynamic changes designed to make the sport more appealing have been agreed by the Overtaking Working Group (OWG), substantially altering the front wing of all cars.
"Drivers will have to get used to it because the dimensions are different, so perhaps the drivers could have a bigger impact," claimed Domenicali. "We have got to understand the best way of dealing with them (the changes)."
Trying to reduce the aspect of human error is another challenge facing Ferrari after pit lane problems cost Ferrari dearly.
"We must try to improve the areas where last year we were not 100%," Domesicali admitted. "We have strengthened our mechanical team and we need to try to stimulate people and keep our concentration.
"Our top priority is reliability because that is what let us down last year. That also includes procedural reliability, although we cannot guarantee that human errors can be totally eliminated.
"In a way, that is what gives Formula One its human side. It is impossible to think that drivers cannot make errors.

"But to work on this is part of being number one at all levels."

:car:

**Taurus** · January 13th, 2009 04:08 PM

More details about the flywheel 'kinetic energy recovery system

Do your remember the hybrid system that stores braking energy not as electricity but in a rotating flywheel as kinetic energy? Well, the system is going to be mated to a special CVT transmission able to change 6-to-1 ratio within one revolution. That is, in 50 ms, the transmission can go to almost zero to full power.

The Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which is soon going to be tested with a Chevy V8 engine, becomes part of the transmission system of the car and it is light: for F1 applications, the variator and flywheel each weigh less than 5kg in a system with a total mass that does not exceed 25kg. This is both good for the upcoming Formula 1 hybrid racers and for regular car use, where it has a huge potential to help reduce CO2 emissions and pollutants.

The developers say that the device is twice as efficient as electric hybrids. And it's got an additional benefit: since the flywheel is vacuum sealed, the system is silent, except for the links to the transmission and bearings, which is something they're working on.

The flywheel is made from high-strength steel and composite material in which the maximum stresses are less than in the con-rod of a conventional internal combustion engine.

[SIZE=2]Flybrid,[/SIZE] Torotrak and Xtrac promise to keep us updated on the evolution of this system, which you can check by clicking the Read link. Full press release after the jump.

:thumbsup:

**CVT** · January 13th, 2009 07:56 PM

Look where they mounted the side view mirrors..... I understand that it was limited by one of the regulations....

7303:soda:

**fourtheboys96** · January 14th, 2009 10:41 AM

for me, the car is not ugly but it doesn't look good either.

but if it is fast and will create more excitement (read:overtaking), then looks will not matter.

the side mirrors look like a disguised aero device. i've read that it is just a matter of interpreting the new regulations. i believe FIA will have a say on that.

on the KERS, i believe that the flywheel version is better for racing where sudden burst of power is needed. however, for street car application, i prefer the battery type.