Comments on: Debate: Are 2007 F1 cars ugly?

By: Matthieu

Matthieu — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:26:36 +0000

Personally, colour schemes over the last couple of seasons have been rubbish and it’s partly the reason why these cars look ugly. Take the Renault ING livery, it looks like someone’s failed attempt to make an omelette. They really need to go back to their blue and yellow paint scheme. I’m also not a fan of the darker red on the Ferrari.

On the aerodynamics, I find some of the details put on the cars quite good looking, like the ‘Viking wings’ on the top of the Mclaren, but others like Honda’s ‘Dumbo wings’ are hideous, I guess that’s a matter of personal opinion.

As for 2009, slick tyres always look better on an F1 car. I think the aero regulations will make the cars look a bit less modern than this year’s, but I hope they’ll be a lot more fun to watch

By: Stealthman

Stealthman — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:36:02 +0000

I believe that today’s F1 cars look very smooth and flowing in their design – very beautiful – but I also like designs from the ’50s and earlier. One example, the pre-war Mercedes-Benz W125. Now that looked tough, fast and beautiful. I loved the shape of the Vanwalls of the ’50s, so sweet and simple. The Ferrari Dino 246 was nice too. But for the record, apart from the Lotuses and Eagle-Westlakes, cars of the ’60s looked like cigars on wheels. And the only modern F1 car I don’t like is the ’08 BMW. Those twin ridges on the nosecone that blend into small wings just sicken me…

By: Ratboy

Ratboy — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:53:43 +0000

The new Mclarens are certainly sleek and stylish, but i really like the B186 benetton with multi coloured engine cover, and quite bizarrely the 1994 Pacific it was plain silver with dashes of colour rubbish car though but looked nice!

By: Number 38

Number 38 — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:47:48 +0000

The old goat here……..it looks like Clive and I are the only two who remember when F1 cars really were works of art.
The Maserati 250F is high on the list but nothing beats the Vanwall of 1957/58. I’m reviewing a dozen responders above and I’ll gamble a bottle of Bulmer’s Strongbow that dozen has no idea what Clive and I are talking about. But all of this chat reminds me of a thread a couple weeks ago concerning the SOUND of F1 cars. Friends, let us never forget neither sound or looks ever got a car to the podium !!!

By: chunter

chunter — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:22:56 +0000

A lot of answers to this one.

Thanks to film and a visit to the Indy 500 museum, I’d agree with Clive that although it’s about personal taste, I find the designs of the ground effects era easiest on my eyes. A part of me wishes that FIA would pass a law forcing the cars to have only up to two major aerodynamic surfaces and maybe two minor ones (so conventional T-wings or a lip may remain legal, but many of the other added surfaces do not. Does anybody know what Super Aguri’s “chicken” is yet?)

I hate mentioning it here, but I find the specified design of the ChampCar or the A1GP car more appealing than the typical F1, not that I can’t name a few good tries this year. I suppose while I’m naming other single-seaters, IRL and Formula 3 cars tend to look cheap and old to me. (Sorry, Dallara.)

Coincidentally, ChampCar did a piece on their liveries on their website: http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=11610

Note the use of the ‘carbon fiber’ look attempting to appeal to sport compact tuners in the US. The notion of selectively not painting sections is… a novel idea, anyway.

My favorite liveries as far as looks (and looks alone) go belong to the cabooses of Spyker and Super Aguri; there’s something that looks “correct” about their cars until you read their scoresheets.

By: milos

milos — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:32:53 +0000

everytime I look at the designs of cars few years back I tell myself “uuh, how weird they looked”

in my opinion the cars are getting sleeker and nicer bar some crazy “towers” or “dumbo wings” ideas. the liveries though are quite boring … McLaren is an expemtion as they go in their high tech style, and perhaps Ferrari keeping the tradition (or returning back to it after few almost orange years). Toro Rosso, Honda liveries may look good on the design table, but look horrible on the track, Red Bull’s livery you can’t tell difference between their F1 car or some GP2 or other lower Formula’s running in RB colors …

By: doctorvee

doctorvee — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:17:10 +0000

I agree with a lot of the commenters above. This year’s McLaren is a beauty. And I can see that, if it was given a nicer livery, the RB3 could be nice as well.

I have also liked the look of Renault’s cars in recent years (probably 2004-2006), but this year’s car does not look as good to me for some reason. That could just be the dodgy paint job though!

The F2002 was also good looking.

And that 1996 Ferrari – yuk! Definitely one of the worst I can think of.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:47:49 +0000

Personally my only real issues with the cars today are those with particularly narrow front noses, like the Mclaren, and last year’s renault (which otherwise was quite beautiful, it looked almost like an aquatic being!). I just think they really look tacky and lack any real class.

Otherwise, I think on the whole the colour schemes are awful – way too many colours going on, and no real defining images. I like the fact that renault seem to be heading towards a slightly more retro look with, with more emphasis on the blue and yellow of old (after the panning they got for the new ING colour scheme).

having said that there have been some close ups from behind the mclaren this season, and the contours of the body of that car really do look remarkable!

By: Keith Collantine

Keith Collantine — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:23:43 +0000

I find that interesting because I thought 1996 was a poor crop of cars aesthetically. The new cockpit dimension regulations of that season in particular produced some very unattractive cars including, I felt, the Williams.

I see what you mean about its simple lines though. But I never really cared for the Rothmans colour scheme on the Williams either.

By: James B

James B — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:13:39 +0000

I think the most good looking car of today was the Mclaren of 2006. The way it shines is just clever.

But in my view, the best looking car of all was the 1996 Williams. Just a smoothly designed car wth no aerodynamic winglets. Just… Smooth.