Caterham CT01 images revealed early

2012 F1 cars

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The first pictures of the Caterham CT01 have appeared ahead of its official publication tomorrow.

Caterham issued an official image of the new car after pictures of it which were published in a magazine were leaked online.

The CT01 features a distinctive stepped nose, a consequence of new rules aimed at lowering the noses of the cars.

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    235 comments on “Caterham CT01 images revealed early”

    1. Yikes!! Thats one odd looking nose!

          1. See, there’s a Simpsons quote for every situation. It’s pretty much all you need in life, especially if you work at an IT desk.

            1. couldn’t agree more!

      1. It’s the ugliest F1 car nose, I’ve ever seen. Will see, if others can beat Caterham in this category.

        1. It’s not exactly a looker thats for sure. But to be honest I couldn’t care less, I just hope its quick. Caterham are easily my favourite new team, I think they’ve done a great job so far starting from scratch.

          It will be interesting to see if Mclaren, Ferrari, RBR are able to implement the new regulations without having to adopt such a radicle step on the nose. Other F1 forums have been debating whether the MP4-26 and F150 would almost meet the 2012 nose specs already, so hopefully they won’t have to change too much.

          1. that walrus nose was quite cool, this is hideous! Reminds me of an old Fiat Multipla…

            http://img.automobile.de/modellbilder/Fiat-Multipla-28775_haessliche_autos_kw52-2010_2.jpg

      2. It looks like it was beaten in with a hammer.

        1. It looks more like Johnny Vegas sat down on the nose!

        2. i think a nose job is in order!

      3. I think I’ve only ever seen one F1 nose that was uglier.

        1. Haha! Classic.

        2. @ajokay I knew it was going to be Prost!

          1. keith, have you posted the car’s unveil dates yet?

            1. He did recently in this article.

              Some are still unknown.

        3. that was a good one, i was expecting it, but very good nevertheless.
          You have to agree that that was one of the fastest as well.

          1. LOL @ Prost comparrison.

            It is one FUGLY nose. Almost as bad as mine…

          2. A World Championship-winning nose too, unlike what Caterham is likely to be!

      4. My eyes…
        When they first said the front noses were going to be lower in 2012 I expected/wanted something like this
        Why can’t they have them even lower and have a smooth decrease in height instead of a sudden 7.5cm drop?

        1. exactly.

          Looking at the new CT01 i dont think the new regulations have solved the safety issue at all. I was expecting something like the Brawn nose. Something that would prevent the cars from launching (webber in valencia) or hitting the driver in the head with a sideways collision.

          I hope this is a one off, and the rest of the teams come up with something more natural.

          1. But it did solve the safety issue. The nose is now lower than the cockpit sides.

            and even a Brawn type nose wouldn’t prevent the car from taking off.

        2. @Pato Milan

          I wanted something like that too, but after reading Scarabs interpretation I was expecting something like. The days of good looking F1 cars are fast disappearing, friend. I think even a street luge looks better than this!

        3. that Mclaren looks like a sad elephant.

          But that Caterham nose…. it’s just so wrong :/

        4. For me a good looking F1 car would have a low thin nose, the wing lengths and height from before 2009 with no winglets on the body, no barge boards, no turning vanes, no nonsense things on the wheels (covers or Ferrari’s rims), overall a lower height. Imagine, an F1 car with the current length and proportionate front and rear wings, plain body and low like in the old days…
          Dreaming is always nice….

          1. …and also wide with fat rear tyres.

      5. Well,… if all F1 noses are going to look like this, I think I am only going to watch the Izod Indycars season this year!

        1. No, just kidding, though the nose of this Caterham CT01 is genuinely ugly. Now that I’ve seen this car, I’d bet this team won’t improve on last season’s championship position.

          Concerning the Indycars: their new Dallara DW12 is seriously good-looking. It throws away that box-like mid/rear end shape. Don’t care whether they’ll be slower than the old car. I think they’ll get quicker over time.

          1. To quote Martin Brundle, “They all look good in the Winner’s circle.”

            Design the fastest car and aesthetics be damned.

          2. Agreed on The DW12. I really like it! Especially from the front. Indycar will hopefully take a step forward this year.

            I like all of this new Caterham, except that bloody nose. It’s worse than Prost, and way worse than the old Walrus nose BMW, I actually kind of liked that one.

      6. I dont remember his name but a williams engineer said that the cars would look odd if FIA continued with the 50cm nose rule.

      7. How will this sell Caterham cars? Guess I’ll stick with my people mover…

      8. Hmmm,some teams are really sticking their noses into it!!! *vomits*

    2. And people are saying the new IndyCar chassis looks odd.

      This just looks awful.

      1. Indeed. What’s the old saying about if it looks fast it is? That doesn’t look fast.

        1. Remember 2009 BMW? Looked like snow plow, raced like one. Beware Caterham ;)

        2. What’s the old saying about if it looks fast it is?

          It’s an old saying but it was mostly said before wind tunnels became widely used – the new saying is something like if it’s fast it’s beautiful.

      2. @ajokay Actually the more pictures of the new IndyCar I see on the thread the more it’s growing on me.

        1. I like it in the first place, but even then it’s still growing on me. The haunches at the back of the sidepods… it looks like a cat primed and ready to pounce. It’s very back-heavy which makes it look even more prepared to launch itself forward in a flurry of noisy speed.

          It’s a beautiful car.

          This Caterham… it looks like a green and yellow sack of marbles. Lumpy.

          1. @ajokay I’m sure you hate the massive gap in the livery (sidepods) as much as I do.

      3. To be honest (and unlike the Indycar), the only thing that looks wrong is the nose, the rest of the car is quite OK

        The rear view looks fine!.

      4. The Dallara IndyCar DW12 chassis looks much better than this, and the nose, which is the most prominent part of an F1 car, is balanced and proportionate. This one looks more like this crocodile –

    3. Oh, look. It’s vomit-green. Coincidence?

    4. Ewwwwwww!

    5. I think I just got sick in my mouth!!!!

    6. Mutated whale from Mars. And looks like render (again).

      1. Tom Haxley (@)
        25th January 2012, 11:04

        Definetly a render, look at the tyres

    7. on second thoughts, i kinda like it.. it’s distinctive

      1. But all of them will probably look like this! :P

        Actually, I think the livery exaggerates its contours a little bit. The yellow stripes on the nose end just before the bulges, which doesn’t exactly help.

        For example, this drawing by Craig Scarborough shows what he expects the 2012 cars to look like, and whilst it’s not as pretty as the 2010 and 2011 cars, I don’t think it looks as ugly as the Lotus.

        Having said that, we’ve only seen two angles of this car so far. It might not be that bad.

        1. OK, link didn’t work! Try this. :)

          1. Pretty much the same, save the Caterham being launched with its 2011 spec wings.

            1. If the new ferrari and mclarens have this crash structure infront of the sidepod i will be calling them the bat cars this year! http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/139897/f1-drawing-ferrari2012-inline.jpg

            2. @TheBrav3

              As that is taking advantage of the safety rules to increase aerodynamic performance I suspect that will be looked at by the FIA.

    8. I have a theory about the sheer ugliness. Back when the regulations were announced, a lot of the teams complained that their cars were going to look ugly. They really just wanted the raised noses back because that would improve airflow over the spoiler, producing more downforce. This staggered nose is such an inelegant and basic design (the MP4-26 nose is a fine example of what they should be doing) that I can’t help but wonder if the teams are deliberately making ugly cars to try and get such an overwhelming reaction that the FIA relents and reverts the ruling.

      1. It’s a nice theory, but the whole of the cars aerodynamics is designed by how the flow is effected by the nose and the front wing. There’s no way any team will want a change to the regulations until next season, and their not going to run an inefficient car for all the races just to get the FIA to change their minds.

        Personally, I have a problem with the regulatons that show a rectangular zone where no body work can be. Alll they had to do was make this zone trapezoidal, and these cars would both look alright, and also not pose a threat to the heads of other racers. This is the FIA we are talking about though.

      2. Deliberately making ugly cars?
        I’m sure glad your not an F1 car designer, you’d make the likes of Ferrari and McLaren go into administration.
        “Oooh lets invest hundreds of millions of pounds, and put our blood sweat and tears into making an ugly car, so the FIA can let us make a nice looking one,were not here to compete, no not at all”
        Sheer Stupidity on your part @PM

      3. The only thing sillier in this article than that nose, is this idea you just posted.

    9. Ugly looking car. one questioin why are the noses that low

      1. Because the FIA wants to clamp down on high noses. They’ve been getting higher and higher for the past two years, and the FIA is concerned that in the event of a head-on collision – not unlike the Liuzzi-Schumacher crash in Abu Dhabi back in 2010 – the nose of one car could pick up on top of the other, there were would be little to stop the driver from receiving a Formula 1 car to the face. No doubt they intended that the 2012 cars would look more like last year’s McLaren, but because of the wording of the 2012 rules, only everything forward of the bulkhead (the point along the front axle) needs to be 55cm. Everything behind it can be 62.5cm, and so Caterham have clearly gone in for this split-level nose.

        1. I believed it was more to do with counteracting any lift generated when a high nose hit a wheel (like webber vs kovalainen at valencia ’10) – although there were probably several factors

          1. Any nose->wheel contact will involve one of the cars getting airborne – even worse if the front wheel makes contact to a rear wheel. This isn’t an issue unique to F1, but rather any form of open wheel racing (everything from your local kart races to Dan Wheldon’s crash last year).

            1. the nose height will accentuate the problem. that post wasn’t just my speculation, there was fact behind it – for backup, this is a quote from mike gascoyne yesterday: “They want to limit the heights of noses for the shunts when a car hits another car’s tyre and (risks) taking off.” [from bbc f1 website]

        2. So do the regs allow for a slope to merge these two heights, or does there need to be an immediate change in height, like Caterham have gone for?

          1. @matthewf1 – The regulations do allow for a slope, provided that the point over the front bulkhead is no more than 55cm above ground. I think this is what the FIA intended all along, and to my mind it would be the best solution because the Caterham design has a 7.5cm step in the middle of the nose. That can’t be particularly efficient aerodynamically.

            1. thanks

            2. Actually,I think the V shape makes up most of the 7.5 cm difference.Along the middle,its not that much.

            3. You should really get on the phone to Caterham then to let them know that their months of wind tunnel analysis and cfd have been wrong.

            4. @adam PM is provided a detailed opinion on the technical aspects of the car. This is interesting.

              What have you provided?

              Also, on topic.
              @Prisoner Monkeys
              I think there must be a reason that the step costs less than the gain it provides. I suspect it will be controlling airflow around the side of the drivers head. But I suspect scarbs would have a more examiined opinion.

              For me, I’m most interested in the back of the car, which for the most part is blacked out. It is possible to see where the suspension struts are headed and to be honest, it looks rather simple.

              I suppose from Caterham a rather conservative approach is to be expected.

            5. @Mike I would much rather trust Caterham, their team of engineers and the 6 months of design and development that has gone into this car. Opinions are great but there are too many internet hacks about who think they know best.

            6. @Adam

              I honestly can’t see your problem.

              More interpretations of the technical aspects can’t be a bad thing.

              And exactly what part of his comment do you think was wrong? I think you’d be crazy if you said the step (in itself) was aerodynamically efficient. However, there must be, as you suggested, a reason the Caterham designers have done this. Prisoner monkeys comment creates a chance for us to speculate as to why!

              Personally, I’m fairly sure in my mind that it’s to allow maximum airflow under the car, this increases the speed at which the air flows and thus, should lower the pressure under the car and increase the cars overall down force.

              What do you think? or have you read any interesting ideas about it?

            7. @Mike Nothing wrong with opinions or theories. The more the better. What I didn’t like though was the assertion that he knew better than the Caterham designers.

              Nobody likes the look of the new nose but there is obviously a reason for it. To me, a more gradual slope to the tip of the nose would provide a better airflow over the top of the car but my degree is not in aeronautical engineering so I am happy to bow to the experts greater knowledge.

    10. they wont get much prettier…

    11. Banburyhammer1
      25th January 2012, 10:59

      Has the car beeen in a punch up or something?

    12. Nosecone is disgusting! Seems the the equivalent of a human having a broken nose.

    13. If you want to have a controlled launch, maybe you shouldn’t be committing pictures to paper…

      About the car, I’m obviously intrigued by the nose and I wonder if this is what Ferrari calls ugly

      1. thats exactly what i thought

      2. @verstappen

        If you want to have a controlled launch, maybe you shouldn’t be committing pictures to paper…

        Indeed. On the other hand, they seemed quite pleased to be trending on Twitter:

        https://twitter.com/#!/TWCaterhamF1/status/162138797847494658

        1. I bet they are, Fernandes tweeted something like that.

          I guess its hard to trump a million people looking on Twitter and the net searching for the first pictures for a good viral, isn’t it?

        2. Indeed. This has got us talking. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out this leak is deliberate.

          1. It’s not a leak. It’s just people receiving their copies of F1 Racing early. Frankly, I’m surprised nobody expected this.

    14. Chunky!

      Isn’t it the general consensus that because of the rules changes, all cars are going to look a little less pretty compared to 2011?

    15. Shocking at first but I’m pretty sure most of the cars will have noses like that. We’ll get used to it, just like we did with every other regulation change that apparently made the cars ‘ugly’.

      1. Yack! I did like the 09 BMW so I should like a more straight shape but with the shade of green and yellow it just looks ghastly and something Lego could have designed.

      2. yep exactly..with the regulations I kind of expected this nose for some time now so no suprise. I dont know how others haven’t expected to see a nose like this.its ugly but I think most teams wil have something similar. We are all probaly going to have to get used to seeing our favourite team our drivers car noses look like this.

        1. Did you expect it? A few people are saying that now but I didn’t read one prediction on this site about it before.

          1. Scarbs had some sketchs up..and the ferrari renderings sported a similar nose. Doesn’t mean that if it wasn’t on this paricular site it didn’t happen. Come to think about it keith had the link to scarbs with regards to this years design trends on one of his round ups in the past couple of days.

            1. Ah that’s quite true! I apologize :D

    16. It’s not actually that bad … from the front.

      1. Finally an angle to be pleased about. Reminded of the TF110?

      2. from that angle it looks like the Mercedes W02 nose from last year.

      3. Yeah, i think they stole a nosecone from W02, and than joined it to a RB6/RB7 monocoque. They had to hammer the cone down a bit to fit. :D

    17. if we ignore the nose.. the rest of the car is quite nice! green.. but nice

    18. oh my !!
      Caterham what have you done !!!

      That nose cone seems to be ‘pasted’ on it from a different car

      1. on second thoughts.. it looks like a crocodile !

        .. an ugly crocodile actually !!!

        1. More specifically, the Gavial or the Indian Gharial

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavial

          :)

        2. A gharial, actually.

          1. the colour is there too !!

            maybe we can expect it to be fast in (very) wet conditions..

          1. @coefficient Perhaps use http://www.bitly.com or something for a link that long next time!

    19. Reading between the lines in various leaks etc. it would appear that Ferrari haven’t staggered it as much as this, but the lines of the nose and cockpit will be smoother, with the humps on either side.

    20. Ok, if you ignore the nose, it’s actually not a bad looking thing. Loving the very tiny sidepods.

    21. Wouldn’t a staggered nose like that cause a lot a drag in a straight line? The 2011 car’s nose was not that high, http://www.formula1.com/wi/597×478/sutton/2011/d11bra1691.jpg would that still be allowed in the 2012 regulations?

      1. oops, looking closer i can see the nose only was humps on the sides and not a straight wall of elevation, that answers the drag question.

      2. @tomand95 – No, it would not be. The 2012 regulations state that everything forward of the bulkhead may be no higher than 55cm. Everything behind the bulkhead may be up to 62.5cm. That’s a difference of 7.5cm between the two cars. Besides, you cannot simply take the nose off one car and put it onto another. Cars are designed holistically, which is to say that the every part of the car works in unison with every other part. That’s why HRT were unable to qualify in Melbourne last year; they put the front wing of the Hispania F110 on when the F111 front wing failed the crash tests. But because the front wing was designed for a different car, it didn’t work as well with the aerodynamics as the F111 front wing would have, and so the car was very slow – too slow to qualify within 107% of Vettel’s pole time.

        1. yeah i was wondering if a similar nose design could have been used, of course as you mentioned and different nose that hasn’t been developed with the car would not match it’s aero package, resulting in a slow car. I wonder what sort of clever designs teams can come up with?

    22. The horror!!!

      Just kidding.

    23. It looks a product of the new crash test…

      But seriously it is a pure copy of what Scrabs has predicted, don’t you think?

      1. lol

      2. I saw the ScarbsF1 predicted designs yesterday, then seeing the Caterham today it looks almost identical. Scarbs really knows his stuff!

        1. Tom Haxley (@)
          25th January 2012, 12:54

          How hasnt he got a job in F1? Or has he?

          1. Maybe cater ham read f1scarbs lol

    24. Ferrari said their new car was going to be ugly as well… what hideous new breed of cars will we be subject to this year?

      1. @Keith-Collantine The platipus generation?

        1. My apologies, it’s too much of an insult to the platipus…

    25. Oooh, it’s such a cutie!!!

      Seriously, I have no problem with the look of it although it might take some time to get used to the unusual nose.

    26. To goagainst popular opinion……. I actually quite like it :D I like the differences in the cars from one season to the next.

    27. It’s a sad day for Formula One.

    28. Yikes

      Looks like a mechanical avocado anaconda swallowed a duckbilled platypus

    29. I think it’s a fake!

      1. we all wish that’s fake!

    30. The car as a whole looks nice, but that nose, my god… I sure hope it’s the only car that will get to look like this! Although it might pressure FIA to change regulations somewhat to get the cars prettier again, at least I hope so…

      I think the FIA wants the actual nosetip pointing down in 2014, right? Can anyone confirm that?

      1. sure hope it’s the only car that will get to look like this!

        According to scarbsf1, most of the teams will do this.

        Although it might pressure FIA to change regulations somewhat to get the cars prettier again

        It would mean redesigning the entire front end of the car. Which would be expensive.

        1. I was talking about future seasons. But like I said, I seem to remember the nosetip needs to point down from 2014 onward. Am I correct?

          1. I have no idea.

            1. Just found it on Scarbs F1: “This reduction in height starts in 2012 with the front bulkhead limited to a 55cm height and then in 2014 the nose tip must fit into a zone 25cm high.”

              Here’s hoping that will make the cars a lot less ugly!!

    31. um, yeah, i’m sure we will all grow to accept the new look, kind of like the way we love our ugly pets.

      1. Haha! That’s how i feel too. Ok it’s a little ugly as a nose but i can grow to love it.

    32. looks ok side-on at least!

      1. Yeah, as long as the races are held during nights and the cars ain’t get filmed from the front, the 2012 season has every chance of becoming a true beauty contest :)

    33. It’s not actually that bad from the side. The drop is still there, and it’s still noticeable, but it doesn’t have the same shock as the three-quarter view.

      Also, notice the wide sponsorless space on the sidepod …

    34. Do Caterham know that this picture were published??? what’s wrong with the nose???

    35. Just as ScarbsF1 said a 2012 car would look like pretty much. Not a fan of that new nosecone though. It just looks stupid!!!!. Nice job on the side pods, very neat. A nice RBR looking engine cover, with the large tail funnel open at the back to vent air onto the lower plain of the rear wing.

    36. The sidepods seem very interesting and is it just me or will that little lip between the nose and bulkhead generate downforce right over the front axle?

      It looks different, but very interesting. I this car could pop them into the mid-field. I hope it does, the big gulf to the back runners is getting annoying!

    37. This car looks like it borrowed Alain Prost’s nose.

      1. Haha, yes! It’s a pity the Prost team isn’t still going, that’s how a Prost car should look!

    38. Looks good from the side. I have a problem with the yellow stripe at the back though, looks completely out of place. Why not have it running with the lines of the car? They could even just do away with it and have the stripe on the front running around the cockpit and over the airbox and engine cover.

    39. I… erm… quite like it actually. That design definitely has character.

    40. Its OK, most will be like this, we’ll grow to love them when they race

    41. Please god… don’t let the mclaren be as ugly as this….

      1. I’m praying exactly this!!

        1. Haha, my thoughts as well!

    42. I saw this image posted over at Autosport, showing how the other cars might look. And honestly, they’re not as bad as first expected. I think the problem with the CT-01 is that the front of the nose is flat, but everyone else might go for a bit of an angle, and so they all end up looking like the Virgin VR-01.

      1. Am I reading that image correctly in thinking that last season’s McLaren would have been pretty much compliant with the new regs already?

        In that case, it doesn’t have to look as awful as this Lot… Caterham.

        1. Tom Haxley (@)
          25th January 2012, 14:52

          They are pretty close thats for sure.

          The standout (or not) of the mclaren is the top of the bodywork is already below the top of the wheel – something different from all the other cars by the looks.

          Hopefully they wont have to change it too much so it still looks nice :)

    43. PS I don’t see the point of the new nose(s) if they are going to have a step and be horizontal and not slope down. Its still pretty high really.

      1. Exactly, the FIA probably did not expect this… if anything, a nose like this one looks even more like a stabbing weapon than they did last year.

        Also, it’s painfully obvious how the FIA are making the cars uglier year by year, just looking at the front page. The Renault R30 with Raikkonen in it looks brilliant compared to this hideous thing.

    44. I’m still trying to work out what is going on with those sidepod

    45. @keithcollantine what do you mean these images are revealed early? the f1racing mag with them in it arrived on my doorstep today!

      1. @sato113 Caterham said the first pictures would be published tomorrow.

    46. Why don’t they just return to the 2000 and 2001 car designs. The Ferraris and McLarens then were stunning, and the aerodynamics still permitted alot of over taking, even without DRS.

      I really don’t like this non streamed restrictions to the cars.

      BTW, I actually like the new Indy cars.

      1. I sure wish they would…

      2. Or a return to pre-90s style noses, where the front wing is directly connected to the nose, rather than connected by vertical supports. There would be an interesting compromise between front wing height and feeding the assortment of aerodynamic devices that are largely obscured from view.

        1. That would compromise the air flow underneath the car. That’s the reason they were invented for, to improve downforce under the nose and to the sidepods.

          1. True, but since every kind of technical development which aids aerodynamics appears to be worth banning these days, it sounds like exactly the reason why they should go back to pre-90s noses.

    47. Woah! Ugly stepsister. I expect most teams will look like this or worse.

    48. If F1 cars look like drivers, this is either a Prost or a Kubica.

      1. You take that back right now!

        As i am from Poland i take huge offence in this comparison. :D

    49. Looks really long to me!

      1. Me too – I’ve been browsing until the fourth comments page to find someone mentioning its length. It looks twice as long as last year’s car. and longer than the 2012 car drawn by Scarbs.

        Are they trying to fit both Trulli and Petrov in there?!

    50. Wow What A Hideous Looking Car!!!!!!!The Great British Racing Green Ruined…….I Hope Other Teams Have Better Designs……

    51. I had high hopes for this car as I really liked the livery. Oh well.

    52. Oh My, very odd! I’m sure my kids to build something prettier in Lego.
      I know they have to go by the FIA regs, but it’s looks like they split the cars parts up to different teams and they all came into one warehouse and fitted them together without telling each other what they were making.

      Normally I now say “Can’t wait to see what XXXXX looks like”, but I’m not sure now.

    53. It really does look like a Caymen from the front

      1. The car or the Reptile?? I have the car, and it’s a damn sight prettier than that Caterham…!!

    54. Platypus…..I am so scared. On the upside photos might include a few more grid girls…..

    55. Flying Lobster 27
      25th January 2012, 12:42

      In the future, F1 cars will look like staircases from the side. A step from the ground to the wing, the wing will be moved forward so you can get a step up to the nose, then a step in the middle of the nose, a step at the cockpit area (where the driver’s head is), the air intake will be pushed back so that it can take the shape of another step, and finally, the rear wing height will be raised so that it looks like another step.

      This generation of F1 cars are going to make the raised floor and the “lorry flaps” of LMPs look really good. And the Toyota TS030 is goooooorgeous!

    56. That looks like a duck. But… as long as it is effective…
      No, seriously, I have some hopes on Caterham. I can see them with some points this year, not many, but let’s say five or so.

    57. Looks like a badly built lego car. I thought the ‘lower nose’ rule would bring us back to swooping noses ala the 7-up Jordan. This thing is ugly.

    58. No wonder they photographed it in the dark!

    59. Oh my, kill it before it lays eggs!

      Seriously though, thumbs up for Caterham for their commitement, this shows how they are full on aero development, not sacrificing it for the looks. I’m sure sticking with that fugly nose was a very difficult decision. Let’s hope this won’t follow the path of other ugly F1 cars which in majority were also hideously slow (as far as i remember from examples).

      1. Oh my, kill it before it lays eggs!

        I vote for that in the photo-caption competition that is going on inside my head right now. ;-)

    60. this is a sad day in F1..

      out of the ‘bottom field’ teams lotus/caterham have always been my favourite. their 1st car was a bit of a Bathtub but last years was one of the best looking on the grid.. an now. i cant even begin to put into words how ugly the front end of this car is BUT.. if its what it takes to get them into the mid-field then GO CATERHAM!! ..even if you are a little bit ugly

      1. It’s not like they really thought out of the box. In fact, this is exactly what the 2012 rules regarding the nose say, taken very literally.

    61. I got used to the W02 quite quickly, so imagine I’ll get used to this. It’s only the suspension points that make it bulge.

    62. MINE EYES!

      Looks horrible but I guess if its closer to the front the team will think its a stunner.

      I was hoping they’d change the livery a bit to move on from the whole Lotus fiasco and create a new identity under the Caterham name. The same livery but with yellow sidepods, something like that….

    63. Looking at those pictures, it seems to make the regulation to make noses safer by lowering them useless. I say this because the nose is so sharp now that it could possibly pierce another cars monocoque or alternatively a crash barrier/tyre barrier.

      If the FIA want safety, then just ban raised noses full stop.

      1. The noses are designed to act as buffer zone’s when they hit anything solid, while the sides of the cockpit are designed to resist objects from entering in a sideways impact @karl, making such a scenario highly ulikely.

      2. The nose will have no capacity to penetrate the cockpit. It would simply crumple.

    64. Lets all hope that this is the only ugly car and it will stay at the back of the grid and off our screens

    65. You wouldn’t want to watch F1 with HD if all the cars are as ugly as this! Could be bad news for Sky…

    66. It’s not exactly going to win any beauty contests, but there have been some uglier designs in F1 before… those crazy BMW Sauber F1.06 vertical winglets, the Williams FW26 “Walrus” and let’s not forget the “coffee table” and “tea tray” designs of the late ’70s and early ’80s.

      The real shocker is that it looks like the nose was drawn by an Etch-a-Sketch instead of the 3D CAD software package which was actually used…

    67. Janni (@motorsportjohn)
      25th January 2012, 13:27

      Looks like it’s been designed by Jeremy Clarkson… With a hammer :-)

      1. A non-f1 follower coworker thought it was inspired by the Fiat Multipla :)

        http://i.imgur.com/t9NYk.jpg

        1. Janni (@motorsportjohn)
          25th January 2012, 13:53

          Non-f1 follower, or caterham f1 designer? The uggliest car ever, coincidence that they look alike?

      2. More Top Gear fans eh? :) Sweeeeeeeet!

    68. If all the cars, are going to look like this, this year,then I’m glad I can only watch 10 races this year, I think I’ll retire my F1 watching career, and sign a contract to go to Indycars.

    69. The only thing i like about this is that formula1.com called it a “platypus-style nose”… Aussie pride!!

      They also say it is expected to become common-place, i sincerly hope it doesnt :/

    70. The design might be ugly, but at least it’s got everyone talking about the car. Lots of free publicity and hype for Caterham.

      Maybe they will make use forget about the nose when they announce Petrov as replacement for Trulli tomorrow…

    71. Where are the exhausts?

      1. I like the back end of it. Looks like a mini RB7, though with the same engine and gearbox it seems logical to use the same philosophy for the rear bodywork.
        Oh and the font. It looks quite good actually. Very sharp and fast.
        No really it doesn’t.
        It looks like this: http://www.kcvs.ca/martin/phys/phys241/images/truck_vs_car_crash.jpg
        The Caterham apparently just stopped a bit faster then the Seat, but other then that its exactly the same.

        1. oh wait what happened there? It wasn’t meant as a reply to anyone…

    72. I usually like the new designs and approaches year on year in Formula 1. Like in 2009, a lot of people thought that the new designs were ugly, but I loved them.

      This, however, I’m not sure I could grow to love that. Although, at the same time, I do like it when different teams have different designs. For example, the skinny-nosed RB5 compared to the Brawn, and the 2011 McLaren sidepods. So I hope some teams have gone for some innovative new designs :D

      1. And just to add to that, I thought the 2010 (Lotus as it was then) wasn’t very good looking, as it was quite boxy. The 2011 one, however, was very sleek and the first pictures I saw of that were fantastic.

        But it seems that this years is worse than the 2010 car (from the front at least). I at least hope it’s quick.

    73. So thats what Luca di Montezemolo meant when he said this years Ferrari is no looker!

    74. Is it too late for them to trademark the name “Gatorham?”

      1. It DOES look a bit like a crocodile from the side, maybe the Caterham team can have some fun putting teeth and eye decals on the car.

    75. I wanted to follow along and allow you to know how , very much I appreciated discovering your web blog today. I would consider
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    76. I’ll repeat the comment I made on ScarbsF1.wordpress.com:

      I really hate the “step” between the cockpit and the nose. I’ve never seen such an ugly nose, and there have been cars with low noses. Obviously the regulations leave little room, and that means they’re done badly.
      The rest of the car is very nice-looking, and I usually don’t like new cars when they are presented because they’re so different to their predecessors.
      The airbox looks strange, as it’s nearly identical in appearance to HRT’s one from 2010 and 2011.

    77. Apparently this is the result of the new regulations.

      Way to go Failure International Automobile.

      1. Dont really see how its the FIA’s fault that Caterham have designed an ugly car. Yes they’ve banned high noses, but they dont dictate that cars have to have that “step”… Caterham could of just designed a lower nose if they were worried about winning a beauty contest. But as theyre not taking part in Britians next top model, they’ve gone for what they think is the most aerodynamically effiecient solution.

        1. Actually I think you said it yourself.
          Caterham did what was the most aerodynamically efficient solution because that is what it is about.
          If the fastest way around a track was to design a car that looked like a fiat multipla just fatter and with square and orange tyres, all that with a woolen tail hanging after it they would all do that.
          The FIA is both responsible for the quality of the racing and the looks of the cars. The teams are responsible of making the fastest car they can, whether it is pretty or not isn’t important to them.

          1. Exactly! :D

    78. Beauty is relative here its the air flow and they’ve gone for simple solution with front end design. They maintained the space under the nosecone to allow air flow towards splitter. The rest of the car looks fine and particulary sidepods look good in that respect. The Rb components had influence on their design. The stop watch will show how good the car is.

    79. It looked like a PR coup for Caterham to reveal its new design well in advance of the other teams. They now find themselves having to take all the negative flak associated with exposing the 2012 “ugly” technical regulations. It now appears to be a very brave decision.

      No wonder the teams have not been falling over each other attempting to break cover first.

      1. But then I doubt the car is physically ready. To be frank, I can bet it isn’t.

    80. It has some kind of charm, If youre into strage noses like that!

    81. And I tought I have seen all when the BMW 2009 was launched. This is worse. Awful.

      What the fu%k are you doing with F1?

    82. Oh dear, that IS ugly. Look at the shape of it!… It looks like an unfortunate whale. It’s bloody long too.

    83. ShaneB457 (@shaneb12345678910)
      25th January 2012, 19:44

      It reminds me of those finger biscuits..

    84. @ Randy – I’m sure sticking with that fugly nose was a very difficult decision.

      That’s the rules this year.

    85. On first glance it looks horrendous, but now iv’e been coming back all day to have another look, i’m already getting used to it, it just takes some getting used to that’s all.

      I remember being angry when the 2009 cars were testing because i thought they were so ugly and it was ruining F1, but after time you don’t even notice, this will be the same. Shock at first, indifferent in a couple of months.

    86. Oh Jesus.

      It isn’t just the nose that’s ugly for me – it’s everything else too! I think a better organised livery would have helped a lot too.

      It’s not so much the step that happens on the nose for me, but the actual the tip of the nose is. That does it for me.

      1. Right about the livery camouflage would have been better or deep brown.

    87. My grandson drew a racing car the other day, with his new set of crayons. I have it on the fridge door now. Do you think I will be able, on his behalf, sue Caterham for copyright infringement? ;¬)

    88. Who’s waiting for the announcement from the FIA that’s they’re thinking of changing the rules for noses now the cars have been built? It affects aerodynamics, of course…

    89. I’ll just be happy to see all the cars racing.

    90. Ugly isn’t even the word to describe this monstrosity. However some seventies cars were even uglier IMO. So let’s stay positive and believe there are better times ahead.

    91. Why are they showing No 20 on the car (image)?

      1. OK – please ignore that

    92. Personally, the main thing that struck mother than the nose, was the level of detail on the front wing… Looks like Caterham has a bigger aero budget than last year.

      1. It’s more than likely a 2011 front wing. Nearly all teams wings during their launches will be old ones, so until the first test…

    93. Its all Neweys fault!

    94. when i heard “low noses for 2012” i was hoping for something like the great williams fw14b (contender best looking f1 car of all time). was it 2009 people were last outraged by ugly cars? i’m thinking of you, renault. before that, it was years of hideous wiglets, flip-flaps and doo-dads. very few recent cars in any category have been pleasing to the eye – the peugeot 908 and the new toyota, but definitely not the audis.

    95. Nice livery, I especially Luke the numbers.

      The nose does look really, really bizarre. Just no fluidity to the CT01.

      Looking forward to seeing if this will be an ongoing trend.

    96. That nose is uglier than mine. :o

    97. This picture explains this car thoroughly;
      http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/203/croczs.jpg

    98. Shame it doesn’t have mudguards, like a Caterham 7.
      Aren’t they allowed in F1?!

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