Here’s my choice
1. Ferrari F2012:
While most have described this car as being the ugliest they’ve seen in recent years I think it’s a real beaut.
It’s unconventional and it really stands out. I actually think the nose looks quite nice and the back end of the car is really nicely sculpted in my opinion. I like the way the bodywork seems to flow towards the diffusor.
I guess it’s ugliness is what makes it beautiful in a way.
2. Mercedes W03:
The little we’ve seen of it looks really good – low sleek sidepods. Somehow it just looks fast!
3. Force India VJM05:
FI have managed to make the stepped nose look good – it actually looks better than last years hideous design – I love the ‘hammerhead’ design of the nose and the narrow long sidepods.
Overall I think it’s a huge improvement looks wise and hopefully performance wise too over last years car.
4. Toro Rosso STR7 – another team that have managed to make the stepped nose look good with it’s ultra thin v-shaped design. The undercut sidepods make the car stand out from the rest
5. Williams FW34 – the front end doesn’t look that great but the back end is like no other car on the grid and looks amazing. The innovative looks betray the car’s lack of pace, at least judging from their pace in early testing and based on past experience.
6. McLaren MP4-27 – a lot of people’s favourite, largely due to the smooth flowing lines of the nose rather than a step.
The car looks a bit plain and bland to me however. The rear is neat and tight barring the ugly exhaust bump but the car lacks ‘personality’ IMHO.
7. Lotus E20 – The car they ran at Jerez looked a lot better and a lot sleeker than the launch car and the nose gives the car a lot of character. The livery lets it down – the stripes are too thick and would look better if they were gold instead of cream. Probably the worst livery of all the cars thus far
8. Red Bull RB8 – the nose on the RB8 looks really hideous to me. It reminds me of a duck bill or even a vultures beak. Newey said that they had achieved the task of making it look as good as possible under the regulations, I couldn’t disagree more! The slot is interesting however – I love innovative bits that keep us guessing. Of course the sidepods and back end of the car are really tight and sleek again and I really appreciate the beauty and efficiency of the packaging.
9. Caterham CT01 – The car looks nice and sleek with sidepods reminiscent of the Red Bull.
It seems a bit messier at the back though with gills that Red Bull didn’t have. They don’t seem to have found as elegant a solution to their cooling as Red Bull.
I like the green and yellow livery, the car is immediately identifiable as a Caterham.
10. Sauber C31 – Like last year there is nothing that really stands out or makes the car look special. The livery is terrible.
I’m not expecting much from the HRT and the Marussia – last year and the year before they had the ugliest cars on the grid in my opinion.
