Oliver WhiteBMW test driver Christian Klien went on record yesterday evening to say that he too doesn’t like the way the new Formula One cars are looking. Having spent a day in the cockpit of BMW’s interim model, the Austrian driver admitted to finding the car pleasant to drive, but ghastly to look at. After sarcastically calling it sexy, Klien would go on to say it is the worst looking Formula One car he has seen.
Although Klien receives his pay-cheque from the German auto-manufacturer, one cannot hide honesty and Klien’s remarks were more about the way tyhe new rules have governed the way the cars are going to look, including the large front wing and skinny rear wing.
To me, for the moment, it’s the worst [looking] Formula One car I have ever seen. It just doesn’t fit together. But we will get used to it. There will be a lot of modifications until the first race in March. Christian Klien.
Although the concept F1.09 isn’t necessarily a looker, Klien was impressed with its handling, saying that the return of slick tyres has helped to compensate for some of the grip lost through the removal of downforce-generating winglets.
It drives quite well, actually. As you saw, the laptimes are quite good already. There is still a few improvements coming over the winter. Basically it’s quite a lot less downforce but with the slick tyres it compensates quite a lot.
Especially in the slow-speed corners you get much more grip with the slick tyres. High-speed corners are a bit more tricky. But the main problem today was the cold temperatures. Christian Klien.
The cars look strange because of new regulations being introduced, all hoped to improve racing. However, looking back the 2008 season, I was perfectly happy with the level of racing, and despite a couple of dull races, the season generally kept me excited. And further to this, Klien isn’t so sure that the changes to the cars will actually provide better racing.
Even with these aerodynamics it’s still not possible to drive right behind another car. We will see in the first few races. It’s more of a problem to not knock off the front wing at the first corner. Christian Klien.
Klien isn’t the only one who thinks this, as McLaren tester Pedro De La Rosa recently joined the camp who are saying that the new regulations aren’t going to revolutionise Formula One. However, as Klien says, we will have to wait and see next March.
I agree with Christian, they are ugly, but will improve in looks later on (I hope). We’re just not use to such a sudden and radical change in design so It will take some getting use to.
He says they are fast right out of the box though. 🙂