Oliver WhiteBelow are photographs from BMW’s first day of winter testing at Circuit de Cataunya in Southern Spain. The team ran their concept 2009 car – the potential F1.09 – featuring a smaller and higher rear wing, a larger front wing, their KERS system, as well as removing all the little aerodynamic devices usually found all over the bodywork. The car, like most others, will take a lot of getting used to, in particular the changes to the wings. Also, the team ran slick tyres for some of the day, which I’m sure you’ll agree are a welcome sight on any single-seater racing machine. Here are Christian Klien and Robert Kubica shaking down the new car in Barcelona.
Christian Klien, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica & Christian Klien, BMW
Robert Kubica & Christian Klien, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
Robert Kubica, BMW
Christian Klien, BMW
am feeling very, very ill right now.
That car is seriously ugly! It’s going to be interesting to see what the other teams come up with – but 2009 is certainly going to look very different to what we’ve become used to.
Heh, I never thought I would say this, but I think the prettiest thing on the concept F1.09 are the slick tyres! 😀
the new honda looks just as bad.
It looks like someone raided the parts bin and took the first suitable bit then stuck them all together. How could a team of intelligent people draw up a set of regs that gave us that?
The key word their is ‘intelligent’. If some drivers and engineers are correct and these new monstrosities do not produce better racing, then the FIA have serious egg on their face.
it really does. I can just about cope with the new williams front wing… but the huuuugggee BMW and Honda front wings are just awful I’m gonna need to whole off season and most of the ’09 season to get used to them… having said that, there is still a possibility that they may be changed during the off season, it’s only the first test after all.
Here’s hoping Lou, here’s hoping…
[…] now recovering from the shock of seeing those pug-ugly 2009 shaped wings, and starting to think a little more realistically. No doubt they will evolve before the season […]
I think it would not that bad if the there was not such a huge disproportion between size of the front and the rear wing
it looks rather silly 🙂 but, we got used to all the ugly winglets and horns and towers, we will get used to this 🙂
the slicks look nice though, glad to have these babies back in F1
I hate these new cars … In my opinion F1 is taking a MASSIVE step back … Last years cars where outstandingly good looking and they “looked” as though they deserved to be at the top of the tree as an F1 car … The 09 car is sooooo bad and it does not make F1 look as though its the pinnacle of motor sport … Not good ! Not good at all … We are now where we were 30 years ago !
Well call me old fashioned, but I am more interested in great racing than lots pretty winglets – although I have to admit the new cars look very clumsy. It should be noted that these regulations were specified by a working group from the teams themselves and not the FIA. Only time will tell if they actually work or not!
The thing that suprised me was how much wider the front wing is – it actually seems wider than the front wheels making it very exposed to damage. It will be interesting to see how many people need a new nose after the first lap of next season!
Oh dear 🙁
I think they need more than a bit of evolution. The cars look absolutely ridiculous!
Besides the endplates on the front wing, i say this new generation of automobiles are aesthetically masterful, but then i preferred decadent box-shaped cars to todays featureless aerodynamic shells.
I’m in the minority with my expressions, but i adore those rear wings.
Man, this looks like a f-renault car…
[…] BMW became the most recent team to unveil their 2009 challenger to the world, named the F1.09 and being photographed at the Valencia track in Spain. The team were on hand to talk about the new car and Robert Kubica was given the maiden drive as the Pole completed a few installation laps to ensure everything was working. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the BMW F1.09, as the team have been testing an interim car for much of the winter. […]