If you're a serious fan of Formula One, you already know all about The Great Nosecone Conundrum of 2014. Those given to parsing each year's F1 regulations predicted the strong possibility of the so-called "anteater" noses as far back as early December 2013. Highly suggestive visual evidence first came after Caterham's crash test in early January, with further proof coming as soon as Williams showed a rendering of the FW36 challenger for this year's championship. That car earned a name that wasn't nearly so kind as "anteater."

Casual followers of the sport – or anyone who gets the feed from this site – probably don't know what's happening, except to wonder why the current year's F1 cars are led by appendages that would make Cyrano de Bergerac feel a whole lot better about himself.

The short answer to the question of ugsome F1 noses is "FIA regulations and safety." The reason there are various kinds of ugsome noses is simpler: engineers. The same boffins who have given us advances including carbon fiber monocoques, six-wheeled cars, double diffusers and Drag Reduction Systems are bred to do everything in their power to exploit every possible freedom in the regulations to make the cars they're building go faster – the caveat being that those advances have to work within the overall philosophy of the whole car.

So let's take a rhinologic look at how we got here. It all started with an incident between Mark Webber and Heikki Kovaleinen at the European Grand Prix in 2010...


Actually, it starts 20 years before that, with the Tyrell 019 that raced in the 1990 F1 season. Team technical director Harvey Postlethwaite and chief designer Jean-Claude Migeot realized that they could get a lot more air underneath the car if they raised front of the nose up and out of the way. Doing so would increase the airflow under the car, and getting more airflow under the car relative to the airflow going over the top of the car would achieve more aerodynamic downforce. And aerodynamic groundforce is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of Formula One.

From then on, the tips of F1 chassis noses began their climb up to the level of the bulkhead, which is the section of car that the nosecone is attached to, whose top surface runs back to the opening of the cockpit. And that gets us to Webber and Kovaleinen in Valencia. On Lap 9, passing backmarkers after an early pit stop, Webber in a Red Bull was right behind Kovaleinen in a Lotus. Webber expected the Lotus to move over for him, which didn't happen. Instead, Kovaleinen hit the brakes as Webber was pulling out of the slipstream to pass at nearly 200 miles per hour, and Webber's nosecone hit Kovaleinen's rear right wheel, launching the Red Bull into a spectacular flip. At the time Webber hit the wall, his car was still said to be traveling at 173 mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyMLLnQIWho

There was also the issue that noses had gotten so high that they might strike a driver's head in a T-bone crash. The Safety Working Group within the governing body of the sport, the FIA, got to work and made changes in 2011 that resulted in the "stepped" noses of 2012 that were covered with vanity panels in 2013. At that point, the maximum height of the bulkhead of the car was 62.5 centimeters and the maximum height of the nose was 55 cm relative to the reference plane of the car. The reference plane is the flat undersurface of chassis, which has a skid plate attached to it that drops 1 cm below it. There is no fixed level for the reference plane, since a car's suspension and tire settings can alter its height relative to the ground, but there is a maximum limit: the reference plane cannot be more than 7.5 cm above the ground.

To codify even more safety, the regulation changes effective this year ban stepped noses and dictate several measurements concerning the tip of the nose. First, the center of the nose of the car can be no higher than 18.5 cm from the reference plane of the car, which automatically makes the nose start to do the limbo, having instantly dropped 31.5 cm compared to 2013. The anteater look come from that and one more line in the regulations that require "a single external cross section, in horizontal projection, of more than 9000 mm square at a point 50mm behind its forward-most point."


So let's work our way forward from the bulkhead to the tip of the nosecone instead of backward from the tip of the nose. What teams like Williams and McLaren have done is design a front nosecone section that descends from the bulkhead and gets to the area with the pylons that support the front wing. They want to keep this area as open as possible in order to get airflow under and around the car. However, the wing pylon area wasn't low enough to meet the nose tip requirement of being 18.5 cm above the reference plane. To fix that, they added a proboscis that extends forward and down to be the "forward-most point." Furthermore, 5 cm behind the tip of that nose, the area of the nose is 900 cm squared. Voilą, they are now within the regulations.

The variation in the anteater noses – for instance, Red Bull's "paper-thin" nose compared to Caterham's bulbous figure – is merely about how designers want to hang the front wing according to the aero needs of the entire car determined by the engineers.


As we've seen with the Ferrari and the Mercedes, though, a wholly different solution is possible within the same guidelines. The "DustBuster" front end out of Maranello and the blunt opening from Brixworth have run the functional front of the car all the way to the 18.5-cm forward-most point instead of using a finger extension to do so. Five centimeters aft of that, the regulations don't stipulate any shape for that 900-cm surface area; it can be round like a finger or, as seen on the Ferrari and Mercedes, squared off.

The unsightly sag in the nosecones on both cars exist because the regulations have also lowered the front of the bulkhead, where the nosecone attaches, by 10 cm. Teams didn't want to have to change their suspension designs, though, so the drop begins slightly forward of the suspension arms. They still want to keep the nosecone surfaces as high as possible within the regulations, so there's a steep decline forward of the bulkhead face that relents so that the nosecone surface doesn't drop below the minimum required height. As long as they make the numbers, they've satisfied the regulations. Next year, the regulations will outlaw that maneuver, forcing the stretch of bulkhead from its face to the cockpit opening to form one linear angle.


After the safety imperative, every F1 team designer has said their number-one priority in 2014 is – as it was before this year – aerodynamics. And after that, team officials have various takes on the nose situation. Ferrari technical director James Allison, who worked on the twin-pronged Lotus nose, thinks the uproar is "overplayed" because "it isn't actually that sensitive an area, and there are lots of different solutions that work." Toro Roso's chief designer agrees with Allison, but Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost thinks the new noses are so ugly that they don't belong in F1, and Caterham boss Cyril Abiteboul agrees with Tost, saying, "I think F1 is still show business and it should still be attractive to people." Going off the reservation, Red Bull chief designer Adrian Newey thinks the low noses are more unsafe than before, alluding to the possibility of snowplowing under the car in front instead of being launched over it. And rumors are that the FIA is looking at the "spear-like danger" of the new cars.

It's likely we'll see different noses by the end of the year compared to now. But as long as one's favorite car wins, it's likely people will be willing to forgive how the cars look. At least until the end of the first race in Australia.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/31/w...es-ugly-video/

Ross Brawn, an icon of Formula One and one of the people most responsible for the successes of Michael Schumacher, has announced that he's officially retiring from the world of motorsport. Following the return of Ron Dennis to McLaren, many outlets speculated that the 59-year-old would join the Woking-based outfit. Instead, Brawn went fishing.

"This is the busiest time of the year for Formula One, and I said I would come along and open the River Dee. If [the media] had put two and two together they would have realized I was definitely retiring," Brawn told The Daily Telegraph.

"I'm retiring - it's not tongue in cheek," Brawn said of his fishing trip. "I'm going to take a year to enjoy the fishing and then see what life brings. I'm looking forward to it but I've got no other plans." Last week, Brawn was inducted into Motor Sport magazine's hall of fame, where he said he would "never say never" to coming back to F1, according to the Telegraph. But based on his recent comments, Brawn seems thoroughly committed to his retirement.

The 59-year-old Brit's career has seen him capture eight World Constructors' Championships with three teams - Benetton, Ferrari and his own Brawn GP team - while Michael Schumacher captured seven World Drivers' Championships and Jenson Button took one title on Brawn-run teams.

He drove F1, he knows about driving Energy Recovery Technology racecars, he's now a BBC F1 reporter. So, getting Allan McNish to describe the new F1 technology, the new cars, and the new driving style needed to go fast and win in 2014 makes this /ShakeDown with Leo Parente a must see.

And then we handicap the field to start figuring out which teams are on the rise and which will struggle - Infiniti Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes AMG, McLaren, Lotus, Williams Caterham, et al. Plus, the drivers to watch - Hamilton, Alonso, Kimi, Vettel, Magnussen, et al.

The best preview of 2014 F1 is here.

One of the most iconic names in racing is returning to the sport's pinnacle series. Martini and its distinctive livery will be teaming with the Williams Formula One team for the 2014 season, marking its return to the sport after an all-to-brief stint with Ferrari from 2006 to 2008. Even in those three short seasons, Martini wasn't a named sponsor, occupying a small place on the Scuderia's cars.

It's important to note that none of this is confirmed quite yet. According to Autosport, unnamed sources have revealed that an agreement has been reached, and images leaked out revealing a Martin-branded Williams shirt earlier this week (they've since been pulled down). There hasn't been an official announcement from either party just yet, but all things considered, it seems like a done deal.

Martini's tie-up with Williams will make it a title sponsor for the team, which will be called Williams Martini Racing, according to Autosport. We're probably going to be waiting a little while before we see the newly formed team's livery, although we'll admit that based on past Martini cars, which you can see above, we have a rough idea of what to expect. Apparently other sponsors, need to be sorted out before the team can start designing its new look.

We're quite happy to see the Martini name return to racing. Hopefully the return of such a classic motorsports sponsor will be enough to elevate Williams beyond its past decade of mid-pack mediocrity. We'll find out when the 2014 Formula One season kicks off in Australia on March 16.

When we think of Formula One, we think of the pinnacle technology - massive operations designed for the sole purpose of building very fast cars. We don't often think of security for all that technology, though. Neither, apparently, did the hapless Marussia F1 team, which lost an entire day of testing data this week due to a computer virus.

"It started off with the first disaster, which was a computer Trojan-type virus in the racks, which cost us the best part of the day," Marussia boss John Booth told Autosport. The winter testing session in Bahrain lasted four days, but for Marussia, it was a three-day affair, as an entire day was dedicated to annihilating the Trojan that had infiltrated the team's systems.

There's not a lot of detail on where the virus originated nor if any data was lost or compromised, but it's interesting that an organization as high-profile as a Formula 1 team (even a perennial backmarker like Marussia) would be targeted. Certainly, if we were the principal at any other team, we'd be looking at updating our security software.

You'd have to search pretty hard to find an environment more competitive than Formula One. Sure, any sport (motorized or otherwise) is inherently competitive, but imagine if, say, football teams were each required to not only hire and train their own players, but also design and manufacture their own footballs, helmets and other essential equipment – a fresh batch each year to meet changing regulations, with costs measured in the tens of millions – and then take them on the road from game to game with no home field. Then imagine that their revenues were directly linked to how they performed from one year to the next, and you can start to understand how competitive things can get between the individual teams participating in the series.

Little wonder, then, that there's historically been little unity between the teams. So it should come as little surprise, either, that the Formula One Teams Association has officially disbanded. FOTA was founded in 2008 as an advocacy and collective bargaining group to represent the various teams and speak on their behalf in a united voice in negotiations with the FIA and Formula One Administration. It was initially presided over by Luca di Montezemolo until Ferrari withdrew its membership, and then by Martin Whitmarsh until he was sidelined by McLaren.

FOTA made headlines when it threatened to leave F1 and form a break-away Grand Prix World Championship in June 2009. The threat worked and the teams got what they wanted from the FIA and Formula One Administration, but the next month, Ferrari, Sauber, Red Bull and Toro Rosso left the organization over disagreements regarding cost-cutting measures. Williams and Force India, which had previously left, rejoined a couple of months later, and the organization continued to represent seven of the teams for the next few years, but after years of in-fighting and disagreements over which direction to take, FOTA recently issued the following statement on its website:

As of the 28th of February 2014 FOTA will be disbanded, as a result of its members' having re-evaluated their requirements in the face of a changing political and commercial landscape in Formula 1.

FOTA wasn't the first attempt to represent the teams' collective interests in discussions with series organizers. The former Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) was founded in 1974 by independent teams like McLaren, Williams, Brabham, Lotus, Toleman and Tyrrell. Bernie Ecclestone was its chief executive and Max Mosley its legal advisor, and it ultimately turned into the Formula One Administration we know today.

WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING PUTS THE STRIPES BACK ON THE GRID
Iconic MARTINI® Brand Returns to Formula One™ Racing as Title Partner of the Legendary Williams™ Team

LONDON, March 6, 2014- MARTINI®, the world's leading vermouth and best-selling Italian sparkling wine, in partnership with Williams, today announced a multi-year agreement that unites two of the most iconic brands in Formula One™ racing, creating WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING. The announcement was made during an event held here, as part of the 2014 team launch.

"We are thrilled to welcome MARTINI to the Williams family and officially launch WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING," said Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal, Williams. "Williams and MARTINI share a rich history in the world of motorsport, and the values of our two brands and our shared passion for racing make this partnership a natural fit. It will be great to see the distinctive stripes of MARTINI Racing™ return to Formula One™ once again in unison with Williams."

"The decision to partner with Williams was a natural one for us as it provides an unparalleled opportunity for the MARTINI brand to connect with consumers through one of their lifestyle passions, Formula One™ racing," said Andy Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer of Bacardi and President of Bacardi Global Brands, who oversees marketing for MARTINI other premium brands in the Bacardi portfolio. "MARTINI will give consumers a taste of life in the fast lane, bringing a renewed sense of Italian style and glamour to the track and beyond. WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING provides a powerful, integrated marketing platform and delivers dynamic opportunities that will strengthen the MARTINI brand."