Well, the front wing pic looks ok to me.  A lot less angle on it in that pic, but it also had rain tyres so I'd imagine they can crank the wing up from that position.

So far as KERS, I'm worried about driver safety.  It seems to me that you'll end up with a few heavy components and trying to find space in the car.  Now, your mention that the elimination of grooves is going to move more traction to the front indicates to me that they'd try to move as much weight to the front as possible (as they always have).  As you all know, there is hardly enough room there for feet, so having heavy components up front invites trouble.

Has anyone read the regs for the new wing?  Maybe they've planned in a space (below the driver's legs maybe?) for some additional weight and space?

Cheers,
Ski

Well, the front wing pic looks ok to me.  A lot less angle on it in that pic, but it also had rain tyres so I'd imagine they can crank the wing up from that position.

Also remeber that the narrow rear wing can not provide the downforce that the old one could, and since the front wing is wider than the old one, they would want less angle because it could easily overpower the rear wing and make the car very unbalanced.

Craziest thing is the front wing adjustment... Drivers can adjust front wing 2 times each lap.. maximum of 3 degree adjustment at once..

WOW!!!  :jawdrop: The BMW is crazy!

Wow, that BMW is different looking. Nice to see our first shots of what an 09 F1 car will look like so soon.

Ok, heres something that most likely happens for next season also..
Medals for driver championship.

Win gets you gold medal.. second silver etc.. the champ will be whoever has won most races.
Team champ will be decided with points. FIA and all teams wanna see it happen, and Bernie is trying to make it happen so i wont be surprised if we really see it next season.

seems like a weird way to decide a whole seasons worth of racing. you need to take the good with the bad during the season. if Ferrari wants their man on top, just don't fuck up so much, it's easy. the whole thing sounds like sour grapes.

Seems Bernie is very confident that the medal system will be adopted for next season.  So as I understand things, if somebody wins one race, but doesn't finish another race all season, he will still be classified higher than somebody who finishes every Grand Prix in second place. 

I foresee a number of issues with this system, not least of which will be teams contracting their drivers to finish behind the team leader, even in the first race of the season.  Using McLaren as an example, it is clear that Hamilton has the beating of his team-mate, and I would anticipate this situation will continue next season; if Kovalainen is leading the first Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton, bearing in mind that he is unlikely to mount a season-long challenge, it is not inconceivable that he will be told to move over, as a silver medal is less valuable to Hamilton than the 8 points he would have earned under the current system.  Same for Renault, but less clear at teams where both drivers are closely matched; at what point do you tell a driver he must defer? If Raikonnen wins the first 2 Grand Prix, and Hamilton wins the next 2, what of Massa; if he is leading race 5 with Raikonnen in second, is he told to move aside, as his team-mate is better placed to challenge Ferrari's rival for the title?

It has been claimed that the medal system will encourage overtaking, but I am not convinced.  While 1st, 2nd and 3rd may take a few risks to obtain the gold, what incentive is there for 6th to try for 5th?  Constructors points maybe, but this is and will always be a very poor second in terms of importance, and is unlikely to prove a big motivator.  Perhaps they should extend the medals; say a brass for 4th, tin for 5th all the way down to baking foil for 8th!     

F1 clams to be at the cutting edge of technology; why then would it consider adopting such a facile scoring system.  I really enjoyed the nip and tuck of this season, with great recovery drives from both Massa and Hamilton, minimising their rivals advantages after poor qualifying, bad starts, penalties and so on, all of which kept the championship going until the last corner of the last race.  After such a fascinating season, I can see no good reason to change what is not broken; one sure thing is that Bernie Ecclestone is going to have to twist a lot of arms, and work his stewards very hard to ensure he can manipulate the results to bring about another thrilling climax next year.

Indeed, although there are many who would argue that he didn't actually win at Spa!  :biggrin:

Indeed, although there are many who would argue that he didn't actually win at Spa!  :biggrin:

I don't like the whole medal system to begin with, but if it does get implemented and the stewards go off on their penalty rampage like this past season, then I'm done watching F1, there's been way too many mistakes that made last season a big cluster-[expletive deleted].

Anyways, I'm not a fan of the interim cars yet, hopefully the 09 cars will look much better [read: not a mule of the 08 cars with 09 regulations on winglets and whatnot].

Quote from: [SJ]Kristof Huyck on November 26, 2008, 11:46:40 pm

If this system was adopted this year Massa would have won the championship btw.

Yeah, but probably not because the drivers and teams would have raced differently. So, no way to tell who would have won.

True, but Mclaren already adopted a number 1 driver system which suits this medal system perfectly, while Ferrari had 2 candidates for the race wins until the last few GP's. Anyway, it doesn't matter that much as I think this new system not the right way to go. Just award the winner 11 points instead of 10 would be a better change imo.

If this system was adopted this year Massa would have won the championship btw.

Also, if this was adopted for Nascrap Busch would've won.