Wonderduck's Pond

February 21, 2017

F1 Pr0n: First Look

Okay friends, here's the deal. The first of the 2017 F1 cars rolled out today, with Sauber and Renault going all jamonit and stuff. Normally this would be cause for celebrations and my calling for the finest of meats and cheeses. But not tonight, for tonight my knee hurts, my head hurts, I'm stupidly tired, and work is bad.

Which doesn't mean I'm going to leave y'all empty-handed. Oh no, no indeed, because the cars look bloody wonderful this year thanks to the new aero rules. Wide tires, every wing swept like a late '60s jet fighter, a return to the low wide rear wing... the cars look like Matchbox designed 'em. And before you ask, yes, this is a great thing! So while I go and get myself out of this funk*, here's a picture of the new Sauber C36!

I need both a cigarette and a cold shower. Maybe at the same time.

_{* That Parliament video was actually shot during a Red Bull design meeting.}

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:04 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 172 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Ooooh, that does look nice.

Also thank you for grooving up the joint with those YouTube links. Sorry about the general misery levels, tho'.

Posted by: GreyDuck at February 21, 2017 10:45 PM (rKFiU)

2 And look at the pretty colors! No, seriously. 'Duck, I remember you noting a couple of years ago or so how almost every car was either black or silver. It's nice to see that teams are returning to using more of the palette and trying to make their cars look distinctive again. The Sauber above is very handsome.

If you don't mind answering an off-topic question, I understand that Toro Rosso is Red Bull's junior team, if you will. Does Red Bull...well...intentionally hamstring TR, for lack of a better term, in terms of how they run the team, in order to keep them a permanent mid- or backmarker for driver development, or do they actually expect them to have some level of success, even just the occasional podium every now and then? I'm actually kind of surprised that syndicate ownership is allowed at the highest level of any major sport in this day and age. That kind of thing significantly damaged the National League back in the 1890s, and has been outlawed in MLB since.

Posted by: Tom at February 22, 2017 10:31 AM (mSIXR)

3 Oh, I do hope that's the racing livery. That is a pretty, pretty car.

Posted by: Ben at February 22, 2017 06:22 PM (1uZgg)

4 Tom, I wouldn't say they go out of their way to hamstring STR, but they don't fund the team at the level that would be necessary for them to become a race- or championship-winning team. They are a driver-development team and there's simply no reason to fund them at higher than a mid-field level.

In theory it would be nice to have 12 teams all working their hardest to win championships. In reality, F1 has a hard enough time keeping 10 teams on the grid, so it's good that STR is there to help make up the numbers. Besides, they've provided a route into the sport for some of the most talented young drivers in recent years, while independent backmarkers like Sauber are more interested in drivers with the biggest checkbooks.

Posted by: flatdarkmars at February 23, 2017 10:37 PM (4KXON)

Hide Comments | Add Comment