The end of the platypus snout in 2013?

Widely criticized, the 2012 version of the F1 nose design might not be part of the 2013 lineup, according to some figures in the sport.

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Rédigé par Par

If the 2012 season hasn’t officially started yet – the first Grand Prix taking place in Melbourne on March 18 –, the cars for the upcoming season have already sparked much discussion. The reason for these debates, or at least these comments, is visible at first glance: it is the famous platypus nose featured on nine of the ten single-seaters already presented.

Judged unaesthetic, this solution is nevertheless the one that has been overwhelmingly chosen by teams to comply with the new FIA regulations, which impose a maximum nose height of 550 mm above the reference plane. Its aim is to improve safety by attempting to avoid both the interlocking effect resulting from the nose of an F1 car passing over the rear wheel of a leading single-seater (as in the accident between Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia in 2010), and the risk of a driver being struck in the head during a side or frontal impact by the nose of another car (as in the accident between Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi in Abu Dhabi in 2010).

With these new rules, cars should lock into each other rather than sliding over one another. This new safety effort has resulted in the appearance of a step (more or less pronounced) between the front of the monocoque and the start of the nose of the single-seaters, except at McLaren and also, in principle, at HRT and Marussia. It is clear that this effort is not universally popular and has been criticized by participants and fans of the sport, sometimes horrified by the first published photos. The reaction of Paul Hembery, head of Pirelli’s motorsport division, is revealing in this regard: he described the cars in the paddock as ugly pigs.

Faced with this situation, many observers or drivers expect changes to be made in the regulations for 2013. This is notably the case for Sebastian Vettel: [The 2012 cars] are not very beautiful. For next season’s cars, the steps will no longer be there. This opinion is shared by his compatriot, Christian Danner, a former driver for Zakspeed and Osella, but above all a consultant on the German channel RTL, who considers the current solution to be horrible before adding that it will be fixed next year.

Questioned in turn about the design of the 2012 cars, Nick Heidfeld was less harsh: « Yes, I’m sure the FIA will make some changes next season, so there shouldn’t be that huge bump anymore. On the other hand, it’s like a few years ago when the rear and front wings were modified; it wasn’t so bad once you got used to it. » As a reminder, the 2009 season was marked by significant regulatory changes that resulted in reducing the size of the rear wings and increasing that of the front wings, also causing a series of negative reactions that are no longer relevant today.

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