UPDATE: overview of the 2016 formula one hybrid race cars

overview of the 2016 formula one hybrid race cars

after months of researching, prototyping and hours of wind tunnel analysis, the month of february for formula one teams means it’s time to start uncovering their hard work to the public. with the first tests starting in barcelona, teams are starting to showcase their race cars. designboom will continually update the article, as more teams unveil their 2016 cars.  

image courtesy of haas f1

haas F1 ‘VF-16’

2016 will be a debut year for american racing team haas F1. founded by industrialist gene haas and based in north carolina, the team won numerous championships in nascar. the first american-led formula one team in 30 years, the ‘VF-16’ has a dark gray, light gray and red toned livery, and a ferrari hybrid power unit. 

image courtesy of haas f1

‘just as haas automation’s products continually evolve, becoming better and more efficient, our methodology behind the VF-16 was to make it the best evolution of a good F1 car,’ said guenther steiner, team principal, haas F1 team.

image courtesy of haas f1

‘we’re a new team, so we looked at what the successful teams were doing to give us a baseline of the direction we needed to go with our design.’

image courtesy of mclaren-honda

mclaren-honda ‘MP4-31’ 

mclaren-honda revealed its formula one challenger, ‘MP4-31’ in barcelona for its first test. this year, the chassis integrates the new honda ‘RA616H’ power unit, developed exclusively for the team.

image courtesy of mclaren-honda

‘as we embark on the second year of our renewed mclaren-honda partnership, all of us remain united in our purpose,’ explains ron dennis CEO of mclaren technology group. ‘that purpose is to develop our team towards our shared ambition: to win. we’ll make no predictions as to when those wins will come, but I can say without fear of contradiction that every member of our team has worked with truly relentless dedication over the past few months.’ 

image courtesy of mclaren-honda

‘the result is that MP4-31’s developmental trajectory has been usefully steepened over the winter, and I’m consequently very proud of our team’s efforts.’

image courtesy of mercedes-amg petronas

mercedes-amg petronas ‘W07’ 

2015 world champions mercedes-amg petronas announced their 2016 hybrid  – the ‘W07’. a record-breaking grand prix calendar is set to stretch the drivers and teams with a total of 21 races. this year the big change to the car is the chassis, where they’ve raised the protection area around the driver by 20 mm and increased the side impact test load from 15 to 50kN. 

image courtesy of mercedes-amg petronas

‘it’s difficult to have a complete revolution when the rules have stayed pretty much the same year no year,’ explains paddy lowe executive technical director. ‘but we aim to make minor revolutions wherever we can – even within a small context. we may look at a completely new packaging solution or suspension concept, for instance.’ 

image courtesy of mercedes-amg petronas

‘so, while the car may look very similar to its predecessor from the outside – as is the inherent within stable regulations – underneath there are quite a lot of mini revolutions that make up an over evolution for the new season.’

image courtesy of ferrari

ferrari ‘SF16-H’ 

ferrari have reviewed almost every aspect of the 2016 car. among the most noticeable differences visually, is a shorter nose and an extremely tightly-packaged rear end. the ‘SF16-H’ features a red and white colour scheme, the first time in over two decades that the team have used such a livery. the ‘H’ in the name refers to the hybrid system, which ferrari have made much more compact to reduce weight. same as last year, drivers sebastian vettel and kimi raikkonen will be behind the wheel, in a bid to return to the front of the formula one grid in 2016. 

image courtesy of ferrari

‘the project of this car started one year ago, and the direction was very ambitious – our goals were very ambitious,’ describes designer simone resta. ‘today we have something quite different – the nose is higher, and the airflow is different to last year. that is very important because it has a positive impact on aerodynamics.’ 

image courtesy of ferrari

‘also, after five years of pull-rod suspension, we have changed and we now have push-rod. the weight and kinematics are better – and it is a step forward compared to previous models. another important part are the side pods. the radiators are different – and we have tried to take advantage with the cooling systems.’

image courtesy of red bull racing

red bull racing ‘RB12’ 

in east london, red bull unveiled a matte painted new ‘RB12’ car alongside drivers daniel ricciardo and danii kvyat, with team principal christian horner. at the heart of the new design is ‘the stampede’ – a graphic illustration of charging bulls located behind the driver’s seat. 

image courtesy of red bull racing

‘seeing our new livery for this year alongside our new team wear from puma was a proud moment for us,‘ comments team principal christian horner.  ‘puma have done a very impressive job with the design of the team kit, replica and lifestyle product lines. there has been a lot of work behind the scenes to get ready for this, and it has all paid off with today’s event which I think has only built our excitement for the season ahead.’

image courtesy of red bull racingimage courtesy of williams martini racing

williams-mercedes ‘FW38’ 

for a third consecutive season the red, white and blue stripes of williams martini racing will be lining up on the formula one grid, which looks to build on a surprisingly successful 2015 season. the car will be powered by mercedes-AMG hybrid system built on the strengths of the year before. the team stays the same, with felipe massa and valtteri bottas. 

‘williams has started to cement our position back amongst the front running teams after finishing third in the championship in the past two seasons,’ explains sir frank williams, founder and team principal. ‘our technical team also remained very consistent which will be to our advantage and we have some of the best engineering minds on the grid at our disposal. we have a busy couple of weeks of testing coming up to learn more about our package and to refine the car ahead of the first race. we will have to wait until melbourne to find out exactly where we stand in the pecking order but I’m confident that our hard work over the winter will stand us in good stead.’