I can see why Christian Klien describes BMW's winter test hack as the ugliest F1 car he's ever seen. But there again, he's only 25!
BMW has adapted a 2008 car to the '09 aerodynamic regulations and irrespective of any mods that take place between now and Melbourne, it's clear that an '09 F1 car is going to be a very different animal.
It's the proportions - the wide front wing and the high, narrow rear one. And funnily enough the slick tyres serve only to reinforce an overall impression that the car is... well, a bit Mickey Mouse. It looks like something from the junior formulae. However perverse, perhaps the grooved rubber we've all got used to over the past 10 years had come to subconsciously signify 'Formula One'.
![]() Rolf Stommelen (Eifelland 21 Ford) 1972 Spanish Grand Prix, Jarama © XPB |
By the time the new season kicks off four months hence, we'll probably all be used to the new look. Whenever you see historic F1 cars today, the small front tyres and bulbous rears look strange, but you took them for granted in the seventies - it's how F1 cars were supposed to look.