Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated PressThe new McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 was revealed by the team in England to great sighs of relief from F1 fans, as it immediately killed what many feared would be a trend towards ugly cars.
When the newly named Caterham team presented its 2012 car last week, the first of the Formula One teams to do so, there was a sudden intake of breath as fans, drivers and F1 people in general said, “Gosh, that’s ugly!”
The fear was that the new rules that require the nose of the car to be higher than last year would create cars with noses as ugly as the one on the Caterham, which called to mind a platypus. Rules, or indeed the lack of rules, do that kind of thing sometimes — remember the six wheeled Tyrrell of the 70s, or all those winglet cars 15 years ago?
So on Wednesday, when the McLaren Mercedes team unveiled its 2012 car live on the Internet and in front of the media in England — and by the way, this was technically the best Internet unveiling I’ve ever seen, with a clear streaming image and sound — there was a sigh of relief and acknowledgment of the car’s beauty not only by journalists, but by the drivers themselves.
As Joe Saward said on his F1 blog in the headline minutes before the car was unveiled: “McLaren not ugly!”
When the McLaren drivers were interviewed during the event, both of them spoke of the importance of having a beautiful car.
“There are a few changes that are going to make a difference to the look of the car,” said Jenson Button. “As you can see this is a beautiful car, and many you will see will not be.”
Lewis Hamilton agreed with that and punctuated his comment with a point that rings true:
“Generally when the car looks good it is good,” said Hamilton.
All right, but it will be interesting to see which team ends up having to undergo a nose job this season as the best design reveals itself.