NEW CAR LAUNCHES

3 cars were launched in 2 days. Wow talk about when it rains... Renault, Williams and BMW all launched their 2009 challengers these past 2 days and it has been tough keeping up with the news and pictures as I'm working on the 4am shift.

My impressions of the cars so far? Well, quite a surprise. The Williams looked good actually, with all the curves and the front wing was not so ugly. It's still in the launch livery though, so we'll have to wait until the race livery comes out. But the overall shape is nice, it works. Pictures are here.

The BMW car was launched yesterday and it looks like what we saw late last year, not much change. Maybe the nose is a bit more rounded and dips lower but overall it doesn't look that good with the front wing being huge and just straight without any sexy curves like the McLaren. The livery is funny though with the red line running from the nose and cutting across the sidepods. Pictures are here. But I do have a feeling that BMW will do well this year as their confidence is very strong coupled with their enthusiasm for their working KERS. And they are known for being efficient and patient improvers.

The Renault - what can I say. Damn ugly! The R29 has got to be the ugliest car so far and probably will be the ugliest car of 2009. I just can't understand that design, the nose is huge, the front wing is just flat, the shark fin engine cover is huge and the worst part is the livery. Now there is another additional colour - red, but what's worse is the design of the livery. It's just ugly with straight lines with sharp corners. It's like a square peg in a round hole. Urrggghh! Pictures are here.

In the meantime, the other teams are testing their cars though all of them are disrupted by the weather. McLaren is doing well being the fastest so far as the STR times are useless as they are using the 2008 car. Report here.