BMW Sauber F1.09 launch

A first look at BMW Sauber's 2009 Formula One challenger, the F1.09

BMW Sauber roll out their 2009, F1.09. Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber Technical Coordinator, said;" Our aim was to build a car with high aerodynamic efficiency and in doing so claw back as much downforce as possible". To this end the F1.09 features some very intresting aerodynamic elements. Rampf also predicted that the cars will be running maximum downforce setups at many more circuits than in 2008.

The new F1.09 featured some very subtle aerodynamic details in the nose area.

These scallops in the side follow what appears to be a trend of tweaking the nose cone aerodynamics. The profile of th shows a similar level of attention to detail.

Also present were these fences on the front wing elements, presumably to prevent air-flow spilling off the effective elements of the wing into the non-downforce generating middle section.

Underbody temperatures are obviously an area of great concern to teams given the regulations regarding vents, chimneys etc on the side pods. To address this teams seem to be trying to find escape routes for hot air whilst keeping drag to a minimum. The F1.09 featured these small louvers on the base of the side pods and vents on the top of the engine covers.
Evident on the wing end plates were these removable panels, presumably for access to the wing control servo-motors.

Technical Specification

• Chassis; Carbon fibre monocoque
• Suspension; Upper and lower wishbones front and rear, pushrod actuated inboard springs and dampers developed by Sachs Race Engineering
• Brakes; Six piston Brembo calipers, carbon discs and pads by Carbone Industrie.
• Transmission; 7-speed, longditudinally mounted with carbon clutch.
• KERS; Electronic motor/generator system developed by BMW Sauber.