The coolest looking 2013 F1 car

The RB9 is up to now the coolest looking new F1 car. The car's purple sidepods made Milton Keynes considerably warmer on Sunday morning, when Adrian Newey's latest "bolide" was unveiled.

Like so many of the latest F1 cars, the RB9 features a stepped nose but without the driver cooling slot. It has a thin carbon fiber fairing, a vanity panel, that other cars have used to disguise the step, but that "it doesn't extend too far forward as then it doesn't justify it in weight". Newey added: "This is very much an evolutionary car... the devil is very much in the detail".

RB9 ENGINE STATS:
Engine: V8-90 degree Renault Engine RS27 - 2013
Capacity: 2400cc
Number of valves: 32
Engine management: MESL standard control unit TAG320

RB9 CAR STATS:
Chassis: Composite monocoque structure, design and built in-house, carrying the Renault V8 engine as fully stressed member.
Transmission: Seven-speed gearbox, longitudinally mounted with hydraulic system for power shift and clutch operation. AP Racing clutch.
Suspension: Aluminum alloy uprights, carbon-composite double wishbone with springs and anti-roll bar, Multimatic dampers.
Brakes: Brembo calipers, Carbon discs and pads
Electronics: MESL standard control unit
Fuel: Total Group
Wheels: OZ Racing,
Front: 12.0 inch x 13 in diam.
Rear: 13.7 in x 13 in diam.
Tires: Pirelli

The RB9 will take to the track this morning at Jerez with Mark Webber at the wheel. For more info on the RB9, please click here.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Jalopnik, Red Bull Racing, ESPN, Auto123.com, and wikipedia.

This exhaust gives you "wings"

From the folk at Jalopnik we got this awesome close-up picture of the exhaust that gave Red Bull "wings".

The picture was taken at the Geneva Motor Show and is of the Formula One Red Bull RB7. Key to the RB7's dominance in 2011 was the flattened oval exhaust pipe funneling hot gas directly over the diffuser, which is the aerodynamic structure in the rear of the car which creates downforce.  These two elements were first combined in the late 1990's and are widely known as the exhaust-blown diffusers. But they didn't become crucial until 2010, when Adrian Newey's new design (RB6) proved to be instrumental in Red Bull winning their first F1 championship

The RB7's exhaust can be seen in the center of the photo

Since then, the development of the exhaust-blown diffuser continued at a frantic pace. The RB7's engine was programmed to feed hot air to the diffuser even while the driver is off the throttle.  This is evident in the strange sound the RB7 makes when the driver is off-the-throttle. However, going forward F1 teams will have to do without them for they have been banned from competition.

The furious pace in F1 research and development is simply amazing!

Source: Jalopnik