Formula 1: Ferrari F2012 and the Year of the Platypus

When the Caterham CT01 was launched, it became clear 2012 would not see the most beautiful cars.

With an ugly stepped nose and humps, it surpassed even the Williams-Walrus of 2004 as one of the most ghastly creations to ever leave an F1 factory.  Some quite accurately said it resembled a platypus, while I immediately thought of the gharial—a small crocodilian from the Indian subcontinent.

The step was due to a change in the regulations which stated the nose must be lower than on previous cars, but the height of the front bulkhead remained unchanged.  Caterham's solution was to draw inspiration from a child's animation of an earthquake.

The news that most teams would follow suit filled aesthetes the world over with dread.  The Ferrari was reported to have a hump on its nose and had been called ugly by the Italian press.

But when McLaren unveiled their challenger on February 1st, it appeared that not all was lost.  The English team usually make attractive cars, and the MP4-27 was beautiful.  They already ran with a lower front end prior to the change, so it didn't need to drop down so drastically.

The result is that the nose is without a hump, step or bump, and while the rear of the car tapers inwards in a rather unattractive manner, it doesn't detract from the overall appearance.  Things were looking up.

Then Ferrari and Force India launched their cars on February 3rd.  Oh dear.

The Ferrari F2012 features a flatter step than the gharial-eyed Caterham, which only serves to reinforce the unappealing look.  Hammering the nail into the coffin, the support struts holding the front wing in place are very bulky and the nose looks too blunt to ever be called beautiful.

The back end looks tidier, and the sculpting for the additional air intake on the engine cover is a nice touch, but the overall result is still painful on the eyes. 

Force India's VJM05 went for a design very similar to Caterham and made it 3-1 to the stepped noses.  Lotus will launch on February 5th, followed by three further teams—including Red Bull—on the 6th.

Can we at least count on Adrian Newey to produce an attractive car?

Probably not, but there's no harm in hoping.