Is the paint on your car affecting lap times?

[alfredo]

Formula1 is known for going to extremes to cut weight, Check out one way McLaren does it. The video is pretty cool too.


http://en.espnf1.com/mclaren/motorsport/story/27211.html?CMP=chrome

Watching paint dry
Laurence Edmondson September 1, 2010


If you were to take the 2010 grid, strip all the cars of paint and muddle them up, only the most dedicated F1 anorak would be able to tell them apart. Paint schemes are engrained in the sport and its history. Most fan's fondest memories of Formula One are wrapped up in nostalgic liveries, be it the black and gold of Lotus, the day-glow red and white of McLaren or the omnipresent scarlet of Ferrari.

In the beginning it was simple; you took your country's national colour (Green for Britain, Blue for France, Red for Italy etc.) applied it liberally and slapped a number on it issued by the organising body. Mercedes was one of the first to buck the trend in grand prix racing by ditching the traditional German white for bare aluminium.

The story goes that legendary team boss Alfred Neubauer turned up to the Nurburgring with his new W25 only to find that the car was a kilo over the maximum weight limit. In order to allow the cars to compete at their home race, he told his team to scrape the paint off and in doing so saved the necessary kilo. Rather sadly, however, this story is probably completly untrue and it is more likely to be one of many tall tales dreamt up by Neubauer to keep himself amused.