One ugly race car

Sometimes I wonder to myself if people think I'm crazy for liking Formula One.

Most Americans who like racing either like NASCAR or IndyCar. I like them to, but not as much as Formula One.

Most Americans who feel they need to like something European seem to default to English Premier League soccer. That's not for me; hockey is my bastion for low scoring, back-and-forth sport. And I like Formula One better anyway.

Part of what draws me to Formula One over soccer and other forms of auto racing are aesthetics. Formula One is a sensory pleasure!

The sound of the V8 climbing gears is incredible ... you can feel the sound at a Grand Prix. The climbing gear box sound has also got to be the most recognizable sound in all of sport. It's very thrilling.

Next to the sound of the V8 engine, the looks of a Formula One car set it apart from its other racing brethren -- even when you dismiss the technical superiority it brings to the table. Formula One cars are sleek, stylish, balanced and curvaceous. To some enthusiasts (like me), a Formula One car is just as worthy of a centerfold as a Playboy Playmate.

Now it seems F1 car beauty has become a thing of the past. Thanks to changes in the 2009 sporting regs, F1 car design has taken a turn for the worst. Here are pictures of BMW Sauber's first test of its 2009 entry:

The 2009 BMW Sauber ... ugly!

More ugly!

The 2008 BMW Sauber ... this is more like it.

The 2009 BMW Sauber completely lacks style and elegance. The unbalanced rear and front wings make the car ugly. I don't even know what to compare it to, or how to even describe it. It just looks bad. My eyes don't lie.

The styling of the wings and the body itself also leave a lot to be desired. They lack the trademark curves that aerodynamicists have used to give the car its competitive advantage. Not only do the straight edges look like they hurt performance, they also make the car look like a box.

Come to think of it, the car's design makes me think of this ...

... NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. The COT features the big ugly wing in back and a boxy design. While it probably looks more like a "stock" car, it lacks the sleekness of its predecessor. And based on the handful of races I watched in NASCAR this year, it did not seem the change in design made the sport more competitive either.

This brings me to two different sets of questions:

1. Will the sporting regs make the races more competitive?
2. Will F1 aerodynamicists find a way to bring back the beauty?

Only time will tell. I think the former is worthy of the change to a vanilla package. Competition on the track will always trump car beauty. F1 loses if competition remains unchanged.

As for the latter, I hope there's a will that will find a way.