Mercedes W13

[Zynerji]

But is anyone getting it wrong or just different?

With such a wide variety of approaches says to me there's not one single obvious solution and just many ways to skin this particular cat.

How much worse would a faceted house brick be compared to each design? How much time difference is there in these upper body designs?

There can only be 1 "perfect" solution to a set of circumstance.

Every solution other than that will simply cap earlier in development.

We won't know probably until race 14-15 of whose path is longest.

Enjoy the show!

We're not dealing with properly conditioned linear systems here
There can certainly be many solutions that yield equivalent results.

Sure, but those, by definition, are imperfect, as they have peers.

I get that temp, altitude, humidity, blacktop, etc all change dynamically. But for a snapshot, my statement would hold true.

[GrizzleBoy]

At the moment it looks like we have three aero concepts. Mercedes/Williams vs Ferrari/Hass vs everbody else. I wonder if Mercedes is on the wrong foot this time.

Well, these new regs are all about the floor being the new primary downforce production and for how radical the Ferrari and Red Bull are looking, I can't see how their floors should be any more efficient than what I see on the Mercedes car?

It's why I'm so intrigued by the apparent difference in floor area of the merc vs the RB and Ferrari.

[RZS10]

Do we have any idea where is W13 stacked in terms of wheelbase? Definitely looks shorter than some of the other cars.

They were kind enough to put measurements on the yellow tape in the pits.
There's obviously some lens distortion and other visual effects going on which will have an impact on the results.
The basic assumption has to be that the 0 sections are exactly at the axles.
Measuring multiple known 10cm stretches at the rear and then at the front gives an avg. pixel/cm ratio for both axles, the overall average then returns a really rough estimate of the wheelbase.
Image1:
Rear: 67.29 px/10cm
Front: 55.17 px/10cm
Avg: 61.23 px/10cm
0 to 0: 2214.86 px -> 361cm (can't be over 360cm!)


Image2:
Rear: 22.54 px/10cm
Front: 20.13 px/10cm
Avg: 21.335 px/10cm
0 to 0: 767.95 px -> 360 cm


This could be an indication that Mercedes is at or at least very close to the upper limit.

I'll try to check this in some side view comparison pic, no wheelbase should be larger than that of the Merc if this was true.

[AeroDynamic]

[F1Krof]

Do we have any idea where is W13 stacked in terms of wheelbase? Definitely looks shorter than some of the other cars.

They were kind enough to put measurements on the yellow tape in the pits.
There's obviously some lens distortion and other visual effects going on which will have an impact on the results.
The basic assumption has to be that the 0 sections are exactly at the axles.
Measuring multiple known 10cm stretches at the rear and then at the front gives an avg. pixel/cm ratio for both axles, the overall average then returns a really rough estimate of the wheelbase.
Image1:
Rear: 67.29 px/10cm
Front: 55.17 px/10cm
Avg: 61.23 px/10cm
0 to 0: 2214.86 px -> 361cm (can't be over 360cm!)
https://i.imgur.com/bnvGWJ1.png

Image2:
Rear: 22.54 px/10cm
Front: 20.13 px/10cm
Avg: 21.335 px/10cm
0 to 0: 767.95 px -> 360 cm
https://i.imgur.com/Yc4y321.png

This could be an indication that Mercedes is at or at least very close to the upper limit.

I'll try to check this in some side view comparison pic, no wheelbase should be larger than that of the Merc if this was true.

Wow, you've gone through the trouble! Good job and thank you! The analysis seem pretty good.

[AeroDynamic]

Packaging internals view of the Mercedes Power Unit



I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

[RicerDude]

That packaging is remarkable.

[RZS10]

I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

[AeroDynamic]

I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

oh, is that so? I must have missed the story about that. That would be a good solution. I thought I saw the shrouds on Hamiltons wheel in Silverstone though. Maybe someone can check

[icantride]

https://i.imgur.com/V8L27lx.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMSCf0XXoAI ... ame=medium


I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMSCgs3XIAg ... ame=medium

Looks like they have added the "mouse hole" entrance in the diffuser since the shakedown at Silverstone

[214270]

I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

oh, is that so? I must have missed the story about that. That would be a good solution. I thought I saw the shrouds on Hamiltons wheel in Silverstone though. Maybe someone can check

- Press and hold
- Information on the display is slightly different
- Can no longer be activated in race start mode

There’s one more revision to the system if I remember correctly but I can’t find the tweet.

[F1_CoolFan]

That packaging is remarkable.

Isn't it just, although there seems to be a lot of excess wiring cable tied especially near the radiator.

I would think its for additional sensors for testing, hopefully come race day they'll have trimmed them back to the minimum length to save a bit of weight!

[kalinka]

I guess Russell trusts he doesn't need shrouds

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

oh, is that so? I must have missed the story about that. That would be a good solution. I thought I saw the shrouds on Hamiltons wheel in Silverstone though. Maybe someone can check

I think it was just a quick-fix before the final solution. I remember seeing it too.

[AeroDynamic]

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

oh, is that so? I must have missed the story about that. That would be a good solution. I thought I saw the shrouds on Hamiltons wheel in Silverstone though. Maybe someone can check

I think it was just a quick-fix before the final solution. I remember seeing it too.

They changed brake magic from toggle on/off to push&hold iirc, so maybe the shroud isn't needed anymore.

oh, is that so? I must have missed the story about that. That would be a good solution. I thought I saw the shrouds on Hamiltons wheel in Silverstone though. Maybe someone can check

- Press and hold
- Information on the display is slightly different
- Can no longer be activated in race start mode

There’s one more revision to the system if I remember correctly but I can’t find the tweet.

so was the final solution implemented in the last days? when did this come out

[mkay]

Am I just seeing things or does the merc seem to have the cleanest front to rear airflow on the top surface of the floor out of the "big three" teams?

Ferrari have their chunky flat sidepods that have dramatic direction changes to airflow above the floor.

Red Bull seem to be trying to spill most of the air above the floor at the front of the sidepods under the car to the point where it looks like the point of the top surface if their floor is to purposely not have a continuous flow across the top of it. Maybe this goes for Ferrari too with their chunky flat sidepod.

CFD analysis suggests Ferrari's sidepods are actually more efficient (downforce vs. drag) than the Merc-style sidepods.

At first glance, it does look like Merc has missed a trick with the sidepod lips and forward extension of the floor. I guess time will tell.

Yes true and not true. The OP analysis only took into account the rough estimation of the sidepods and the rear wing if I'm not mistaken. The flow of the air starts with the front wing. Nobody knows for sure what every aero device does. I'm sure even the teams themselves have doubts.

I agree with you. All I meant to say is, in isolation, ceteris paribus and all, the tub-shaped sidepods are far from the draggy mess they appear to look like.

I agree that it's all about the "package" and in particular how airflow is directed by the front of the car.