Mercedes W16 Speculation Thread

[Farnborough]

I felt the W15 was, so far, the best amalgamate of MB technical thinking in this rules era.

Moderation of the extreme outlier in aero they thought could bring sucess, sometimes the circumstances came into it's orbit last year to bring those wins.

The gestation for me was originated in Monaco 2023, with a fundamental shift in attempts to understand exactly what they had and where it was heading.

Cockpit moved rearward was only a logical progression (after dispensing with zero design cooling location compromise) in effect moving it to more within proven designs of competitors layout.

The W15 still seemed to have more floor bias in contrast (compared to other leading chassis design) to wing derived load, and showed still the very narrow band sensitivity that floor dominance can bring.

The W16, if following their established development direction, should bring it further into wider band performance definition.

Seemed that a more complete data set from W15 capture could drive increase in quality of evaluation.

I feel W16 has more even chance of moving forward in the pack than predecessors.

[Venturiation]

[cplchanb]

not a news story... this will be the same for everyone else.

[organic]

https://twitter.com/formularacers_/stat ... 8760413451

not a news story... this will be the same for everyone else.

I don't think that's true. For 2024 we saw many parts of the real cars before Bahrain testing from shakedowns and car launches

[mantikos]

Any word on cockpit placement now that lewis is gone?

This year the cockpit will be ahead of the front axle

The pilot can sit on the front wing or rear wing depending on the setup

Yes, and they will control the new F-duct with flatulence - drivers to be fed a diet of beans before the race.

[Vappy]

This year the cockpit will be ahead of the front axle

The pilot can sit on the front wing or rear wing depending on the setup

Yes, and they will control the new F-duct with flatulence - drivers to be fed a diet of beans before the race.

That's some effective weight loss over a race stint. Onboard audio should be interesting.

[Big Tea]

The pilot can sit on the front wing or rear wing depending on the setup

Yes, and they will control the new F-duct with flatulence - drivers to be fed a diet of beans before the race.

That's some effective weight loss over a race stint. Onboard audio should be interesting.

It may address some complaints over the sound too, depending where they stick the microphone

[Cocles]

I feel W16 has more even chance of moving forward in the pack than predecessors.

Indeed. It makes further sense if we break away from strictly look at the last 3 years as 3 separate cars. In reality, behaviorally at least, we've had two cars and their evolutions.

The W13 was just that.
The W14 was the W13-B and after a few races the W13-C.
The W15 was just that.
The W16 is going to be the W15-B.

The B specs tend to intrigue me as there's often a lot of low hanging fruit when the team is able to make to make their first *major* updates to a brand new concept. By the time you're at a C spec it's usually more fine tuning... unless you're going full Frankenstein like they did with the W14 from Monaco onward.

The W15 was the first JA car since his return, I'm very curious what we're going to see now that JA has a chance to do some heavy revisions of his baby with a year's worth of data in his back pocket.

[leblanc]

Well, I hope they develop a floor and a suspension that works well over a wider operating window. At this point, I'm a bit pessimistic...

[bluechris]

Well, I hope they develop a floor and a suspension that works well over a wider operating window. At this point, I'm a bit pessimistic...

We all hope that 4 years in a row.

[Lasssept]

Motorsport It:

During 2024, Mercedes has often suffered from excessive degradation of the rear tires over long distances due to overheating, thus limiting traction performance

A problem also shared with Aston Martin, which uses the same components, and which Mercedes is trying to solve for 2025 with the W16.

https://x.com/Motorsport_IT/status/1880915098023420280
https://x.com/JunaidSamodien_/status/18 ... 7722312128

[KimiRai]

Motorsport It:

During 2024, Mercedes has often suffered from excessive degradation of the rear tires over long distances due to overheating, thus limiting traction performance

A problem also shared with Aston Martin, which uses the same components, and which Mercedes is trying to solve for 2025 with the W16.

https://x.com/Motorsport_IT/status/1880915098023420280
https://x.com/JunaidSamodien_/status/18 ... 7722312128

Both teams will also do a filming day on Bahrain one day before pre-season tests (25 feb)

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/323597/m ... -days.html

[Lasssept]

FUnoAT:

During this winter, Mercedes has been paying special attention to the correlation between the data collected in the wind tunnel and the analyses performed at the factory CFD.

The goal was to obtain a versatile car, capable of adapting quickly to circuits with different characteristics, through a more careful approach to the single-seater design phase

In addition, Antonelli and Russell are already busy at the simulator, trying to understand the new car and prepare some work programs to be carried out during the Bahrain tests. Finally, a possible strategy related to seasonal developments could be the adoption of a more dynamic development cycle. The introduction of smaller-scale but more frequent updates could prove useful

https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2025 ... -2025.html

[Cocles]

FUnoAT:

During this winter, Mercedes has been paying special attention to the correlation between the data collected in the wind tunnel and the analyses performed at the factory CFD.

The goal was to obtain a versatile car, capable of adapting quickly to circuits with different characteristics, through a more careful approach to the single-seater design phase

In addition, Antonelli and Russell are already busy at the simulator, trying to understand the new car and prepare some work programs to be carried out during the Bahrain tests. Finally, a possible strategy related to seasonal developments could be the adoption of a more dynamic development cycle. The introduction of smaller-scale but more frequent updates could prove useful

https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2025 ... -2025.html

Hopefully Sampo is able to improve correlation with the simulator.