Mercedes GP MGP W01

[marcush.]

the question is not if they had detected the fault.they admitted they had an issue
which was repaired in the field but not to the standards available at their base.
so diagnosis was made presumably .No contradiction there.It remains to be clarified just why they did not exchange the tub as a precautionary measurement before China .Was the spare tub not available? Or was the repair a failure?

IMO it could not have been a very threatening issue , carbon fibre repairs ( if it was delamination ) could only have been of an "elastoplast" nature trackside - If the issue indeed caused chassis flexing, as was deluded , which F1 driver would drive car like that.
This chassis swopping is more than just a "pick the test chassis of the shelf" variety . That chassis has modifications to it ?
Or a "spacer" between engine and gearbox to lengthen the WB , maybe

I understand the feelings going around here ...but in all honesty ,would anyone
outright pull a rabbit out of the head to keep the story alive for another 12 days?
If Schu is not up to it ...we will see the gap increasing or staying like that in Barcelona and that would kick Brawn and Haug exactly between the legs causing them more trouble they could possibly stand.
Or would you think they produced something like that to make Schu feel better after that China disaster? the guy is 41 years old and outright admitted it was not something he was very proud of in terms of his performance,so what?..in my view if there was nothing with the chassis they would not have even talked about it.

Or it is the other ways round: Haug or a board member actually saw the repair activity and concluded something without actually aligning it with brawn and they chose not to dismiss but state to change the chassi to remove a factor of uncertainty...
no mention about the chassis issues on MS own website ,not even a word.So again Michael is no ways puttings the blame of his understated showings towards the car
but rues his own mistakes and shortcomings..good boy .Everyone else including Alonsos cat would mourn the passing of several races with less than perfect material ...right? Not Mr.Schumacher .He is wiping the floor of his own home...

[strad]

I repeat..I thought the rule was clear that you cannot alter the chassis you submit.

[Timstr]

I repeat..I thought the rule was clear that you cannot alter the chassis you submit.

Depends on what your understanding is of 'chassis'.
If you mean the tub, than it's correct.They can't alter it. But nobody said they will.

[strad]

So once again any illusions of cost saving regulation is just the usual BS? I thought that earlier when other teams sought to catch up on the "F" duct that one of the impediments was that they couldn't change their chassis and had to tack it on so to speak whereas McLarens system was cast in from the ground up.

[Timstr]

So once again any illusions of cost saving regulation is just the usual BS? I thought that earlier when other teams sought to catch up on the "F" duct that one of the impediments was that they couldn't change their chassis and had to tack it on so to speak whereas McLarens system was cast in from the ground up.

You realize this is off-topic?
What are you getting at? You're not making sense.
The fact that, as of this year, teams cannot introduce a new tub or gearbox represents quite some cost saving for the large teams that can actually afford it.
Again, no team is allowed to design a new tub. They will have to work around it to find a working solution for the F-duct.

[ringo]

So once again any illusions of cost saving regulation is just the usual BS? I thought that earlier when other teams sought to catch up on the "F" duct that one of the impediments was that they couldn't change their chassis and had to tack it on so to speak whereas McLarens system was cast in from the ground up.

I see what you are saying, but i don't think they will change the tub. What i think will change is the mounting points of the suspension. I think that Aluminum cage (If the cage is not Aluminum it could be carbon, but may be a separate piece from the tub maybe?) where the steering rack and torsion springs are kept will be moved forward. Engine mounting may also be spaced to move it to the back, or the gear box will be longer, effectively increasing the wheel base, because being a stressed member, the gear box itself is part of the chassis and lengthening it will lengthen the chassis.
I myself was wondering where all this new chassis talk was coming from.
Where is the rule, technical or sporting regulations?

[manchild]

Let me make fortune-telling epitaph on MGP W01 season (I'll quote captain Blackadder)

"Well, it started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle, and the less said about the end, the better. But, apart than that, excellent."

[Timstr]

So once again any illusions of cost saving regulation is just the usual BS? I thought that earlier when other teams sought to catch up on the "F" duct that one of the impediments was that they couldn't change their chassis and had to tack it on so to speak whereas McLarens system was cast in from the ground up.

I see what you are saying, but i don't think they will change the tub. What i think will change is the mounting points of the suspension. I think that Aluminum cage (If the cage is not Aluminum it could be carbon, but may be a separate piece from the tub maybe?) where the steering rack and torsion springs are kept will be moved forward. Engine mounting may also be spaced to move it to the back, or the gear box will be longer, effectively increasing the wheel base, because being a stressed member, the gear box itself is part of the chassis and lengthening it will lengthen the chassis.
I myself was wondering where all this new chassis talk was coming from.
Where is the rule, technical or sporting regulations?

I don't think they will add any spacers as it will compromise siffness.
They will just drag the front suspension forward. Not an uncommon practice.
McLaren did the opposite with the MP4-24 last year.
See animation in the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xMsykMV ... r_embedded[/youtube]

The chassis homologation rules can be found in the Sporting regulations.

[bugref]

Some article said that aerodynamics will be change on the front side of the car, I believe that drooping nose will be addressed as well as to what concept they will be adapting I dunno, but I hope they will try the redbull, or the ferrari.

[marcush.]

Some article said that aerodynamics will be change on the front side of the car, I believe that drooping nose will be addressed as well as to what concept they will be adapting I dunno, but I hope they will try the redbull, or the ferrari.

Bigois will drop the drooped nose because he´s fed up with explaining that it has no disadvantage I suppose...

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Dropping the droop nose is one avenue.

But we must remember Mercedes GP had a big upgrade planned for Bahrain. This was delayed until the flyaway races were over when they found out the car had an inherent balance issue in the tests.

So the time between the firsts test and now Mercedes have been working flat out on getting the revisions to work on the "B-spec" car. What we have seen seen in terms of development so far on the W01 are strakes on the nose, and the stalled wing device which was more a test bed than anything else.

Expect to see a major overhaul, and depending on who you believe within the media, There will be a new diffuser, new tail section, possible new nose and new front wing.
All to coincide with the wheelbase change, So if the numbers are good then we can expect them to be faster.
But the amount of changes will need time to gel, if the list is conclusive.

[toshinden]

i really love the nose

[dren]

i really love the nose

Same here, I liked the BGP001 nose last year, and the W01 nose this year is great as well. It really stands out.

To JohnsonsEvilTwin:

I thought the car had updates at Bahrain, just not huge updates. I didn't know the team held back until Spain. I didn't read that anywhere.

[strad]

I don't think they will add any spacers as it will compromise siffness.
They will just drag the front suspension forward. Not an uncommon practice.
McLaren did the opposite with the MP4-24 last year.

OK That makes sense,,The talk of a spacer is crazy from a flex/stiffness point and a crashworthness view

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Auto Motor und Sport had an article on Tuesday last week.

It didnt specify that Mercedes stopped developments on the W01, but it did say the factory was working flat out on "solutions for europe" and had been for the last 2 months since the first test sessions showed the balance issues.

My take on that was (after also reading Brawns comments in Valencia in February) They found a problem, and they are working on measure to correct that.

Brawn himself said a month before Bahrain they had an extensive package they would put on the car for Bahrain which didnt show up. So my thinking is they waited and honed these updates to fit better with the Longer wheelbase W01.

With around 450 staff Mercedes GP can ill afford to flog a lame donkey for 4 races and then expect to have a working upgrade package in time for Spain.
The strakes on the nose are really only a minor revision that can be performed whilst "on the go" as they have been for 4 races.
The stall wing device is very much a work in progress and can be made to work on the longer wheel base car with no issue at all. So this update is really just being tested on the current car so it can be used effectively on the upgraded one.

Of course Im speculating by matching news stories from various sources, so I could be wrong. But the current car has had no real change to it since Bahrain(stall wing and starkes apart)which adds fuel to what Im saying.

I just Hope Loic Bigois and the engineering team have found a solution to what is an underperforming car. (respect to Rosberg for being 2nd in the WDC at this stage of the season with the fourth best car, he needs some recognition!)