Mercedes GP MGP W01

[ringo]

Nick Fry

"Our objective is clearly to still be in the top three in the constructors'," he said. "I would be disappointed if we can't. That doesn't mean that we will throw caution to the wind and not focus on next year, because we are aware that this car has got some inherent issues which can only be resolved with next year's car.

"But while we want to get working on that, on the other hand, a top three in the constructors' will be a good springboard to a better year next year."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85245

At least they believe it can win races. I think Singapore is their best chance.

edit i was beaten to the same quote.

but to elaborate i would say this points to the chassis and how parts are attached to it.
One thing i would say is that the f duct is a risk free upgrade to improve on. It would be best they change rear wing and shark fin, and simply copy redbull's style of f duct.

[ParanoiD]

I wonder why MGP W01, especially when they shoot MSC battling/defending with other car, is always seem weak/slow..

even when fighting with force india or renault..

but i have seen how good his driving is when he defending from BUT at shanghai

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The W01 will not win a race based purely on merit. 6 cars are out there that are alot faster.
Should those 6 retire, then Mercedes will stand a chance. Even then Force India and Renault could mount a serious challenge to them.

What is impressive though is how Mercedes are making a flawed car work well. Given the weight distribution problems, I dont think its fair to expect anything else of Mercedes. I think the homolgation rules "froze in" Mercedes flaw....

[dren]

I think so too. I hope they get the tires figured out when designing next year's car. That is going to be the make or break point for teams next year.

[marcush.]

lets come back to the weightdistribution again...
somewhere Brawn has stated the changes netted something like 1 percent of weightshift allowing them to more effectively use ballast to set up the car..
But:
How could RedBull or Mclaren arrive at a significantly different cog position with Macs one of the longest and RedBull one of the compact cars?
My view is the only way to accomodate a significant change there was by ballast placement...So this would imply that Macs and RB are building lighter cars than Brawn.
where is potential to find that weight? I really can´t see much ..Redbull seems to build very close to physical limits ...and Macs has a carbonfibre gearbox...
but so does Merc...
In a nutshell I don´t think the difference is that big ,Redbull able to get away with less fuelload and they have at least at times played around with fuelloads calculated not for all laps at full speed..

The whole story of the Weight distribution has no substance to me .. and as we see no word about it from Merc anymore..maybe the only thing hurting them there might be the tanklayout in terms where the CoG moves when tank is empty.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Without seeing figures for weight distrubution and CoG its all a bit murky.

Suffice to say both these areas will have a massive impact on tyres and tyre wear, things Mercedes have suffered with.

What we can see is that the car does not like high speed corners nor straights.
A fact that its still down on speed to Mclaren by around 8 Km/h using the same engine and Force India by around 6Km/h shows aerodynamically at least that its carrying far too much drag.
The F-duct has helped marginally, but bigger gains are needed(and expected).

As a matter of interest, how much time do posters think will be lost around the average track by being 6-8 Km/h slower?

[marcush.]

Without seeing figures for weight distrubution and CoG its all a bit murky.

Suffice to say both these areas will have a massive impact on tyres and tyre wear, things Mercedes have suffered with.

What we can see is that the car does not like high speed corners nor straights.
A fact that its still down on speed to Mclaren by around 8 Km/h using the same engine and Force India by around 6Km/h shows aerodynamically at least that its carrying far too much drag.
The F-duct has helped marginally, but bigger gains are needed(and expected).

As a matter of interest, how much time do posters think will be lost around the average track by being 6-8 Km/h slower?

Counting the main masses there is really not much you can do:
Engine ,Gearbox,Fueltank-Fuelallocation,driver,tub,steeringrack/column,cooling assemblies ....the uprights complete with suspension and wheels,brakes ...counting all the bits and pieces you are quite unlikely to find a lot of possibilities to put weight/components in other places than your competitors do ,as placing a steering rack 2 inches back or forward will not make a difference .

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Of course there are many things you can do, just what is allowed within the homologation.
Look at ferrari tilting the angle of their engine..................

[Morteza]

In the interview with Fry, he said that they need to get podium finishes including winning. Do you believe this car can win? When there are Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari out there the chance for them to win is so narrow! What do they want to do to improve the car? This is what keeps me wondering about their car which is a mystery!

[marcush.]

Of course there are many things you can do, just what is allowed within the homologation.
Look at ferrari tilting the angle of their engine..................

you cannot do much to alter the eight distribution in the current regs...that was my point.apart from building underweight wich has been restricted by mandating minimum engine weight ,limits of tank geometrical design,mandatory upright and caliper materials etc..

[manchild]

Is it just me, or Mercedes has changed airbox inlets again, for something that looks asymmetrical?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

May be the angle of the shot, or even the camber of the road. But from the picture you supplied it looks as much.

[marcush.]

Is it just me, or Mercedes has changed airbox inlets again, for something that looks asymmetrical?

they stated on introduction of the new concept the main advantage was the possibility to optimise the airbox for eacch event ...by disconnecting it from the rollover structure...

[NewtonMeter]

What's the feeling about the car's expected performance at Germany? Specifically in terms of track surface in conjunction with tyre allocation. I think, for this car, it's of a bigger concern than, say corner speed etc.

I think many are on a bit of a high after the relatively good performance of Silverstone (me included), so are we in for a reality check?

Premonitions anyone?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

There are some refinements to the low-exit exhaust and F-duct. So should these work, they could be a wee bit closer to the Ferrari's. but nowhere near enough to challenge them.
Renault appear to have dropped the ball, so it will be interesting to see where Renault are in relation to Mercedes. As during valencia and Canada the Renault appeared quicker.

Lets just hope Mercedes can appear more racey.