Mercedes GP W02

[djos]

Red-Bull invented sandbagging?

lol, more likely Mclaren or Ferrari invented sandbagging at least in F1.

[King Six]

So this would be the second time Mercedes build a feature into their car so that they can make big changes down the road (W01 - Blade roll hoop)

The only thing is why do it this time? They gave themselves more than half a season's lead time for this car by abandoning the W01 so early. So what's the need? Just to keep things secret and not give anyone else a chance?

Hmm, I dunno. We'll see what those exposed features really mean.

[segedunum]

They're not sandbagging, I can guarantee you that. Everyone knew Red Bull was going to be at the sharp end but what they managed to mask was the advantage they turned out to have against Ferrari and McLaren specifically. In Mercedes's case they're going to have to sandbag to such an extent that their testing would be meaningless to them, and they're sandbagging against the entire field. Not possible. They're between one and a half and sometimes three seconds off in testing so far. That's not masking anything against anyone.

If you have two solutions then what you can do is:

1. Gamble on one.

2. Wait and see what the tyres do and build modifications, but you'll also have to live with built-in limitations within the car you didn't foresee.

or the third option:

3. Get competent people who've proved themselves, can think ahead and don't gamble or wait and see anything.

The problem for Mercedes is that the midfield teams around them are able to do option 3 and they're moving on. Williams has had a big gearbox project in place for months to get the rear end that they've got and Torro Rosso has been implementing things like a double floor to give themselves the room they need.

What on Earth have Mercedes been doing given the lead in time for this car? We were all promised that things would be oh-so different and this car was going to be produced in perfect conditions. Why on Earth would they need to gamble or wait and see on anything when other teams are in the same position and moving forwards? It's like they expected to implement a pull-rod suspension or something and things would just magically happen.

As Norbert has pointedly told everyone, the excuses are over and the conditions are the same for everyone. If you're behind you're not good enough. No resource restriction, weight distribution or tyre problem is going to mask it.

I think we need to wake up and smell the coffee beans because they're in a worse state than even I thought they were and no magical update before Bahrain is going to change things.

[Ferraripilot]

I suppose I see the above as a really odd scenario for Ross Brawn. When has he ever been in this bad of a predicament? I don't think that's the case at all. He has many championships under his belt. Here's hoping right.

[kalinka]

I think even the best teams can't afford now any sandbagging. With such a little time for testing, they must use any avaliable track time they can get. Sandbagging would mean you didn't use the opportunity to understand the car ( if it's already fast enough ) , or you loose any opportunity to correct it's weknesses ( if it's slow ).

[f1pagan]

another is since pirelli is using a high degrading tyre compound they might be asessing their strenghts in long runs, also, remember they went the revolution route not the evolution route all, the revolution cars have been slow and all the evolution cars have been fast stright out of the box.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

To talk in black and white terms and predict where Mercedes will be is a fools errand.
Some are already writing them off, and let them.

I will wait until Bahrain. Besides even scarbs is now writing that the Mercedes has sufficient room in the pod structure to make changes to its design.

The way I see the W02 at the moment its just a shell. You can plainly see that.
There are cars out there with fully developed race ready parts, and Mercedes is not even close to that.
We dont need an Autosport column to tell us that, we can plainly see that is the case by looking at the car.
The team appear to be looking at cooling issues, and also KERS and ARW systems.
The basics.
There are no additions to the car from Valenica. I will be waiting patiently and nervously to see what Mercedes do next.

They may have a stream of updates, but they will be no good unless the team utilises the performance potential of each. We will see if anything has been learned from 2010....

[f1pagan]

two things you can be certain about this season, 1) merc will be fast, maybe not contending but elite yes,2) rosberg will beat schumacher again.

[GSBellew]

Hi, great forum, I've been lurking a while but only registered the other day.

I'm probably way off with this, but having a look at the pictures of the side pods and "crash structures" visible in them.

Zooming in it looks as if the radiators may end just below the beam that you can see and what looks like an additional opening above the radiator / carbonfibre? structure:



Something like this?



As I say, I'm probably way off, just thinking out loud really

[PNSD]

Maybe so, though I expected since the side impact structures can not be changed now, their exposure is because we are likley to see some development to the sidepods. I think the current sidepod setup is just for the pre-season... Again like you, im just thinking aloud.

An extra inlet above the radiator could be useful to cool other things I guess. It's just a shame F1 teams dont realease detailed technical drawings of whats what with their new cars

[ringo]

Their exposure is illegal, but i just realized that the car doesn't have to be perfectly legal to do testing.
So in a way i think they may be able to follow mclaren and lower the sidepods around them covering them in the process. I keep changing my tune, but what the heck they're doing something that may either surprise or flop.

The exhaust pipes look verrry basic. They're going to change those as well.

That bulky engine intake almost seems unnecessary, who knows if it might change?

The foundation of the car is good so it's not worrying. The more the car looks like it's competitors the easier to pin point aero problems by elimination; if they have any.
They'll be in the mix for sure.

[GSBellew]

What if they are not part of the crash structure though, and are just a carbon fibre divider splitting the intake in two, they would not need to be covered then and it could be part of the design as it is

Could air be channelled down an intake like that and let out at the rear for some benefit, giving a similar effect to the lower sidepods on the Mclaren but allowing Mercedes to direct the channelled air to where they want it to maximise its effect?

[LoudHoward]

Both drivers previously stated they were immediately comfortable with W02, which is a great sign considering both were immediately not comfortable with W01.

"The first impressions of the car were very positive"

"It felt great"

"It felt good, yes"

"It generally felt very good"

Quotes from Nico Rosberg, February 1st 2010.

[timbo]

Their exposure is illegal

Why? Can't remember anything relevant.

[ringo]

3.8.6 The impact absorbing structures defined by Article 15.5.2 must be fully enclosed by bodywork, such that no part of the impact structure is in contact with the external air flow. When cut by a longitudinal vertical plane, the bodywork enclosing these impact structures must not form closed sections in the region between 450mm and 875mm forward of the rear edge of the cockpit template.

It's basically saying that you cant have crash structures out in the open air, and if you try to be smart and put a tube over them to say the external air isn't contacting it, the second part of the regulation ensures closed sections like tubes can't be used to encase the structure.

15.5.2 Between the front and rear roll structures, on each side of the survival cell, impact absorbing structures
must be fitted and must be solidly attached to it. The purpose of these structures is to protect the driver in the event of a lateral impact and, in order to ensure this is the case, a lateral strength test in the vicinity of the driver's seating position must be carried out successfully. Details of the test procedure may be found in Article 18.2.2.