Mercedes GP W02

[Med4224]

first time posting
Could someone please summarize the W02 technically?
I've been following the thread for a long time and I saw many negative comments that are based on nothing; Simply conjecture.

The car seems to be a very good car. The only take anyone could have is that it is not as innovative as its competitors' and that it doesn't stand out of the group (which is merely our expectation, not what the team said).
It's a very basic car, and it seems to be great at that level. I do believe that they went in the direction of creating a car with a reliable essence that can be developed greatly and innovatively. This is Ross Brawn. That approach works, but it takes time.

And being a Michael fan since childhood, I am really happy to see him top a chart again. I would like it to silence all those criticizing (I know it won't); But still we shouldn't get too excited, topping the charts is meaningless at this point. The chequered flag of Bahrain 2011, if the arrows miss, lash out all you want.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

first time posting
Could someone please summarize the W02 technically?
I've been following the thread for a long time and I saw many negative comments that are based on nothing; Simply conjecture..

+1
I think some people have an axe to grind. Take no notice

It's a very basic car, and it seems to be great at that level. I do believe that they went in the direction of creating a car with a reliable essence that can be developed greatly and innovatively. This is Ross Brawn. That approach works, but it takes time.

Top of the timesheets bodes well. The W02 still needs finalised ARW, new sidepods(speculated) and a front wing(AMuS rumoured to be 3 element). I reckon the new sidepods are a shoe in, as we havent seen the finalised fences yet.
All in all, the situation is looking much better than it did this time last year.

[Med4224]

thx for the reply
and Chapeau bas on your comments in this form

I am really not worried about Mercedes at all this year. The car is really good as a basis and even if it's not the most competitive, Merc seems to have designed it with an aggressive development program in mind.

The only thing to worry about is that if their aero pack is due in the final tests, then it wouldn't get enough testing time and reliability could be an issue in the first couple of races.

Mercedes, Brawn and Schumacher are not the kind of team to make the same mistakes twice.

[myurr]

JET, I wouldn't read James Allen's latest report on the Jerez action then. Summarised as Schumacher had the fastest lap but was still a long way back on the long runs...

Witnesses trackside said that Webber was following Schumacher on a long run in the afternoon and had to frequently drop back to create space before closing up again. The Red Bull was visibly superior under braking and in the faster corners.

[ringo]

JET, I wouldn't read James Allen's latest report on the Jerez action then. Summarised as Schumacher had the fastest lap but was still a long way back on the long runs...

Witnesses trackside said that Webber was following Schumacher on a long run in the afternoon and had to frequently drop back to create space before closing up again. The Red Bull was visibly superior under braking and in the faster corners.

oh deer.

[dbwmhn]

Ferrari was on Super Soft too. Massa says in an Interview, that they taste out all tyres.

[Med4224]

JET, I wouldn't read James Allen's latest report on the Jerez action then. Summarised as Schumacher had the fastest lap but was still a long way back on the long runs...

Witnesses trackside said that Webber was following Schumacher on a long run in the afternoon and had to frequently drop back to create space before closing up again. The Red Bull was visibly superior under braking and in the faster corners.

oh deer.

Both of them being on a long stint don't mean they have the same fuel load and tire wear a tthe same time, could be very different

Besides, RB are supposed to be superior. Otherwise they've really done a terrible job over the summer

[segedunum]

Hmmmm. Well, you'll find many people playing the same record around here.

Anyway......

"We were focusing on long runs yesterday, and that was the same today," Schumacher told reporters in Jerez. "But today we tried the very soft tyres."

"If I'm correct, my fastest lap came at the start of a 10 lap run. I don't know if that is short - you may interpret it how you want."

Soft tyres and a 10 lap run that can be short or long according to MS. I'd call that pretty short, and given that the very soft tyres give you a good couple of seconds before falling completely off...... Well, we'll see that's all I'll say........

My summary of the W02 got lost in amongst all the other stuff around here, but it still stands after today. Basically, they've got a pull-rod rear suspension that doesn't seem to be used to good effect because the sidepods they have obscure too much space and they still have that two-element front wing that they've struggled with for eighteen months. That's really all that I can give you. Trust me. This is not a good car next to its rivals.

For a car that's supposedly been in development for months and where they completely gave up resources on last year's car to develop it, it's exceptionally poor. Williams have had a gearbox in development for almost a year to trim down their rear end, Torro Rosso have a double floor and Lotus and Virgin look as if they've moved forwards.

[Ferraripilot]

Ferrari was on Super Soft too. Massa says in an Interview, that they taste out all tyres.

Yeah I have been hearing the super softs are falling apart during the hot lap. I wonder if that was case with Ferrari. Heading out on supers and then they fall off after half a lap.

[Med4224]

Hmmmm. Well, you'll find many people playing the same record around here.

Anyway......

"We were focusing on long runs yesterday, and that was the same today," Schumacher told reporters in Jerez. "But today we tried the very soft tyres."

"If I'm correct, my fastest lap came at the start of a 10 lap run. I don't know if that is short - you may interpret it how you want."

Soft tyres and a 10 lap run that can be short or long according to MS. I'd call that pretty short, and given that the very soft tyres give you a good couple of seconds before falling completely off...... Well, we'll see that's all I'll say........

My summary of the W02 got lost in amongst all the other stuff around here, but it still stands after today. Basically, they've got a pull-rod rear suspension that doesn't seem to be used to good effect because the sidepods they have obscure too much space and they still have that two-element front wing that they've struggled with for eighteen months. That's really all that I can give you. Trust me. This is not a good car next to its rivals.

For a car that's supposedly been in development for months and where they completely gave up resources on last year's car to develop it, it's exceptionally poor. Williams have had a gearbox in development for almost a year to trim down their rear end, Torro Rosso have a double floor and Lotus and Virgin look as if they've moved forwards.

thx for your summary of the car

it may be a record played over and over, but it is true
the tests so far, for us viewers, are inconclusive
Sauber, with all due respect, was second yesterday

however, I do agree that compared to its competitors, the
Merc is a very basic car
It needs a revision of both its wings, sidepods, and exhaust
system. Not to mention they really need to come up with an
innovation of their own if they're hoping to at least win a
race or two this year.

But as a fan, i gotta cross my fingers and hope that this is
just something they put up for testing and not their race-ready
car. Sounds like a long shot. But Brawn says so, so we'll see.

As I see it, RB just did enough to stay on top
Ferrari is fast but not as much as they claimed
they will be. Renault went really brave with their
design. Mclarens went too far with theirs. Mercedes
chose a conservative path eventhough they said they
wouldn't... Till Baharain...

[Lindz]

JET, I wouldn't read James Allen's latest report on the Jerez action then. Summarised as Schumacher had the fastest lap but was still a long way back on the long runs...

Witnesses trackside said that Webber was following Schumacher on a long run in the afternoon and had to frequently drop back to create space before closing up again. The Red Bull was visibly superior under braking and in the faster corners.

oh deer.

Yes. A deer... It's like a horse with horns.

[Lindz]

Top of the timesheets bodes well. The W02 still needs finalised ARW, new sidepods(speculated) and a front wing(AMuS rumoured to be 3 element). I reckon the new sidepods are a shoe in, as we havent seen the finalised fences yet.
All in all, the situation is looking much better than it did this time last year.

Assuming that you are 100% correct on all of this (I'm doubtful, btw) what makes you think any of the other teams are not planning or capable of the same thing? How does it bode well for them to be making significant changes right before the first GP? They spent the better part of a year on this car. It should have come out of the gates as the class of the field. This is a double championship winning squad in 2009!

Anyways, here's the JA article if you feel so inclined: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/02/j ... are-ahead/

[mx_tifoso]

JET, I wouldn't read James Allen's latest report on the Jerez action then. Summarised as Schumacher had the fastest lap but was still a long way back on the long runs...

Witnesses trackside said that Webber was following Schumacher on a long run in the afternoon and had to frequently drop back to create space before closing up again. The Red Bull was visibly superior under braking and in the faster corners.

Surprisingly Webber has just commented on that situation. He basically says that it was down to the tyres, and that one minute he was on Schumacher's gearbox and the next he couldn't keep up; all due to how the tyres drop off in performance.

So all of this has very little to do with the Mercedes or the Red Bull...

Q: Is it still enjoyable to drive the car?
MW: Ah, the car feels still very good, but it is always surprising how lap times can change because of the tyres. One time I can control Michael (Schumacher) very easily, the next thing that happens is that I see his lap time at 1:20.3. But my guess is that this significant oscillation between good and not so good lap times also depends on the fuel load in connection with the tyres’ life.

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 11739.html


But I think that it's still too early to judge the exact situation with this car. I will be in the top five, that's almost for sure, but I doubt that it'll be a race winner though. Let's see how it develops this week and then in Barcelona.

[xpensive]

Anyway......

"We were focusing on long runs yesterday, and that was the same today," Schumacher told reporters in Jerez. "But today we tried the very soft tyres."

"If I'm correct, my fastest lap came at the start of a 10 lap run. I don't know if that is short - you may interpret it how you want."

Soft tyres and a 10 lap run that can be short or long according to MS. I'd call that pretty short, and given that the very soft tyres give you a good couple of seconds before falling completely off...... Well, we'll see that's all I'll say........

Interesting statement from a man known for his impeccable honesty, at times into absurdity some punters would say.

Btw, anyone with knowledge on how many Stuttgart-suits were on holiday on the Spanish Atlantic coast this week?

[marcush.]

the W02 has had some teething problems to start with .Very unusual for the BAR-Honda Brawn Mercedes boys...if anything that team produced very reliable cars (except some engine issues when Honda).
Apart from this you can interpret the avaialble information to your preference or bias.the variables are bigger then total performance deltas this year even more than it was last year.Added to last years fuel tank size you get on top of it:Pirelli new tyre supplier prepared to allow a lot more tyre dropoff thenn Bridgestone ever did.So How much would you allow for this alone? Add to this KERS (who knows if someone uses KERS more than allowed or deliberately does not use it?),Rear wing flap: You meeed to know it´s reliable but why show the opposition how much you can gain using it? .....So that really is a whole lot of time variance in all these 4 areas amassing to whatever 7 seconds or more if you push the limits...the few 10ths of development to be introduced come season opener may decide on who is first or fifth ...but at this time we are in no position at all to have an idea ,especially as the eyewitnesses are all but unbiased.
From my side any time we see published is worth nothing without a clear indication of compound ,fuelload and confirmation of use of performance enhancing
systems.