Mercedes GP W02

[vealio]

precautionary engine change

[segedunum]

Rectangular holes in the front wing. What good could that do?

As many people have been telling them for eighteen months, a double element front wing doesn't provide enough stability under braking and when the wing is close to the ground. They have this as a stop-gap because they still don't know how to make a triple element front wing work.

[F1_eng]

segedunum,

What a crazy thing to say.

Can I ask, what are your credentials?
You are entitled to your oppinion but I would like to know how you are in a position to make this judgement.

Maybe you should send an email to Ross Brawn and tell him that other teams use a tripple element wing.

Thanks.

[Ferraripilot]

Hulkenberg is essentially saying he likes the balance of the Mercedes but is also noting it's oversteer at certain areas of the track. Most notable however is Hulk's statement of how outright dominant Red Bull's machine is noting how early and steady Webber can sit on the throttle with RB7.


German translated From Hulk:
In the two third-gear corners before the chicane, there are loud Hülkenberg not much to see. "They're nothing special. The Renault has there little understeer, but he is effective when the rear brakes unstable." When Mercedes is it the other way around. The tail is still on the road, but Rosberg must fight under control with a lot more. " Also, the Ferrari is under steering through the corners. Massa is still early in the gas. "The car is good-natured," noted Hülkenberg. "Even if there are riots in the street is, it seems clear faster than the Mercedes." The Toro Rosso has more of a problem on the rear axle. The tail always wobble a bit. "

[luca]

Here's a bigger picture of the "new" front wing (click to zoom in):



Here's one of the old wing for comparison:



Both pictures were taken today.

[luca]

I found the following statement on another forum (I can't find it on the Mercedes GP website though):

Mercedes GP

Nico Rosberg was on duty in Jerez today for the fourth and final day to conclude the team’s second pre-season test.

Nico’s programme was to continue the set-up and development work from the previous three days, alongside further acclimatisation to the KERS system. A precautionary engine change interrupted the programme with good work from the team enabling Nico to go back out on track by mid-afternoon for a series of aerodynamic development evaluations. Nico completed 45 laps today.

The next track action will be the four-day test which starts at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya on Friday 18 February.

Nico Rosberg: “Every lap is beneficial in pre-season testing and the work that we achieved today was good, however the long stoppage was unfortunate. It’s a steep learning curve and there is a lot of hard work ahead, but with the developments that we have to come, I am confident that we will continue to progress.”

Ross Brawn: “The four days in Jerez have proved to be extremely useful for the team, although the test has not been without its challenges. We had good reliability for the middle two days which allowed us to accumulate a lot of mileage, however there are issues to be resolved so that we can maximise our track time for the remaining two tests. Both Michael and Nico continue to feel comfortable in the car and our priorities remain on reliability, developing our understanding of the tyres and the KERS, whilst simultaneously pushing on with the developments still to come.”

[Pierce89]

In fact not new, Renault and MC Laren had almost same design last year.

The others you refer to are true slot gaps.Merc just took a bite out to simulate an extra slot. This should help alleviate any seperations at lower ride heights.(Should help turn in the most, because two piece wing get seperation at low ride height or when wheels are steered more so than a three piece would.)

[dren]

Looks like there are new lines/winglets on the side of the nose too.

[racer_boy]

From an earlier post, does anyone realise that the sidepods on the 'launch' poster below don't look at all like the test version...

This might be a little clearer.

[racer_boy]

....but in this post... notice in the areas where the 'covers' are missing that their profile looks very similar to the pre-launch teaser shot above. Hmmm.. wonder what is coming up in the next test.

I was wondering the same thing. What are those???

[racer_boy]

Something else some of you might find interesting... I don't think we will be seeing very much of the W02 'test bodywork again... look at just how badly finished it is... lots of pock marks and dents...esp near the "ExpostBrief" sticker on the front sidepod edge they really didn't care very much about the aero on the test car did they?

[Mandrake]

Something else some of you might find interesting... I don't think we will be seeing very much of the W02 'test bodywork again... look at just how badly finished it is... lots of pock marks and dents...esp near the "ExpostBrief" sticker on the front sidepod edge they really didn't care very much about the aero on the test car did they?

[img]http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/gall ... 09.jpg[img]

Let's hope it's just their "not caring for testing parts" and not the general quality standard in fabrication

But I do not think that there will be something revolutionary coming from Mercedes. All the other teams have at least partly shown what innovative technique they have developed for this season. I cannot imagine that the good testing mileage Mercedes had overall is wasted for running around with a fake car.

Either that or the W02 features something soooooo incredibly awesome that Ross has all the reasons to hide until the last possible point in time.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I agree with some of what you say Mandrake.

Equally I get the feeling there is something we arent seeing from Mercedes. I had this same sensation from the W01, and it proved to be a false dawn.

However we hear they have a few "steps" on the way. The slots are for KERS battery installation I think, Or actuall KERS.
The heating problems Mercedes have thus far experienced indicate they are either running far hotter than anticpated(likely) or that the team know they were always going to have this problem initially, but that they have some plans to fix that(also credible).

I think we will see a slightly more evolved car for the next test this friday, before we see the finalised and race ready car for the Bahrain test in couple of weeks time.

Not expecting miracles, but I think there is potential for Mercedes to surprise us with a development or 2.

[thosman]

Hi all, first actual post here but I've been longtime reader!

Just my 2 pence worth, but from what I'm hearing from, lets a 'friend', the car is a couple of seconds of the pace and the updates are not looking like they will be ready in time for the start of the season.

Make of that what you will!

[Med4224]

a merc engineer said that the arrow will be revamped in the coming days as a build up for Baharain. They have serious developments coming up. Insisted that it is not just talk.. He avoided to say why it is so late though or to give any specifics

personal, not official source