Mercedes GP W02

[Raptor22]

you forgot the blade roll over protection structure

[amouzouris]

I cant understand why u guys are so impatient...i am a mercedes fun too...everything will be revealed...just have a little faith in mercedes and Brawn...also i think that we shouldnt be hunting radical solutions but solutions that work cause sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones!!

[PlatinumZealot]

Volarchico
Dont expect too much, Mercedes have said Bahrain.


Racingmaniac

Even now, though, Newey, 51, still takes a day out every week to sit back at the drawing board in his home to sketch his thoughts, from the concept of the entire car to individual parts. They are handed to Red Bull’s designers and translated into electronic programs to be tested by computers and in wind tunnels. So far, the sketch pad has proved unerringly correct.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 139297.ece

"The way I work, I try to absorb a particular problem through looking at results, listening to drivers at the circuit, looking at a problem on a computer, trying to understand how the car is operating mechanically and aerodynamically, and what problems it has. And from that, if it ticks away in my subconscious for the next week, an idea will pop out."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ma ... y-red-bull



Its not just a Newey penned car granted. He has other computer biased engineers to do that. But it doesnt half help to have a man like Newey looking over your shoulder and giving you ideas or pushing the car in a certain direction.
Newey is the name which is responsible for the RB design, and many of its ideas are credited to him solely and the way he works.

My point here is no team other than Red Bull operate in this way. To do so you need a Newey type

I think every team operates that way. Any time ANY engineer or designer does a design he sketches them out first. It's easier to just draw with a pencil first. So the difference is not because the concept is done on paper, which everybody does, the difference is just Adrian Newey.

[Timstr]

Problem is, had RedBull built a car that looked like W02, and Mercedes looked like RB7....

Really? Wow.

Anyway, I'm curious what people think is going to be done to this car between the Barcelona tests and Bahrain, because it's clear Mercedes aren't going to bring much else with them on Friday.

Expectations:
New front wing
New rear wing
New molding around the rear
New exhaust treatment like Red Bull's

Possibilities:
Reworked sidepods
Reworked exhaust to a more radical location

Very curious about what's going to happen (if anything) around the currently visible crash structures.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/540 ... fa90_o.jpg

[Chalke]

When I look at the way the sidepods and engine cover meet the floor, something doesn't quite sit right with the W02 we've seen so far. There's an abrupt join where they meet at almost right angles and have no relation to one another.

Taking a look particularly at the other challengers this year, and in recent years too, there seems to be a trend for the unpainted carbon floor to flow and curve upwards to meet the shape of the sidepod to form a uniform curve. Considering the BGP01 looked sinificantly more advanced in this area I don't believe that Brawn and his team would design such a package this year. The W02 looks shockingly agricultural in this area, leading me to believe that there will be significant changes from the airbox back to be revealed before this car races.

I also expect a new front wing too as most of the frontrunning teams appear to be holding them back until a later test. Firstly, because RB, Ferrari, Mclaren etc seem to be running last years wing with little development over the past few months, and secondly as they are particularly exposed and as a result their in danger of being photographed and copied in the shortest time/with least effort.

[dren]

While I expect new front wings from most teams, I don't expect any of the new wings to be radically different. The teams have been developing the front wings for the past two seasons. I would think they are just fine tuning things at this point. I expect the Mercedes front wing to look almost the same as the test wing with the possiblity of 3 planes, or the little inlets like they ran in the last test.

[vealio]

From autosport forum:

-upgrade package is expected to include modificated front wing, brake ducts, turning vanes, sidepods and new exhaust solution, which is different from what we have seen on other cars
-car used in Valencia and Jerez had problems with cooling in few areas
-degradation of tyres on Mercedes is high, but they will work on it during next tests
-at Jerez rears were degrading very fast, while fronts were graining
-Mercedes won't throw more money into team

source: autosport print edition

[dren]

From autosport forum:

-upgrade package is expected to include modificated front wing, brake ducts, turning vanes, sidepods and new exhaust solution, which is different from what we have seen on other cars
-car used in Valencia and Jerez had problems with cooling in few areas
-degradation of tyres on Mercedes is high, but they will work on it during next tests
-at Jerez rears were degrading very fast, while fronts were graining
-Mercedes won't throw more money into team

source: autosport print edition

Is that just what the people on the forum there are expecting? Also, I thought Mercedes was or did buy more shares of the team?

[vealio]

It´s from the autosport magazine. Headline "Mercedes in trouble. Why Shu faces another year of struggle!".

[Richard]

It´s from the autosport magazine. Headline "Mercedes in trouble. Why Shu faces another year of struggle!".

aka - boost sales using a headline about F1 using Schumacher, Mercedes and doom.

Punters always prefer tales of woe to ones of success.

[bonjon1979]

Another theory - Mercedes insiders are trying to fuel rumors of a bad car to lower the share price before they buy a load of them from Ross Brawn...tin hat off.

[marcush.]

from what we know -Mercedes shortest car suspiciously unsophisticated transition between sidepod and floor....+ exposed sidecrash structure

brings me to the conclusion we will see very different sidepods .May it be Mercedes has decided to lift them sidepods entirely from the floor?
A duct between radiator and tub seems unlikely as they have a wide tub (how else would you arrive at this short wheelbase).so either you lower the sidepod Mclaren style but: why would you come up with a interim floor now ? More likely is the the second line of thought :lift the whole pod and create a channel for the air under it and fix the temporary pod somehow to the floor.

[Ferraripilot]

so either you lower the sidepod Mclaren style but: why would you come up with a interim floor now ? More likely is the the second line of thought :lift the whole pod and create a channel for the air under it and fix the temporary pod somehow to the floor.

+1 Just what I was thinking. They definitely have something up their sleeves

[dren]

from what we know -Mercedes shortest car suspiciously unsophisticated transition between sidepod and floor....+ exposed sidecrash structure

brings me to the conclusion we will see very different sidepods .May it be Mercedes has decided to lift them sidepods entirely from the floor?
A duct between radiator and tub seems unlikely as they have a wide tub (how else would you arrive at this short wheelbase).so either you lower the sidepod Mclaren style but: why would you come up with a interim floor now ? More likely is the the second line of thought :lift the whole pod and create a channel for the air under it and fix the temporary pod somehow to the floor.

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like they may shoot for a double floor and have side pod inlets similar to the BGP01. This would explain their cooling issues and them wanting to get it sorted out.

[amouzouris]

from what we know -Mercedes shortest car suspiciously unsophisticated transition between sidepod and floor....+ exposed sidecrash structure

brings me to the conclusion we will see very different sidepods .May it be Mercedes has decided to lift them sidepods entirely from the floor?
A duct between radiator and tub seems unlikely as they have a wide tub (how else would you arrive at this short wheelbase).so either you lower the sidepod Mclaren style but: why would you come up with a interim floor now ? More likely is the the second line of thought :lift the whole pod and create a channel for the air under it and fix the temporary pod somehow to the floor.

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like they may shoot for a double floor and have side pod inlets similar to the BGP01. This would explain their cooling issues and them wanting to get it sorted out.

I agree...sidepods like the ones on BGP 01 would explain the current crash structure...added, the bgp 01 sidepods i think would be ideal for the double floor...