Mercedes GP W02

[forty-two]

http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/gall ... ev/410.jpg


Has anyone noticed the hole below the air intakes of the sidepots?

Not sure I know where you mean. I see a bit of chequerboard CF there, but i don't know that it's a hole per-se.

[forty-two]

I don't understand the wing appendage. It's just a verticle bargeboard without the bottom third.

Actually, now you come to mention it, the bargeboards are basically missing!

I think they must have been doing some tests of some particular components, as the panels atop the sidepods were also missing.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

42

Why do you think that is? Missing panels? Non flush fitting parts? Burning bodywork? Dinked bodywork?

The W01 was well enough finished. Why with more investment would the W02 not be?
Logic dictates otherwise, let us WAIT and see

[forty-two]

You tell me JET, but to my eye, there are two panels missing above the sidepods in an apparently non-aero defined way.

As for the bargeboards, or lack thereof, perhaps they're trying something new.

It's just odd to see an F1 car running around like this even during testing IMO.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Well I cannot say definitively.

What I can say is the team arent bothered. They are trundling round doing the rounds and gathering the data. The only panic appears to be media driven.

Schuamcher had "concerns" about the cars pace. Really? He was more "concerned" about reliability than anything to do with pace.
Mercedes GP have a plan, if it fails people like segedunum can have their little moment. I will savour the drive home in my 220CDI while he enjoys his Red Bull, so any comparison is tantamount to chalk and cheese.

But I will be sure to mention many pointers these detractors have already posted as a "given", even though we havent seen the finished product yet.
Its easy to berate and troll, harder to understand.

[Ferraripilot]

Well I cannot say definitively.

What I can say is the team arent bothered. They are trundling round doing the rounds and gathering the data. The only panic appears to be media driven.

Schuamcher had "concerns" about the cars pace. Really? He was more "concerned" about reliability than anything to do with pace.
Mercedes GP have a plan, if it fails people like segedunum can have their little moment. I will savour the drive home in my 220CDI while he enjoys his Red Bull, so any comparison is tantamount to chalk and cheese.

But I will be sure to mention many pointers these detractors have already posted as a "given", even though we havent seen the finished product yet.
Its easy to berate and troll, harder to understand.

I would never base my opinion on lap times at the moment. It's Schu coming out and saying they are not title contenders that worries me lol. I seriously want MB and Schu to lay waste to the others, but jeez he sure doesn't make it sound good at the moment.

[forty-two]

Well I cannot say definitively.

What I can say is the team arent bothered. They are trundling round doing the rounds and gathering the data. The only panic appears to be media driven.

Schuamcher had "concerns" about the cars pace. Really? He was more "concerned" about reliability than anything to do with pace.
Mercedes GP have a plan, if it fails people like segedunum can have their little moment. I will savour the drive home in my 220CDI while he enjoys his Red Bull, so any comparison is tantamount to chalk and cheese.

But I will be sure to mention many pointers these detractors have already posted as a "given", even though we havent seen the finished product yet.
Its easy to berate and troll, harder to understand.

Sorry JET, perhaps my post came accross wrong. I was not trolling, just wondering what they were up to.

I too am getting fed up with certain posters who seem to spend their entire time knocking other teams in order to support their favourites. As you probably know if you've hadthe misfortune (in some people's eyes) of reading many of my posts, that isn't my style.

Sorry for any confusion that my post may have caused, it was certainly not my intention to run down Merc, or indeed any other team. I just wanted to know what they're up to!

[forty-two]

I would never base my opinion on lap times at the moment. It's Schu coming out and saying they are not title contenders that worries me lol. I seriously want MB and Schu to lay waste to the others, but jeez he sure doesn't make it sound good at the moment.

Of course, that could be verbal sandbagging!

[Raptor22]

Merc have been using just one chassis thus far for testing correct?

So why is that? Other teams have their 2nd chassis available for running already.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Not at all meant to you Forty-two.

There is just an element that deviates from constructive debate to sticking the boot in.
Mercedes will not beat Red Bull this year. Any comparison will always end in Red Bulls favour.
Mercedes will want to be more competitive in relation to them though, and this will only be fully possible to judge in Bahrain(or whichever venue the next test will and race will be held).
If Mercedes qualify 9th and 10th, there will be some questions raised as to why the team havent move forward.

But action is needed, and action is being taken. It just takes time.

[marcush.]

Is Michaels english well enough to bring across the finer points towards the press ? I doubt this.
to me(as german) the Autosport statement says:
I have burnt my fingers last year already stating my aim was WDC .Now I´m not going to promise anything ,but at this time I can state the car is a clear improvement over last years.
Additionally I´m judging only the car I drove ,not the updates we will bring for the seasons start,especially in the light of not knowing what others will add .
End of story.

[andrew]

This is just a carbon copy of 2010, which was just an embarrassment for all concerned.

Unfortunately, it looks like Merc have screwed up yet again and have let their drivers down. I had looked forward to Schumacher being given a car worthy of a 7 time champion that will allow him to chalwnge for number 8, but this seems not to
be the case. As last year, they are pinning their hopes on updates - not good.

Merc remins me of Toyota. Massive budget but nothing in return. I can see the Merc board reaching for the plug with the intention of well and truely pulling.

[Med4224]

from Autosport.com

" @TeamAnglais provides some more long-run analysis:

Yesterday we also had a 13-lap run by Mercedes and an 11-lap run by McLaren, two teams that have question marks about their abilities over longer runs - Mercedes because its drop-off has been steeper than the other frontrunners in the previous tests, McLaren because it hasn't yet done enough long stints to show anything one way or the other.

Schumacher begins with a 27.5 but his time drops straight into the 28s and is nearly three seconds slower after just nine laps. Button meanwhile, starts in the 28s and is just two seconds slower than that after 10 laps - but by that time he would have been five seconds behind Schumacher if these times were set in a race.

Schumacher
27.5, 28.3, 28.6, 28.7, 28.4, 28.4, 29.4, 31.2, 30.2, 29.8, 29.8, 30.5, 30.2

Button
28.1, 28.9, 28.9, 29.1, 29.4, 30.2, 42.9, 30.1, 30.3, 30.2, 30.7"

Even though it is impossible to accurately compare the 2.
It seems to me that those writing off Mercedes should be more concerned with Mclarens. Granted we don't know fuel loads or tyre types or testing objectives, but Michael seems faster than Button on similar-length stints.

Keep in mind, Mclaren have a finished car (relatively). The Merc is far from finished.

So yay

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Massive budget? Where from?


Mercedes have said time and again they want a near self sustaining team. They have the smallest budget of all the top 4 teams, despite what the idiot Mateshitsz claims.
So how could they be doing a Toyota?

Secondly Schumacher has had more than enough championship winning cars, more than any other driver in the history of the sport, a fact backed up by mediocre team mates getting wins and second place in WDC's. Placing him in a car does not entitle it to be "championship winning", nice as the thought is.

We have seen the car has pace, even with 10 lpas fuel on board. We have seen that although its not as consistent as the Ferrari Or Red Bull, its as consistent as any other machine.

And we are seeing today that this car has already put on 145 laps including Schumachers stint yesterday, with more laps to go this afteroon. This is exactly what Mercedes are looking for, reliability.

Anything else is secondary.

[murtoidf1]

Mercedes and McLaren look just a worrying as each other at the moment.

The only reason people are less worried about McLaren is because they are a bigger team, and at least they have a radical design..

The mercedes APPEARS to look very conservative too.. almost like an mp4 21 or 22 with those sidepods..

of course this year, conservative red bull clones maybe the way to go - we just don't know yet.