Mercedes GP W02

[xpensive]

This thread is growing a strange scent of...that's it, USF1!

[Ferraripilot]

I was thinking what if Merc is trying to blow over the diffuser with the double floor style sidepods and the beam wing with some clever exhaust positioning? could this be possible? for example, placing the exhaust just over the current location, could this work?

no I don't think so.

[andrew]

Take a look at what our beloved Norbert( ) has told Auto Motor und Sport :
http://www.f1.co.uk/read-news/1190/haug ... prise-you/

Note the use of the infamous IF.

[jasonrobert]

Take a look at what our beloved Norbert( ) has told Auto Motor und Sport :
http://www.f1.co.uk/read-news/1190/haug ... prise-you/

I will confess I am a mercedes optimist, and even I think he is talking bollocks.

[wesley123]

When such messages are coming out of such guys the team usually is in problems.

But I think they may surprise us, being it in a negative way.

[Ferraripilot]

When such messages are coming out of such guys the team usually is in problems.

But I think they may surprise us, being it in a negative way.

Well, as I said many times before. They are either genius or struggling. I like to think that because they are the only team using the 'interim car' rhetoric and always have been using this rhetoric that they know exactly what they are doing. This car is a test-bed for the new mechanicals, cooling, and generally making sure systems are playing nice, and then the go-fast goodies mount-up for the race practice or last test.

[marcush.]

The one thing that does make me scratch my head and wonder:
Mclaren l-shaped sidepods and wherever their exhausts end,Toro rosso with elevated sidepods ,williams with no gearbox (almost),Renault with a forward exit exhaust...what on earth do Mercedes have to hide compared to what we have already seen?
Or is it the other way round ..they have waited for all to present their preciosa and picked the cherries and build their own aerokit only after witnessing the competitors winter work

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Marcush,

I think we need to use this post as a reference for anyone jumping into the thread. Amend it as you see fit, but...


Rather than rush it out they decided to gather data on tyres and KERS, Tyres which the team have always historically suffered with, and KERS they have never run.

This could be the signs of Mercedes ownership first hand.
Problem with tyres plaguing the team? Sort that out first, get an understanding of what the black things do then go for your fancy updates.
Never run KERS? Get the team do 4000kms to test it, get used to it, be comfortable with the tech so that it cannot hamper them during the season.

As Brawn has repeatedly said, the plan was always to start with a basic car and gather as much information as they could. He told us this in Valenica, Sam Micheal of Williams and Scarbs verified the basic nature of the car.
Even some of F1technicals very own uber experts who know far better than Brawn, have pointed out the rough finish of the car.

So what do we have? A car that we were forwarned to be of fairly undeveloped nature to do the initial tests of Mercedes hardware and Pirelli tyres. As it turns out we have seen this. 2 element front wing that can trace its roots to the BGP001, no side fences on the pods, exposed KERS cooling, and a rough finish to alot of key areas as well as burn marks in heat sensitive areas of the car.

Even in this guise, the car has demonstrated reasonable pace. Granted nothing fantastic or up to Red Bull or Ferrari, but what can you expect? They are aiming for a win this year, not the championship as this is unrealistic in light of what they are up against.

Further to that, we havent even seen what all they have to give. There is far more development potential in the W02 than any car in the top 5, thats how basic it is.
Maybe a step at a time is the way forward than a leap that will lead to a fall.

Alternatively Mercedes could be in the mire. But I cannot see how a car with some serious time spent on development has turned into a less well finished car than the W01, which was made by most of the same people and even less cash!
Where is the logic in this? This is the pivotal question that not a single detractor will be able to answer with any degree of insight other than pure speculation. Blame the BAR/Honda/Brawn setup/engineers etc etc...but Mercedes and Brawn have already changed the setup through last year, and for those questioning the team and wether it a Leopard can change its spots...Stewart/Jag/Red bull anyone?

It took Red Bull 5 years to win WITH Newey, and 6 years to win a championship. And that was with a large cheque every year. Mercedes are in year 2, To question the W02 and the team as incompetant is so short sighted as it is unfair.

If Mercedes win a round on merit this year, it will make a mockery of what some have said. If they dont, it will be another year of dissapointment. But one that the team have to be given the chance to learn from. Setbacks and dissapointments are part and parcel of F1, you dont get to the top by being impatient as Honda and BMW can testify, Along with toyotas stupednously great example of what not to do.

Im still optimistic for the season.

[djos]

The one thing that does make me scratch my head and wonder:
Mclaren l-shaped sidepods and wherever their exhausts end,Toro rosso with elevated sidepods ,williams with no gearbox (almost),Renault with a forward exit exhaust...what on earth do Mercedes have to hide compared to what we have already seen?

Frankly I'm leaning in the direction of calling the W02 a boring, unimaginative, unoriginal, conservative and slow car.

[ESPImperium]

I think the above post more or less is a pretty good representation of the Mercedes team.

The team lacked direction from July/August of 2009 when Jorg Zander left as Technichal Director, and last year they effectivly had no technichal direction. Hence the appointment of Bob Bell this year. A guy that has won championships with Renault and polished a turd so to speak with the Renault R28 in 2008 when Alonso won twice (once on merit with 20/20 vision) towards the end of the season.

I think this is what Mercedes are hoping for with Bob Bell, he can polish this car up to a point where it could win a race or two on merrit. However they are restructuring the whole race team as well with Jock Clear now managing the whole team at a race weekend and Andrew Shovlin doing the same job as Phil Prew at McLaren. They are streamlining the whole team, this takes time and will probably be into the middle of the season when things finally be down propper.

Testing the MGP W02 should have been whored, put 100+ laps on it each day, even if it means that you have to put in a TD in it to do one day. So far this would have yelded a test total of almost 5000Km and would have gottn a barrel load of data for the team.

The W02 is basic in design initially, but i think it is good like that so far. Yes it has a couple of warts, but those will have been smoothed before Austrailia. Mercedes are planning a major upgrade for the next test, and from what i have read, are the only team that want the test at Barcelona to be kept at the 8th to 12th of March and not put to the 10th to 13th of March to co-inside with the weekend to get a bumper crowd at the track.

It says to me that Mercedes are a team in transistion, a team trying to make the leap forward before they can even crawl. They need to get the basics entrenched into the teams DNA, as this will make them much stronger and also much harder to beat in the long run.

Id say following the modren example of the Red Bull buisness model, and they will be fine. I have a feeling that the purse strings in Stugart are trying to get success on the quick. And that has gone wrong in the recent past.

[Ben74]

I think the above post more or less is a pretty good representation of the Mercedes team.

The team lacked direction from July/August of 2009 when Jorg Zander left as Technichal Director, and last year they effectivly had no technichal direction. Hence the appointment of Bob Bell this year. A guy that has won championships with Renault and polished a turd so to speak with the Renault R28 in 2008 when Alonso won twice (once on merit with 20/20 vision) towards the end of the season.

I think this is what Mercedes are hoping for with Bob Bell, he can polish this car up to a point where it could win a race or two on merrit. However they are restructuring the whole race team as well with Jock Clear now managing the whole team at a race weekend and Andrew Shovlin doing the same job as Phil Prew at McLaren. They are streamlining the whole team, this takes time and will probably be into the middle of the season when things finally be down propper.

Isn't Jock Clear's new role factory based?

MercGP said this on twitter when somebody asked about his current role:

OfficialMGP: Yes he is... Jock is now heading up the liaison between our factory and track based race engineering operations.

http://twitter.com/#!/OfficialMGP/statu ... 9435660288

[Ben74]

Sorry double post.

[NewtonMeter]

Marcush,
Rather than rush it out they decided to gather data on tyres and KERS, Tyres which the team have always historically suffered with, and KERS they have never run.

This could be the signs of Mercedes ownership first hand.
Problem with tyres plaguing the team? Sort that out first, get an understanding of what the black things do then go for your fancy updates.
Never run KERS? Get the team do 4000kms to test it, get used to it, be comfortable with the tech so that it cannot hamper them during the season.

This is exactly what I've been saying all along... =D>

[NewtonMeter]

Interview with "The Man"

http://www.mercedes-gp.com/en/#/s/news/ ... s-brawn-qa

Some lekker new information.

[Ganxxta]

Thats what most of us wanted to know, I think:

The reliability of the car is now better and our upgrade package is coming together well, ready to be on the car for the fourth and final pre-season test in Barcelona.