Mercedes GP W02

[dren]

Looks like Nico may be good in qualifying. I don't know how the Renaults will stack up yet. Should be a shootout between Alonso and Hamilton the way it looks now. There is the potential for row two for Nico.

[ell66]

The W02 is looking very very good on mid to high fuel loads.

Just saw Nico pump in a 1:19.7 around 4 seconds off the pace, but that Mercedes didnt display anything untoward during the run, leading me to think its well sorted for the weekend.

Watching Alonso in the Ferrari is traumatic! He is quicker but thats him carrying the car...I could be wrong....

hmm not to sure there, nico's long runs were a decent amount off vettel, alonso and hamilton.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

We dont know fuel loads.

Mercedes are now running alot heavier than they used to, to achieve optimal set up.

What you can tell is that visually, Mercedes has better balance than the Ferrari. Massa and Alonso got their times alright, but how ragged were both of them getting there?

[marcush.]

monaco will be a solid two cars in the points finish but a podium ?somehow I don´t see Nico on the rostrum and Schumacher seems to struggle a bit.

Ferrari need to show off in Monaco ,i would say they looked ver low fuel to me...

[ell66]

We dont know fuel loads.

Mercedes are now running alot heavier than they used to, to achieve optimal set up.

What you can tell is that visually, Mercedes has better balance than the Ferrari. Massa and Alonso got their times alright, but how ragged were both of them getting there?

true but in general there race pace is pretty poor. also not unusual to see drivers looking out of shape at monaco, i can see nico qualifing in tbout 3rd though.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

By FP2 the cars should be sorted.

In my view, a wild a flailing car will not be suitable for an entire race around Monaco as one that is predictable.

[Raptor22]

Michael worked on race set up while Nico is workingon quaifying set up.
This also explains why generally Nico is quicker than Michael in Qualifying but Michael generally has better race pace but not track position.

Merc could be the spoiler in the pack for this weekend. I would not be surprised to see both Merc's in the top 4.

[roadwarrior]

One thing that concerns me is with Michael, that when ever you get any on board shots of him you can always hear him spinning the rear wheels out of slow corners and sometimes even hitting the limiter. I don't know if Nico is doing this too and it's it's lack of grip from Merc or that Michael is being too aggressive on the throttle. Surely if it's Michael, his engineers would be telling him of the problem so he can improve - no? But certainly compared to other teams like MCL and RB they don't seem to get as much wheel spin out of the slower corners.

[zac510]

We say this every round: "Mercedes looks good in practice, could be a dark horse in the race."
On Sunday by 1/3 through the race they are back in 5th and 10th and that's where they finish.

[NewtonMeter]

We say this every round: "Mercedes looks good in practice, could be a dark horse in the race."
On Sunday by 1/3 through the race they are back in 5th and 10th and that's where they finish.

Sad but true...

[PlatinumZealot]

One thing that concerns me is with Michael, that when ever you get any on board shots of him you can always hear him spinning the rear wheels out of slow corners and sometimes even hitting the limiter. I don't know if Nico is doing this too and it's it's lack of grip from Merc or that Michael is being too aggressive on the throttle. Surely if it's Michael, his engineers would be telling him of the problem so he can improve - no? But certainly compared to other teams like MCL and RB they don't seem to get as much wheel spin out of the slower corners.

Nico is just better with the car.

[Ferraripilot]

One thing that concerns me is with Michael, that when ever you get any on board shots of him you can always hear him spinning the rear wheels out of slow corners and sometimes even hitting the limiter. I don't know if Nico is doing this too and it's it's lack of grip from Merc or that Michael is being too aggressive on the throttle. Surely if it's Michael, his engineers would be telling him of the problem so he can improve - no? But certainly compared to other teams like MCL and RB they don't seem to get as much wheel spin out of the slower corners.

Nico is just better with the car.

That or Michael's setup window is smaller than what Nico requires to have a *right* car. Michael's line is more aggressive which I believe is the cause of his small setup window.

[roadwarrior]

One thing that concerns me is with Michael, that when ever you get any on board shots of him you can always hear him spinning the rear wheels out of slow corners and sometimes even hitting the limiter. I don't know if Nico is doing this too and it's it's lack of grip from Merc or that Michael is being too aggressive on the throttle. Surely if it's Michael, his engineers would be telling him of the problem so he can improve - no? But certainly compared to other teams like MCL and RB they don't seem to get as much wheel spin out of the slower corners.

Nico is just better with the car.

That or Michael's setup window is smaller than what Nico requires to have a *right* car. Michael's line is more aggressive which I believe is the cause of his small setup window.

I just find it odd that Michael and his engineers haven't done more to try resolve this. Surely all the wheel spin is loosing him time out of each corner. Or perhaps not. I guess you need to see the telemetry overlays to know for sure. One thing is for sure and that is that Michael seems to have more setup problems than Nico. Michael's car always looks more unbalanced. I think a problem with the Merc is the small sweet spot. It seems to be very sensitive to changes in track characteristics.

[PlatinumZealot]

In the Ferrari days it was touted by Rosss Brawn that MSC has a broad setup window; he could manhandle cars that were seemingly un-driveable to the average driver. So unless Ross Brawn was lying then...

[Ferraripilot]

In the Ferrari days it was touted by Rosss Brawn that MSC has a broad setup window; he could manhandle cars that were seemingly un-driveable to the average driver. So unless Ross Brawn was lying then...

That or the car was just different or better? Times have changed so who knows.

Anyone know what the new cooling duct might be in charge of cooling? Or is its presence a duct for assisting in routing air to the beam wing?