Mercedes GP W02

[dren]

All true Mercedes fans hope the same. To be honest we should have patience & see what W03 does in Australia before commenting. Let's have faith in Bob Bell & give him time.

Don't forget about the testing season!

I think February 7th is the first test.

[NewtonMeter]

All true Mercedes fans hope the same. To be honest we should have patience & see what W03 does in Australia before commenting. Let's have faith in Bob Bell & give him time.

Don't forget about the testing season!

I think February 7th is the first test.

Noooooooo! DO NOT comment on a damn thing during the testing season! We should all make a solemn pact not to hype any testing times. Even if the W03 tops every test by 2secs and the long runs looks like their front wing will lap their rear we should all still stay firmly with our feet on the ground.

Edit:
Ok, small concession: We may still mock Renault.

[dren]

Haha, it still is fun to talk about the cars features during testing!

[Mr.S]

All true Mercedes fans hope the same. To be honest we should have patience & see what W03 does in Australia before commenting. Let's have faith in Bob Bell & give him time.

Don't forget about the testing season!

I think February 7th is the first test.

Noooooooo! DO NOT comment on a damn thing during the testing season! We should all make a solemn pact not to hype any testing times. Even if the W03 tops every test by 2secs and the long runs looks like their front wing will lap their rear we should all still stay firmly with our feet on the ground.

Edit:
Ok, small concession: We may still mock Renault.

Absolutely. Testing is trash when it comes to time. Red Bull runs on full tanks & tries the softs only on completely worn tires in heavy fuel load whereas people like Mercedes try their ultra low fuel run in soft tyres.


Testing means nothing. I mean how much can you know just by seeing a car run when you have no idea about fuel loads or tyres.You can make guesses which are very wild in nature. Everyone thought Mclaren had a dog of car & no1 thought changing an exhaust will move them up to No.2. Everyone was saying ferrari were superior in terms of race pace when the truth was in the 1st race there were 2s off.

I followed the testing sessions,most of the lap times for long periods of the day & it meant nothing to be honest. March 18th Aus GP we will know where everyone stands. Maybe we will have a good idea come 16th March seeing FP1 & FP2.

[Mr.S]

BTW my 2 cents that members will declare the RB8 will be the standard car before even a lap. Even if the car is 2-3rd fastest which is highly unlikely members will hail newey & say it is the STAND-out car before the season even began. So let's wait & watch.

[Hemsy]

This may not be related to the W02 directly but still give reason for optimism. James Allison has admitted that the reason for Renault's dismal performance after a strong start to the year has been the FEE. Wasn't this the same reason why Bell quit Renault because Allison wanted to go radical & he wasn't convinced it would pay dividends. This shows that Bell is the kind of TD who will stick with tried & tested concepts that show tangible benefits. This means that we won't be taking any gambles like we did this year with the SWB & double radiator concept. Instead what we can expect is a fundamentally sound car that is easy to develop, one that does not have a very narrow set-up window like the W01 & W02.

[MIKEY_!]

Good, a car that they can build on and develop and test stuff for the future.

[dren]

This may not be related to the W02 directly but still give reason for optimism. James Allison has admitted that the reason for Renault's dismal performance after a strong start to the year has been the FEE. Wasn't this the same reason why Bell quit Renault because Allison wanted to go radical & he wasn't convinced it would pay dividends. This shows that Bell is the kind of TD who will stick with tried & tested concepts that show tangible benefits. This means that we won't be taking any gambles like we did this year with the SWB & double radiator concept. Instead what we can expect is a fundamentally sound car that is easy to develop, one that does not have a very narrow set-up window like the W01 & W02.

The Renaults of the past were typically good sound cars that developed well over the season. So the W03 could be similar.

[ESPImperium]

This may not be related to the W02 directly but still give reason for optimism. James Allison has admitted that the reason for Renault's dismal performance after a strong start to the year has been the FEE. Wasn't this the same reason why Bell quit Renault because Allison wanted to go radical & he wasn't convinced it would pay dividends. This shows that Bell is the kind of TD who will stick with tried & tested concepts that show tangible benefits. This means that we won't be taking any gambles like we did this year with the SWB & double radiator concept. Instead what we can expect is a fundamentally sound car that is easy to develop, one that does not have a very narrow set-up window like the W01 & W02.

The Renaults of the past were typically good sound cars that developed well over the season. So the W03 could be similar.

The main let down of the MGP W01 was the lack of mechanichal grip in comparison to the 3 main cars last year that had gob loads of mechanichal grip. As for the MGP W02 was the lack of aero grip, the other extreme. The serviceability of the Mercedes cars over the past 2 years have been good as they have been relitivly easy to upgrade with new concepts, especially last year. This year they have been crude but effective upgrades on the car, but i feel that Mercedes are developing next years car over what they could put onto the W02 chassis as they cant be cought by Renault and cant catch Ferrari.

Mercedes will come on strong next year with a good baseline car as the cars that Bob Bell has been involved with at Renault have came on strong from the start or been good cars that have been really upgradeable and serviceable as they season runs on. I think the MGP W03 will be a car that comes on with a good baseline that will keep them in 4th in the car stakes, but as they season goes on they will move up, and as the season ends, id expect them to be in with the Mc-Bull-Arri front three.

After all it will be the first year in this Formula of regulations that started in 2009 that will have a relitivly stable rules set with the only changes being the nose posistion and the exhaust posistion changing. And on a stableish rules set, the cars always come alot closer to each other than what they were the season previous.

[Mr.S]

Apart from all that is said I would like to add that W01 is not good on a straightline & did not do too well in tracks like Monaco,Spa,Montreal especially comapared to Mclaren & how good the Mercedes engines were.Having said that W01 still was a decent car. Around 1s off with all developments on the car being aborted by mid-season. W02 gave us very high expectations before the launch & failed.

If W03 does not manage to be 3rd or 2nd quickest it will be a big dissapointment as well. Everyone wants to see substantial progress,all true Mercedes fans. I trust Bell & I hope the car will be atleast within 0.6-0.7 off pole. The only major rule change is the exhaust,Mercedes have decente experience with a low nose.

Seriously they should make substantial progress & push the Top 3. If Bell is as good as people say,there is no reason not to make a big progress.

[yener]

Lack "aero" grip? I think they lack mechanical grip. They lose everything is slow corners. Just like in Monaco where they were really of the pace.

The car would be a lot better if they wouldnt take radical decisions indeed. The good thing is they tried so many stupid things that the wo3 can only be better.


Ross Brawn may have said things like they won't fight for the championship next season, believe me they will. But if the RBR8 is still so fast as the RBR7 they might struggle a bit. They know right now how to develope and test the car. Last year they developed a car which was fast over 1 lap. For the next season they will create and develope a car which is fast over the lang runs. And the long runs times, thats what counts in the current rules of the Formula 1.

Mercedes should and will concentrate on the diffuser, floor, suspension, brakes and exhaust. They shouldn't waste to much time at the shape of the car. It will not give them much advantage.

[aral]

In singapore, it was noticable that the W02 had an opening below the airbox, on each side. Initially , I thought that this was to aid cooling, but then I noticed that it was a clear plastic panel. Does anyone know the reason for this clear panel?

[gridwalker]

Do you have a good pic of that?

[dren]

Let's get away from team talk, that should be on the team thread.

In singapore, it was noticable that the W02 had an opening below the airbox, on each side. Initially , I thought that this was to aid cooling, but then I noticed that it was a clear plastic panel. Does anyone know the reason for this clear panel?

I read Rosberg had something extra around that area for better cooling for a single deck radiator design. I don't know if they ran it in the race...didn't seem like it.

Any pics?

[aral]

Sorry, no pics. But it was very noticable on TV shots. So if you have the race or qualy recorded, you should notice the panels.