Mercedes GP W02

[aral]

I fail to see how the team designers can have less knowledge on how to design a car, than some of the posters here. I am sure that the CFD projections showed that an SWB was every bit as effect as a LWB. OK, the design got something wrong, but how can anyone say that it was one specific issue. SWB cars have won races in the past.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

U pods still have value for next year I think.

With the exhaust being taken out the picture, having clear airflow onto the beam wing Without a drag penalty from the side pods could prove useful.

The gist Im getting from Mercedes is the W02 missed all its design targets. Which in a way is good because they can trace back what, how and why these things havent taken shape.

For next year I would not be surprised to see no real design element of the W02 on the W03. I reckon we may be seeing a similar car to the McLaren MP4-26.
I say that because it looks like its the quickest car out there at present, and Red Bulls design is very closely related to the EBD, which we wont see next year.
Allied to the Upods which seemingly wont be affected by the reg change next year.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I fail to see how the team designers can have less knowledge on how to design a car, than some of the posters here.

Ummmm Brawn said they missed the target gilgen. Stipulating exact reasons why they struggle...ie full tanks higher centre of gravity etc etc.

[raymondu999]

Having said that though (RB7 being tied to the EBD); removing the EBD impacted the McLaren most severely when it was done back in Silverstone

[dren]

That is what I am interested in. I'm curious what the design goals were. I'd like to know if they were met, and if the actual car performed to expectations.

I'm guessing the team met certain design goals, but the compromises made elsewhere hurt overall performance. I wonder if they didn't accurately predict the performance hit they would take from the compromises. Or maybe some of those were not expected at all.

[dren]

Having said that though (RB7 being tied to the EBD); removing the EBD impacted the McLaren most severely when it was done back in Silverstone

But remember the RB7 was still blowing the exhaust in that race. The Mercedes engine was hot blowing, hurting those teams the most. The way the rules ended up for that race was goofy.

Although the Mclaren was likely designed around the use of an EBD as well, they just ended up with a less complex design than their initial one.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Having said that though (RB7 being tied to the EBD); removing the EBD impacted the McLaren most severely when it was done back in Silverstone

McLarens car was sensitive to exhaust changes. They had 4 days notice that they had to change it, and this is why it affected them badly.

We saw in testing how many different configurations McLaren tried out, some better than others. I think they tried in the region of 6 or 7 differnt configs.
They kept the same configuration as they had in the previous race, and yes they appeared to lose more.

But thats not a reflection on the car, thats a reflection on what their current design was doing with 10% max blowing off throttle.
Im fairly certain that Red Bull would suffer more in terms of overall performance if the ban remained in place and McLaren bolted on an exhaust better suited to the rule that was due to be implemented.

After all, we havent seen Red Bull tinker with big changes to their exhaust because its probably near to being as well executed as is possible.

...i could be wrong. Just my gut feeling on this.

[dren]

I fail to see how the team designers can have less knowledge on how to design a car, than some of the posters here. I am sure that the CFD projections showed that an SWB was every bit as effect as a LWB. OK, the design got something wrong, but how can anyone say that it was one specific issue. SWB cars have won races in the past.

The BGP001 had a relatively short wheelbase compared to the rest didn't it? Under the current set of regulations and level of technology, it seems that a longer wheelbase works best.

[raymondu999]

Having said that though (RB7 being tied to the EBD); removing the EBD impacted the McLaren most severely when it was done back in Silverstone

But remember the RB7 was still blowing the exhaust in that race. The Mercedes engine was hot blowing, hurting those teams the most. The way the rules ended up for that race was goofy.

Although the Mclaren was likely designed around the use of an EBD as well, they just ended up with a less complex design than their initial one.

Doesn't the fact that they needed hot blowing; as opposed to just cold blowing like the RBR; say something? Hot blowing gives more effect than cold blowing. When you take that away EBD; you will take away more from those who are hot blowing

[dren]

It is really hard to compare because it was apples to oranges between the three main engines the way the rules ended up being. It's hard to say which car would perform better if you completely took away the EBDs.

[raymondu999]

It is really hard to compare because it was apples to oranges between the three main engines the way the rules ended up being. It's hard to say which car would perform better if you completely took away the EBDs.

As I remember it at the end of the day everyone was restricted to 10% cold blowing; all the rules about different rules for each engine were scrapped on Saturday morning.

[dren]

That's my fault then, I thought some of the engines were allowed to operate differently cause they were built around it.

[raymondu999]

I just rewatched the BBC qualifying show; and unless Ted Kravitz had it miserably wrong...

[Metalrulz]

Hi guys ive been following f1 technical for more than a year and a half and finally decided to join in..

With regards to the w02 i feel that mercedes as a team lacks direction. Last year they had issues with weight distribution and had a short wheelbase.. also last years car had a shorter front end (portion from the cockpit to the front tire/suspension) this year its longer given the fixed weight distribution.Last years nose was the lowest this year its the highest and to get the wheelbase mistake this year again its beyond me...

Each and every team brings updated brake air inlets to a race but mercedes seem to be using the same brake air inlets right from the testing days

[marcush.]

I fail to see how the team designers can have less knowledge on how to design a car, than some of the posters here. I am sure that the CFD projections showed that an SWB was every bit as effect as a LWB. OK, the design got something wrong, but how can anyone say that it was one specific issue. SWB cars have won races in the past.

undoubtedly a valid point and it crossed my mind many times before not just this year.
But then ..somehow Mercedes decides to drop their last qualy attempt repeatedly to save fresh rubber for the race only in the last races when me and other forum members wrote about this possibility here in this forum long time ago -in fact even before the first race -if I remember correctly -as a valid strategy .

I think it is very well possible that people in the middle of the woods will not realise what it is and us who stand outside but are very much interested can see things clearly they are blind for .Be it pressure or misunderstanding or just a reluctance to deviaate from things you have a certain routine going on.

I rather think the teams are very conservative in some areas and anxiously looking at those who are in the lead (copy red bull...) to avoid putting themselves in a vulnerable position if things don´t work out .

Just look at the behaviour of HRT,Lotus and Virgin.. instead of concentrating to amass as much info as possible they try to fight for beating the car in front..
that´s just childish considering the money it costs to run the car.You are not allowed to test but teams unable to gain points could well use a race to go through a massive testing programm during the two hours of a race ,couldn´t they?
This would really be a big benefit later in the year or for the coming seasons .I think thinking out of the box is necessary to get to the front.Staring at REDBULL will only show you :You need Adrian Newey .But ,he is not available....damn we are finished..