Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

@yener


it's all speculation really mate, but when it's educated guess work... It's surprising how it works out.

Basically if I had 2 cars, and I knew one inside out... I would want to test new tyres on the old car to make sure what i did in the new car would be a step forward with tyres.
It's common practice in f1 and indicates nothing other than a decision the team have made.

[Mr.S]

Gosh, what happened to you Mr S? Hearing about Merc is bad for your health!

Teams have run a modified old car at the first test to get benchmark data in previous years and still done rather well. RB6 and MP4-26 are the two recent examples.

MP4-26,rofl. With Red Bull they usually dont want to give away something big. I can fully understand. With Merc I very much doubt with them rumoured to be testing the Front wing F-duct which the paddock & media knowing instantly anyway.

Last year was massive change. Bridgestones never really wore out. The Pirelli's at the start of the season were wearing out real fast. It was a big change. New Rules,fixed weight distribution. KERS,DRS. Massive MASSIVE Rule change. Tyres were very very different to Bridgestones. Last year there were 4 tests. Mclaren debuted on the 2nd test. With that logic & 3 tests no reason for W03 not to debut in the 1st test.

This year there is negligible difference. Teams have already raced with the New Softs's(Mediums) & have tried the Hards as well.

Testing with all car is a pile of bullshit. The chasis will be homologated & crash tested. Do you really think they can bring major modifications in the W03 if it is bad with the tyres. You have W03 a prime example. Bad Car which they could not be upgraded.As Rubens said if the car is born bad there is nothing much you can do with it. It stayed 1-1.5 of a second off the pace regularly. With the current rules,fixed weight distribution,wheelbase,low nose regulations there is nothing MAJOR you can do.Nothing.

They should have come out with a 'basic' W03 to test the tyres & then bring on the aerodyanmic/mechanical upgrade package in the 2nd/3rd tests.

[elf341]

I expect them to turn up with a W02, and test one or two exhaust configurations. This would help them to investigate whether their modelling of the exhaust position is accurate. There's clearly a lot they can learn even without the new car.

[Mr.S]

I expect them to turn up with a W02, and test one or two exhaust configurations. This would help them to investigate whether their modelling of the exhaust position is accurate. There's clearly a lot they can learn even without the new car.

They could easily so the same with a "basic" W03. They did test exhaust configuarations in the Young Driver test. Whatever they test will not be very useful. The W03 with such a short wheelbase & fat bukly (with high COG) sidepods will not give an accurate idea to a longer wheelbase & different sidepods.

W03 wont be a complete evolution of W03,there are two many fundamental flaws which is why this decision completely baffles me.Its is wasting 4 days of very precious time. You have only 3 days of pre-season testing this time & your throwing away a chance to test stuff with you new stuff,test reliability & set-ups.

Last year they made a big upgrade package for Barca & the 1st race & they had malfunctioning DRS,KERS & heating issues to deal with several races. I thought they learned they lessons.

[dren]

The W02 had those issues all through testing. It wasn't like they slapped on an upgrade and then the issues showed up. Let's wait and see how many other teams go the same route with testing this year.

[ForMuLaOne]

Mercedes DID show progress during the season. Minor changes indeed, but with regard to other teams the ROI was bigger. People who are technically enthusiasts in this foru always want some fancy or neat stuff beeing mounted onto the car. To me it is more important how workflow and team structure is managed. So beeing slow in developement does not only mean that they dont have a clue, but also means that you have to get your staff organised. Mercedes is competing with midfield cars, right, but those teams are running for years now and progress seems to be delayed even a bit more.

I truly believe that Mercedes has the balls to show a radical car, you have to remember that we have minor rule changes and they know what they are dealing with. in remembrance of last year`s test you can only state that prediction only seems to be possible when people call you Nostradamus


Have a nice evening!

[Mr.S]

Mercedes DID show progress during the season. Minor changes indeed, but with regard to other teams the ROI was bigger. People who are technically enthusiasts in this foru always want some fancy or neat stuff beeing mounted onto the car. To me it is more important how workflow and team structure is managed. So beeing slow in developement does not only mean that they dont have a clue, but also means that you have to get your staff organised. Mercedes is competing with midfield cars, right, but those teams are running for years now and progress seems to be delayed even a bit more.

I truly believe that Mercedes has the balls to show a radical car, you have to remember that we have minor rule changes and they know what they are dealing with. in remembrance of last year`s test you can only state that prediction only seems to be possible when people call you Nostradamus


Have a nice evening!

Mercedes has more history than all this mid-field teams combined. This is the remnants of Tyrell & had Honda pumping millions of dollars every year. Getting beaten by a torro Rosso,erstwhile Minardi/?


Do you know what these guys's budget is?? 60-70 Million at best. Mercedes have atleast a 200 Million odd budget. These guys have 250-300 people,Mercedes has 450-500,yea not 700 like Ferrari but a lot more. Proven guys like Brawn. These guys have very little resource,manpower,experience & money & lesser quality of drivers,they are not even a manufacturer team. MSC & Nico as drivers.

It's a matter of deep shame & disgust that Mercedes get beaten by an erstwhile Minardi who are Red Bull's 2nd team. This year is the 1st time even Torro Rosso are developing a car fully on their own.

[Richard]

Mercedes has more history than all this mid-field teams combined. This is the remnants of Tyrell & had Honda pumping millions of dollars every year.

They also have 2 of the leaders from Ferari's dominant era.

I agree the ingredients on paper look very promising, but if you think they should benefit from the corporate memory gained with Honda's generosity, then you also have to allow for the corporate memory of Honda's peculiar F1 malaise.

[Tyler]

Gosh, what happened to you Mr S? Hearing about Merc is bad for your health!

Teams have run a modified old car at the first test to get benchmark data in previous years and still done rather well. RB6 and MP4-26 are the two recent examples.

Brawn BGP001 is another example.
I suspect Mercedes have something innovative on their car which they don't want the other teams to see until as late as possible.
It could be a variety of reasons, we just don't know.
Previewing the car at the first or second test has NEVER been an indication of how good the new car will be - it's pointless to speculate on this.

[dren]

Brawn will most likely have an explanation, if he has not already stated it, on why they will miss the first test.

As far as complaining about Toro Rosso beating Mercedes, just look at the year end points totals. There was no need for Mercedes to develop the W02 after a certain point. They weren't going to catch Ferrari and the lower teams were not going to catch them. Mercedes had 4th place tied up.

With the team Mercedes has in place, I expect them to produce competitive cars. They did an excellent job developing the W02 this past season. They kept the gap to the top teams roughly equal for the majority of the season. The team's main downfall was not having a competitive car after winter testing.

[NewtonMeter]

Brawn will most likely have an explanation, if he has not already stated it, on why they will miss the first test.

As far as complaining about Toro Rosso beating Mercedes, just look at the year end points totals. There was no need for Mercedes to develop the W02 after a certain point. They weren't going to catch Ferrari and the lower teams were not going to catch them. Mercedes had 4th place tied up.

With the team Mercedes has in place, I expect them to produce competitive cars. They did an excellent job developing the W02 this past season. They kept the gap to the top teams roughly equal for the majority of the season. The team's main downfall was not having a competitive car after winter testing.

The voice of reaseon, thank you.

[Metalrulz]

I agree with Brawn that it is not completely impossible to blow the diffuser. An opening close to where the exhaust pipe ends which then re-channels the exhaust fumes to the diffuser could be one possibility.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

That piece of body work would be banned, as it manipulates the flow of the exhaust.

This is forbidden.

[dren]

When will it flip flop the 2012 cars to the top of the page?

[Metalrulz]

That piece of body work would be banned, as it manipulates the flow of the exhaust.

This is forbidden.

Maybe something like the suspension gills (cooling gills) seen on the w02