Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[xpensive]

...
I plead we leave this thread alone until we have more concrete information rather than jump to silly conclusions.

In your dreams JET...

Let's get back to speculating shall we, what earth-moving aerodynamic device could Geoff Willis possibly have brought, which persuaded Bell and Brawn to change directions to the xtent they will miss the first test, a new DDD perhaps?

[aleks_ader]

Let's get back to speculating shall we, what earth-moving aerodynamic device could Geoff Willis possibly have brought, which persuaded Bell and Brawn to change directions to the xtent they will miss the first test, a new DDD perhaps?

Hmm that is imposibble beacuse there are no holes aloved to have in all area around diffuzor!

[NonNewtonic]

...
I plead we leave this thread alone until we have more concrete information rather than jump to silly conclusions.

In your dreams JET...

Let's get back to speculating shall we, what earth-moving aerodynamic device could Geoff Willis possibly have brought, which persuaded Bell and Brawn to change directions to the xtent they will miss the first test, a new DDD perhaps?

I don't think that will be almost impossible as the FIA has a very strict rule to prohibit any multi-deck diffuser the only part of the car where the regulation most probably has loopholes is the front section of the car maybe a smart engineer manage to think out of the box?

[Mr.S]

Its ludicrous to suggest this is a blunder. It's just plain ludicrous given historical precedent.

RB6 delayed, winning car. MP4-26 delayed, winning car.

If you want even closer to home, BGP001 delayed, winning car!
That's just in the last 3 years!

W01 and 02 were on time and? Non winning cars.

There is nothing more to read into the delay other than the team felt it useful to their requirements, whatever they may be. Far better give these guys more time to work on a concept, than hurry out something that is unfinished... This is NOT the Bell way.

I plead we leave this thread alone until we have more concrete information rather than jump to silly conclusions.

MP26 was a failed car which came 2nd by like 100 points. 6 wins or not it was not a championship winning car. You know how Mp26 sucked at testing. The whole idea bombed. Mclaren got lucky & probably had a fantastic team who got the blown diffuser working.


Anyways BGP01 & RB6 were fantastic cars who had a trick up their sleeve. Do you believe Mercedes have such a trick.

BESIDES actually all of BGP 01,RB6 & MP26 debuted in the 1st test. Yea you heard me. That is because there were 4 tests then. There are 3 tests now. So debuting in the 2nd test last year of before is equal to debuting in the 1st test this year.

Debuting in the 2nd test this year is like debuting in the 3rd tests last year with you car. That is a DISASTER.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

^^^


No comment.

[Mr.S]

Besides RB5 was the 2nd fastest car & a title contender. Same case with Mclaren & them splitting resources. Atleast its understandable. And with Honda walking away & Brawn buying & stuff it was a miracle to even get to the car to test.

Mercedes have no such obligation. They completely stopped development on W02.

Side NEWS - Gascoyne sayd CT-01 has already passed the crashed tests. Williams have said that one of their chasis is completed.

So
RBR
Ferrari
Sauber
Carteham
Williams have already confirmed participation in the 1st test with the new car.

We have Mclaren,Renault,Torro Rosso & Force India not specifying anything.

Then we have the two useless junks Marussia & Hispania who might not even attend testing.

[elf341]

To be frank, with the IP, facilities, money, and technical talent that Mercedes have accumulated - it is a very brave fellow the one who would bet against them.

For example, is one of the pessimists here prepared to bet £100 on the team finishing 5th or lower in 2012? ...I didn't think so.

I think even a conservative estimate is that a bad result for Mercedes is an outcome like 2011: not gaining a podium, and having only a single 4th place.
But considering inability to encroach into the Ferrari, McLaren, and Red-Bull dominance as a horrific engineering failure? I just don't buy it. We all know that to be champion, you need to be pretty much perfect in _every_ area - but is failing in one, two, or a handful of areas an indication that this team is completely worthless?

Let's get some perspective here people.

[Mr.S]

Yes 4th is a catastrophic failure. I reckon if they come 4th this year & next year there will be no Mercedes. The team will be sold. Dailmer wont fund millions for them to loose to a drinks company & to both Ferrari & Mclaren repeatedly & get beaten by an erstwhile Minardi or the energy drink company's 2nd team.

Shame really. Rosberg says he expects wins this year. They already won 2-3 podiums with W01 however they might have won. BGP was a double championship winning car. Mercedes have bought Bell,Willis & Costa,more like a super team. Besides Michael will call it a day soon. Michael getting a win in his comeback is a huge boost for Mercedes brand as a whole.

I think anything less than 1 wins & 4-5 podiums means & a sureshot 3rd-2nd place(they were 4h twice) means that Mercedes have failed miserably. Mercedes getting beaten by their custor teams like Force India is not a good advertisement for Mercedes. I had huge hopes of Mercedes. Huge. The car has been a DOG 2 straight years & steadily detoriated. W01 was within 0.5s the first few races,W02 could not come within 1 full second.

Sadly Michael will not get the win & Nico Rosberg will be Nick Heidfield Part 2.

[dren]

MP26 was a failed car which came 2nd by like 100 points. 6 wins or not it was not a championship winning car. You know how Mp26 sucked at testing. The whole idea bombed. Mclaren got lucky & probably had a fantastic team who got the blown diffuser working.


Anyways BGP01 & RB6 were fantastic cars who had a trick up their sleeve. Do you believe Mercedes have such a trick.

BESIDES actually all of BGP 01,RB6 & MP26 debuted in the 1st test. Yea you heard me. That is because there were 4 tests then. There are 3 tests now. So debuting in the 2nd test last year of before is equal to debuting in the 1st test this year.

Debuting in the 2nd test this year is like debuting in the 3rd tests last year with you car. That is a DISASTER.

Now remember the F2003-GA, a championship winning car that showed up just before the half mark of the season!

[ForMuLaOne]

The only disaster is the kind of conversation going on in this thread. Every time people come up with silly comparisons, you cannot compare situations from different decades. Testing, Budget, Rules.....it is just a different story to develop nowadays. So, WE DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING about the W03. So let`s wait, watch the launch of the car and be either happy or unhappy with it

[xpensive]

Let's get back to speculating shall we, what earth-moving aerodynamic device could Geoff Willis possibly have brought, which persuaded Bell and Brawn to change directions to the xtent they will miss the first test, a new DDD perhaps?

Hmm that is imposibble beacuse there are no holes aloved to have in all area around diffuzor!

I agree, that hole, not pun intended, is probably closed forever. My guess is that Willis brought some ideas on how to make the best of the lower nose for 2012, which in turn set off a chain reaction of questioning the entire aerodynamic concept.

From 2014, the nose must be even lower, which might prompt Aldo Costa to begin working on a a front pullrod supension?

[siwillems]

The only disaster is the kind of conversation going on in this thread. Every time people come up with silly comparisons, you cannot compare situations from different decades. Testing, Budget, Rules.....it is just a different story to develop nowadays. So, WE DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING about the W03. So let`s wait, watch the launch of the car and be either happy or unhappy with it

Ssshhhh with talk like that you'll ruin the board

[Cocles]

Come on Mr. S.... wait until testing before you decide to lose faith. Is the situation nerve-wracking? Sure. But even this thread's sharpest critics are betting this situation probably has something to do with Willis and Costa's unavoidably late input.

Merc is either applying some gimmick to the W03, or building what they believe to be a much better car all around chasis (a "W03-A"). Either way, what we'll see at the second test *will be* a substantial upgrade from what we would have potentially seen at the first test.

Hopefully it'll be good.

[xpensive]

Again I think the key here is the beak of the 2012 car and even more so on the 2014 racer, read the following;

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/10/2 ... gulations/

Wilis has not for nothing been a student/confrere of Newey's for several years and to the best of my xprerience, one of the differencies between a good engineer and a great one is the ability to adapt to map-changes, movement of the goal-posts.

I believe that Willis has given the 2012 snout a good deal of thought since a long time, probably even before leaving HRT, why he just might have opened up a serious briefcase upon arrival to Brackley, serious enough to change the W03 focus?

[mep]

There is a 18 month developement period for each car.
A delay of 2 weeks does not necessary mean that there is a fundamental change on the car. The manufacturing might be just slow or something with the crash test went wrong. If they even have done them already.