Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

[...]

[Cocles]

The extra time we invest in the development of the aerodynamics is better than the early testing in Spain, Fry Concluded."

I'm surprised this wasn't bolded. He didn't say "innovation" or "mechanics", but "aerodynamics". Maybe I'm reading into this too much, but it just seems to be more confirmation that the delay has to do with something Willis brought to the table.

Beyond coming to the team with a couple ideas in his pocket, I have to wonder if Willis was also just flat out better than anyone Merc had on staff at setting up their windtunnel, being that he's the one who gave birth to it.

Is it plausible that Willis showed up, told the wind tunnel techs, "Nah, you're doing it wrong...", and Han Solo'd some better performance out of the tunnel itself? This then leading to the aerodynamic changes they're now applying to the car, making it late?

[PlatinumZealot]

Ahhh this thread is just like 2010!! A million different solutions to Merc's problems...
All indications show that we'll have a W04 thread just like the last three this time next year

[aleks_ader]

Ah yes, the 'radical' innovation that Mercedes is going to have, causing them to miss the first test, which will propel them right to the top............

who said anything about the innovation "propelling them to the top"?

Trolling again...sigh

What he means is that every year they are saying the same, but they never succeed in doing what they say.

Sarcasm??? =D>

[wunderkind]

The extra time we invest in the development of the aerodynamics is better than the early testing in Spain, Fry Concluded."

I'm surprised this wasn't bolded. He didn't say "innovation" or "mechanics", but "aerodynamics". Maybe I'm reading into this too much, but it just seems to be more confirmation that the delay has to do with something Willis brought to the table.

Beyond coming to the team with a couple ideas in his pocket, I have to wonder if Willis was also just flat out better than anyone Merc had on staff at setting up their windtunnel, being that he's the one who gave birth to it.

Is it plausible that Willis showed up, told the wind tunnel techs, "Nah, you're doing it wrong...", and Han Solo'd some better performance out of the tunnel itself? This then leading to the aerodynamic changes they're now applying to the car, making it late?

I am beginning to think Mercedes GP's windtunnel was slightly out of whack and Willis helped to recalibrate it had done some of the aero numbers again.

[Hemsy]

If Merc had wind tunnel issues, we would have heard of it by now. I'm sure it has more to do with giving Willis as much time as possible to work on the aerodynamics which today is the most important part of an F1 car.

[dren]

If Merc had wind tunnel issues, we would have heard of it by now. I'm sure it has more to do with giving Willis as much time as possible to work on the aerodynamics which today is the most important part of an F1 car.

I agree. Their updates worked last year. The team stated they were delivering on track what they were seeing in the factory. When Red Bull delayed their car it was for more wind tunnel time.

[Coefficient]

Fry was once the Technical Director of the team & now looks after the marketing activities of the team. So while he may no more have any input on the technical side of things, a lot can still be picked up from him about what is going on behind the scenes at Merc. As regard to testing, yes, while nothing can substitute real world testing, today's testing restrictions make a good simulator paramount in order to be competitive. This is one of the reasons why every top team which include Ferrari, Merc & now even Renault is investing in a state of the art simulator.

Can you differentiate between Pat & Nick Fry??? Nick Fry & technical direction dont go hand in hand. Besides it will be an even bigger disaster then.

Bob with Costa & Willis under him is fine. Bigois is already too much of an extra & Brawn as Team Prinicipal is also former Technical Director as well.

Now even Fry will give technical direction.

Simulation is a virtual & idealistic world & nothing can simulation marbles,tyres over-heating or reliability issues which happen on the ground. For me simulation will remain a joke compared to pure real testing lap after lap in a race track. I will keep it these. Only time will tell. I will wait & see if Willis has a killer idea.

Nick Fry was never involved in car design. Nick arrived at the team as a Prodrive employee and David Richards Deputy when they took over the running of BAR in the early 2000s. He was deputy team principal to Richard's Team Principal and graduated to team principal when Prodrive fell out of favour with shareholders in 2004. Fry left prodrive to take the team principal role at the team when the team became Honda in 2005. Throughout this period Geoff Willis was technical director. Willis became technical director when BAR beat Jordan to the works engine deal with Honda.

[dren]

The best BAR cars were designed by Willis and the race winning Honda was developed by Willis.

[xpensive]

The best BAR cars were designed by Willis and the race winning Honda was developed by Willis.

And now Willis is back in Brackley since two months, with the windtunel he devised himself, go figure why the W03 is late?

[munudeges]

You being the resident overlord of correctness(hope my sarcasm hasn't offended you) should realise this is a technical discussion about the W03.

Yes, it is supposed to be, isn't it? Now that's sarcasm.

[munudeges]

And now Willis is back in Brackley since two months, with the windtunel he devised himself, go figure why the W03 is late?

He's having to do the job he did seven or eight years ago all over again, having been demoted as well for his trouble.

[Richard]

Look at the RB5/6/7. Nothing radical about them

What about being the only car with pull rod suspension?

The EBD was radical enough for them to disguise it with fake upward exhausts in the first tests.

Sorry this is off topic, but a factual correction was needed!

[Richard]

He's been tempted back to what he knows with a nice pay rise.

What was his next best alternative?

[elf341]

And now Willis is back in Brackley since two months, with the windtunel he devised himself, go figure why the W03 is late?

He's having to do the job he did seven or eight years ago all over again, having been demoted as well for his trouble.

I don't know if he really would see it that way. I imagine money is less of a motivator for him now than it might have been in the past. I did get the impression from him in past interviews that he is more interested in hands on approach than over-arching technical directorship - e.g. remember this interview with Scarbs back after the BAR005 launch?

Unfortunately under the role I now have, I have less and less direct involvement with the car, I do keep a specific interest in the aero things so I certainly do still see all the aero reports and still guide the aerodynamicists in the overall concept. [...]
...sometimes its frustrating you’d love to get on the CAD and design a bot or do the analysis or whatever...
Source: Willis Interview Scarbs 2003

I also get the impression that one of the principal reasons Adrian Newey wanted Willis as TD of Red Bull as so that he could skip the managerial aspects of the job and just dip in an out of whatever technical project took his fancy.

Geoff is responsible for how the company operates technically and offers general technical leadership, leaving me free to be involved in the mid- to long-term overviews, with the opportunity to dabble in the detailed areas of engineering as I see fit.
Source: Formula1.com 2007

And that it may have been Willis wanting to be more hands-on technically, and less people-management-oriented, in RBR for his departure. I get the impression his current role as Technology Director is more Adrian-Newey-like and much more to his liking than TD ever was.

I imagine that Willis, along with Costa, are seriously excited about the prospect of both raising the Mercedes Silver Arrows name back to its former glory, but also the opportunity to work with an amazing set of individuals who have all achieved great success in the past. With Costa, Bell, Willis, Brawn, Schumacher, and to a lesser extent Bigois - there is an amassing of a team of talent the likes of which hasn't really been seen since the Ferrari Dream Team.