Mercedes AMG F1 Team 2012

[NewtonMeter]

Been waiting some time to see how testing unfolds until making comments. Now it´s clear W03 will be a relativly step backwords. MGP don´t seem to get their act together, they are losing out relativly each year.

This about making progress each year is complete BS.

Things i have notices in general is that the seldom run any flow rigs or advanced measuring when testing, not even Flo-Wiz (almost), no diffrent configurations. The whole project seems uninspired.

W01=podiums
W02=4th place
W03=my prediction is hard battle with Sauber, FI. Lotus, Macca,Red Bull, Ferrari wont be in reach.

Ok, now you're just being dramatic. There is nothing to suggest that the W03 is a step backwards. In fact, everything points to the opposite.

That said, I think all levelheaded fans realised even before testing started that the W03 was never going to contend for the WCC. But surely that's not to say the car will be a dud. I still think that regular podiums and an odd win, even on merit, is not impossible.

[ArchAngel]

I believe before winter testing started, most Merc followers were in general agreement that strongly contending for podiums every race and establishing themselves as a legitimate top 3 team this 2012 would've constituted a satisfying improvement from last year's underachievement. But clearly, expectations from quite a few of us had since risen to wishful thinking levels such that anything less than the decimation of McLaren & Ferrari and making Vettel nervously chew off his no#1 finger would mean an epic fail for the W03.

Let's all come down to earth and keep our expectations in check. Even though Merc might not start the season like a house on fire at Melbourne, Ross Brawn did say that given the new structure, resources & systems in place back at Brackley, they would now be able to react more quickly and develop the car more purposefully as the season unfolds.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The only information we can glean from the testing occurs during race simulation runs.
Because its at this stage we can guess their fuel loads accurately and also see the state of the tyres they're on before they leave the pits.

People expecting Mercedes to challenge Red bull are completely unrealistic. The W03, in current guise at least is not that machine.
On the other hand people expecting Mercedes to go backwards are also jumping the gun far too quickly.
Lets look at the facts shall we.

Rosberg completed a race simulation last week(colder conditions, less grip) at an average of 1m28.127
This compares with Grosjeans average lap simulation run of 1m29.042.

Now people had their eye brows raised by the Lotus, but the Mercedes W03 did its sim under the radar so to speak.
Also, there are new bits being tested this weekend(as every other team). Lets wait and see but the signs so far is that this car is an improvement on the W02 and relative to the competition.

Thats all we can ask for at this point.

[Chrisaix]

The only information we can glean from the testing occurs during race simulation runs.
Because its at this stage we can guess their fuel loads accurately and also see the state of the tyres they're on before they leave the pits.

People expecting Mercedes to challenge Red bull are completely unrealistic. The W03, in current guise at least is not that machine.
On the other hand people expecting Mercedes to go backwards are also jumping the gun far too quickly.
Lets look at the facts shall we.

Rosberg completed a race simulation last week(colder conditions, less grip) at an average of 1m28.127
This compares with Grosjeans average lap simulation run of 1m29.042.

Now people had their eye brows raised by the Lotus, but the Mercedes W03 did its sim under the radar so to speak.
Also, there are new bits being tested this weekend(as every other team). Lets wait and see but the signs so far is that this car is an improvement on the W02 and relative to the competition.

Thats all we can ask for at this point.

Well said jet. Couldnt agree more. Me too thinks th w03 is a step forward.

[Neno]

The only information we can glean from the testing occurs during race simulation runs.
Because its at this stage we can guess their fuel loads accurately and also see the state of the tyres they're on before they leave the pits.

People expecting Mercedes to challenge Red bull are completely unrealistic. The W03, in current guise at least is not that machine.
On the other hand people expecting Mercedes to go backwards are also jumping the gun far too quickly.
Lets look at the facts shall we.

Rosberg completed a race simulation last week(colder conditions, less grip) at an average of 1m28.127
This compares with Grosjeans average lap simulation run of 1m29.042.

Now people had their eye brows raised by the Lotus, but the Mercedes W03 did its sim under the radar so to speak.
Also, there are new bits being tested this weekend(as every other team). Lets wait and see but the signs so far is that this car is an improvement on the W02 and relative to the competition.

Thats all we can ask for at this point.

Well said jet. Couldnt agree more. Me too thinks th w03 is a step forward.

Hm, Mercedes is realy good if its faster then Lotus for 1 second per lap. But i think, when you look like this, Mercedes will be slower at least 1 second per lap in race, why tiers degradation in Mercedes are huge in comparations of this two team. Mercedes one stint on soft tires are 8 laps, then they have huge drops in times (almost 2 secs), and then you have Lotus with atleast 12 consistant laps (and seconds drop out)

[Med4224]

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 61675.html

In the part about Mercedes, they say it is less than half a second slower than Red Bull before the Red Bull's updates today. Most time Mercedes found was through setup work.

[Metalrulz]

Ive said it before and will say it again the last team to be complaining about tyer wear should have been mercedes as they spent 3 days in Jerez testing the new 2012 pirelli tyres. To get this tyre mess sorted out they will waist alot of precious little time which could have been used for aero development (similar to last year with overheating and tyre wear). They have built a good car but it seems to be in the wrong hands (engineers)

[Lurk]

Maybe it woulde be even worse if they'd lauched their car at Jerez and they managed to limit the damages. You can't tell...

[Ferraripilot]

Ive said it before and will say it again the last team to be complaining about tyer wear should have been mercedes as they spent 3 days in Jerez testing the new 2012 pirelli tyres. To get this tyre mess sorted out they will waist alot of precious little time which could have been used for aero development (similar to last year with overheating and tyre wear). They have built a good car but it seems to be in the wrong hands (engineers)

Aldo Costa is the business mechanical engineering guy in the business. W03s rear geometry needs a change to not put so much heat in those rear tires is my guess

[Metalrulz]

Ive said it before and will say it again the last team to be complaining about tyer wear should have been mercedes as they spent 3 days in Jerez testing the new 2012 pirelli tyres. To get this tyre mess sorted out they will waist alot of precious little time which could have been used for aero development (similar to last year with overheating and tyre wear). They have built a good car but it seems to be in the wrong hands (engineers)

Aldo Costa is the business mechanical engineering guy in the business. W03s rear geometry needs a change to not put so much heat in those rear tires is my guess

But wont that eat up precious development time ? other teams will spend time on different exhaust layouts/ front wings etc but mercedes will be WASTING time on sorting out this tyre mess.
Even at the previous barcelona test they were having the same issues with tyres and they knew about it and should have brought some solution but they have not and are suffering.

[Ferraripilot]

No, this is simply set up work. Everyone has tire degradation and the idea behind testing is finding the compromise between best performance and best tire wear. Even Red Bull are showing much more tire wear today. This is not a fundamental issue but rather a time to find best setup. A small change to the suspension may come later but this issue is hardly what they were dealing with the past couple years. They are finding two things now: performance, and setup. That's what everyone are doing, only Red Bull have to do it all over again as they have a substantially different coke bottle section now which is not being friendly on their rear tires.

[MercAMGF1Fans]

Ok, Norberts just confirmed we're Sandbagging..
when asked about the "pecking order"

13:08 Norbert says: Only Melbourne will show. I am afraid everybody has to wait another two weeks.

[Metalrulz]

Ok, Norberts just confirmed we're Sandbagging..
when asked about the "pecking order"

13:08 Norbert says: Only Melbourne will show. I am afraid everybody has to wait another two weeks.

All he has said that they will have to wait and see if they can fight with the top 3 teams so how is that Sandbagging ?

[MercAMGF1Fans]

Ok, Norberts just confirmed we're Sandbagging..
when asked about the "pecking order"

13:08 Norbert says: Only Melbourne will show. I am afraid everybody has to wait another two weeks.

All he has said that they will have to wait and see if they can fight with the top 3 teams so how is that Sandbagging ?

Sorry, here..

13:18 Norbert says: "Every team can improve in every area, but I cannot see specific issues on the tyre front for us."

13:17 David Surgenor asks: According to your drivers it seems that the new Mercedes package is continuing to have difficulties with tyre degradation. Is this due to aero issues caused by Michael Schumacher’s preference for extreme front-end grip?

[beelsebob]

Sorry, here..

13:18 Norbert says: "Every team can improve in every area, but I cannot see specific issues on the tyre front for us."

13:17 David Surgenor asks: According to your drivers it seems that the new Mercedes package is continuing to have difficulties with tyre degradation. Is this due to aero issues caused by Michael Schumacher’s preference for extreme front-end grip?

He says they have issues with the front tyres, not that their sandbagging there.