Mercedes AMG F1 W03

[Ozan]

maybe the F-duct DRS is for quick accerelation, not for high end speed.

[Pandabeer]

As raymondu999 said, i think it's hard to tell how much the F-duct is worth in seconds, as we do not know the exact car setup in comparison with other cars. But yea, i do think it'll help while accelerating and at the end of the straight.

[Owen.C93]

maybe the F-duct DRS is for quick accerelation, not for high end speed.

You can't afford to gear it for top speed anyway, so yes that is the purpose.

[elf341]

Yeap - probably better to make a car that's, say... 5th quickest on all tracks; rather than quickest at 1 or 2 circuits and nowhere at other circuits. Kind of like how the 2010 Findia vs the 2009 Findia.

Completely agree, but as we know from past history, there can often be strange political consequences for teams not producing a "win" (e.g. toyota).

[chrys]

Sky Sports F1 reported Ted Kravitz reports on the controversial technical enhancements used by the Mercedes team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... KUziKDe51A

[aduka11]

I think...

Red Bull want to ban F-duct mostly cause they cant place it in their own car..

Flexible wing + F-duct....do go together...since their function is complete opposite.

At least i think that..

[Pandabeer]

I bet they just want to get time for understanding/testing/building the FW f-duct for it's own, because afaik it's not that easy to copy the Merc system. But we will see, my hope is that the system doesn't get banned this season and it'll talke a good time for other teams to copy, so Merc resolve his tyre issue as fast as possible.

[VarioR]

I think...

Red Bull want to ban F-duct mostly cause they cant place it in their own car..

Flexible wing + F-duct....do go together...since their function is complete opposite.

At least i think that..

I don't think that Red Bull want to ban the F-duct.
I think that they are just trying to find a way that make FIA to force Mercedes to clarify how it really works the F-duct of the W03.
Then, they can put it in their car , because it's very risked to spent a lot of time making a similar sistem without knowing how it really works despite improving the car in other areas

My opinion

P.S. Sorry my english

[Raptor22]

Red Bull are trying to the F-Duct banned because the feel it goes against an agreement within an association they are nolonger part of.
Pure hypocrasy if you ask me...

This is why a FOTA or FOCA or whatever you want to call a teams association can never and will never work long term. The individuals are far too selfish to hae any interest in it working other than if they can derive a benefit from it.
In this case, the redBull have been caught with their pants down by both McLaren ad Mercedes, they also can't get Mercedes engines so their courseof action is too cry to the authorities that things are foul on the McLaren and Merc.

Notice a trend...

Last year, when McLaren and Merc could not get exhaust blowing to work as effectivel as they wanted they tried to get it banned. They succeeded for one race and that backfired horribly.

Its all a childrens crusade

[Maelstrom]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98601

Seems like they overheated the tyres in Melbourne and underheated them in Sepang. So a lot of people are both right and wrong

Either they got it massively wrong in Sepang and the problem will now be solved for China or the window for turning on the tires is very narrow and that seems problematic.

Edit: Quote from Ross Brawn. Source autosport http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98603

"We have too narrow a window in which we are operating the car - and we have to broaden that, and build more tolerance into how we are using the tyres," explained Brawn.

"When we encounter challenges like this, we look at all areas of the car and we challenge ourselves collectively to find the solutions we need. But our qualifying speed tells us that the fundamentals of performance are there: you can't do the lap times if you don't have enough downforce, horsepower or a good chassis."

So it seems that there is a very narrow window for operating the tires. Shame.

[Lycoming]

Well, at least this suggests that perhaps they do not have fundamental issues in terms of lacking downforce...

[Maelstrom]

Well, at least this suggests that perhaps they do not have fundamental issues in terms of lacking downforce...

Yes... but it means tire issues again. Mercedes really need to learn from this.

I'm sad that Schumacher and Rosberg again have got cheated.

[tok-tokkie]

If it is a tyre heat problem and the exhaust is part of the heating system then how about an adjustable vane so they can tune it during practice & adjust it during the pit stops as the fuel load decreases or the driver chooses (like they can the front wing)? Just a spontaneous idea I have had. Some rule about aero in the exhaust?

[pocketmoon]

Brawn: “It’s just a couple of carbon pipes running down the car,”

So there you have it

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/04/b ... -benefits/

[elf341]

They may not have downforce issues.
But a narrow operating window for the tyres is a fundamental problem.
Last year Ferrari had trouble being consistently below the operating window for, in particular, the hard tyre. It took them 7 races before they had effected a solution. Before that, they were battling with the Mercs, afterwards the Mercs really couldn't touch them. These tyre issues seem to be absolutely crucial.

Remember this?