FoxHound wrote:Marcush
Did Mercedes not already have the blade airbox design on the drawing baord before it became apprent the W01 was front heavy?
They did screw it up that year, but to say they came to a GP with a new airbox to fix a weight distribution issue is misleading as it is wrong.
maybe the concept was planned from the begiining -but obviously THIS was not a performance factor as proved by two other teams that liked the idea but dropped it after a single season as well...my point was simply they put time and effort into something that was always going to have a minor effect -at a time when the team was considerably smaller in terms of workforce than Ferrari and Mclaren -plus they had a severe -UNSOLVED-issue with their front grip needing attention .
You do not decide your update introduction on convenience or how it was preplanned when realising things are not panning out as outlined..W01 had a serious weight distribution issue and maybe a tub stiffness issue on top of it.
There was not much done to adress this other than a adjustment of front suspension a arms correction.The real work -gearbox redesign - was not done.
The same is true for W02 -they realised having too short a car and too high a cofG .It would have been entirely possible to
have a new gearbox casing adopting the RB style KERS battery positioning -freeing up space for the fuel load and opening air
path around the rear tyres -plus helping the tyres with a longer wheelbase.
It was not adressed in season..maybe I´m asking too much there.but I feel they shy away from commiting to big changes ..