Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[user001]

despite today's crash HAM is reported to be attired in the new car:

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... 20629.html

[Pup]

And we can all be thankful of that.

[myurr]

“Coming from a McLaren that was so competitive at the end of last year, had incredible downforce, you definitely notice the difference But it’s nowhere near as bad as it could be.”

So he's saying the W04 is down on DF.

If we assume the MP4-28 will have even more downforce than the car he drove... i'd say the situation might be more worse than what he is saying.

Steady guys. Did you really expect the car to have McLaren levels of downforce? Last years car was a beast in that regard.

If he's saying it's not that bad and that it's a base they can build on, and they haven't put the 2013 spec wings on the car nor all the final aero devices, then they're probably not in too bad shape. It's way to early to suggest otherwise just yet. Don't forget they're not expecting to fight for the championship this year. If they can steal the odd win and regularly challenge for the podium then that would be a spectacularly good year for them.

2013 is all about making sure that their wind tunnel, CFD, and the real world all correlate and that they are able to develop the car over the season. That's something they've not really been able to do before, even in the Brawn championship winning year. They've invested heavily in staff and facilities and they now have a driver who is known to be one of the fastest on the grid and adaptable to driving around niggles in the car. If they can show that they can have flashes of speed, then next year it's realistic to think they'll be able to mount a championship challenge - it may still need a lot of factors to come together, but it wouldn't be a pipe dream.

[lewishamilton90]

Lewis Hamilton has a "great feeling" for the W04 despite debut crash at Jerez test
Lewis positive on new car despite early accident
http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... Jerez-test

[Shakeman]

Lewis Hamilton has a "great feeling" for the W04 despite debut crash at Jerez test
Lewis positive on new car despite early accident
http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... Jerez-test

Thanks for that, the video in the article seemed to show Lewis had a bit of a limp.

What little footage I've seen of the car it looks stable and planted which does tie in with the comments of the drivers.

[mep]

Is this some kind of failsafe thing where the brakes automatically slam on?

Not sure, but he should be glad they did though. A caliper seal failure is quite odd, but if that's what it is then so be it.

I don't think it is that odd. It can be caused by overheating, which would hint that there is a serious problem with brake cooling.

My understanding was that the rear brake line has to be rerouted... is that not correct? Caliper seal would liely have been relatively quick to fix.

When the seal fails due to overheating than this is very hard to fix. It can require a completely redesigned brake drum. Rerouting the brake line or just removing some sharp edges can be easier. Anyways it seems that the new car has a couple of serious flaws, which is absolutely not understandable.

[Red Schneider]

I hope it's not brake cooling because it was damn cold in the morning in Jerez.

[Hail22]

As the previous video link has been banned for viewing I found this link, I apologise for the quality and the fact its not in English is out of my control:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLwFmZIlt4[/youtube]

Ted Kravitz view on the "Brake failure" its all about "testing" to find out problems and "fix them"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjGbXc0GEds[/youtube]

[Raptor22]

From the slow mo, it looks like he couldn't slow the car down initially when he hit the brakes, then he had to jam on them to make the car stop and the wheels locked. That's when the above photo was taken I presume.

That's what happened to Schumacher at Singapore, it was believed to be a tire heat issue. Driver error on the part of Hamilton perhaps?

Schumacher said he went for the pedal and it grabbed. it was attributed to cold brakes however he has used them fro several corners previously.
One of W02 and W03's faults was instability under braking. I wonder if these wheel lock ups are related. Off course they happen but it appears the Mercedes braking systems don't respond well to driver who are aggressive with the brakes and Schumacher and Hamilton are in a similar mould here

[jav]

Is this some kind of failsafe thing where the brakes automatically slam on?

Not sure, but he should be glad they did though. A caliper seal failure is quite odd, but if that's what it is then so be it.

I don't think it is that odd. It can be caused by overheating, which would hint that there is a serious problem with brake cooling.

My understanding was that the rear brake line has to be rerouted... is that not correct? Caliper seal would liely have been relatively quick to fix.

When the seal fails due to overheating than this is very hard to fix. It can require a completely redesigned brake drum. Rerouting the brake line or just removing some sharp edges can be easier. Anyways it seems that the new car has a couple of serious flaws, which is absolutely not understandable.

I've read so many things today... perhaps I'm getting confused. I thought I read that the problem was a chaffed hydraulic hose- which caused a loss of pressure. That hose had to be rerouted (perhaps requiring different length) and it is this rerouting (different length- access to hose run) that kept them from running in the afternoon.

Is there something to suggest they had a brake overheat in 15 laps of relatively easy running???

[Forza]

Jerez - day 2

[stefan_]

How can they prevent the exhaust area from cooking - more shielding?

Nice how the FW shattered into pieces.

[wesley123]

Wow nice gold paint

Nah seems I was wrong yesterday and they, once again, have bodywork getting burned

[Nando]

I have always hated the way the Mercs looked, and on top of that the livery which is hideous in every way but i have to say in this picture, it looks very nice.

[Nando]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSNwwFPAhfo[/youtube]