Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[FoxHound]

With the complexities of the suspension, I'm a bit reserved on whether Mercedes have in fact found the deficit over the winter.

It's all very well having 8 days testing at a venue, with time to be able to tune the suspension to work in accordance with the nature of the track.
However, this will not be the case come race day. 3 practice sessions is what they have and in that time everything has to be found for setup.
If they have made it simpler to use at race weekend, Mercedes are looking good.
If it's merely a carried forward design from 2012, We could see 2012 echoed this year. Mercedes initially quick but fall behind once other teams get their setups nailed.

[lewishamilton90]

Ross Brawn machte die Andeutung: "Wir haben hier nicht nur neue Aerodynamikteile zum letzten Test mitgebracht. Einige Neuentwicklungen sind unter der Verkleidung versteckt."

Mod edit - Added Google translation
"We have brought not only new aerodynamic parts for the last test. Some new developments are hidden under the disguise."

[Adamski]

Hard to believe how they want to progress with the poor aerodynamic they have.

Seriously, the W04 has had a front wing change, new sidepods, new exhaust system amongst other things. Hardly the sign of a team that has stood still over the winter.

The W03's aerodynamic strength was anything but good at the end of the season. The W04 is the same car with some updates (at least from the outside), as you mentioned an updated front wing, a redesigned sidepod, an updated exhaust and I think the most impressive is the rear suspension.

All in all I still don't think it will be enough to declare the W04's aerodynamics as good and you don't need to have certification to see this.

Hola, so you think if there are new gizmo bits, thats when the car is good? You don't need lot of funny stuff bolted to make a quick car. If you get the fundamentals right, which I guess is the case with W04 (i am not saying this is championship winning car), then you can have a competitive car. You have to look at the staff who have designed this car and you will understand the difference to the Predecessor. It seems to have only inherited the looks. You should have followed the development NEWS to understand the difference.

I don't said the fundamentals are wrong (although there's no evidence that it is right) but their basic aerodynamic strength was poor compared to the others. As winter testing developed the top teams tried much more thing then Mercedes. It won't be enough. They need faster aerodynamic development if they want to fight with the top teams. That's just the lesson learned from the last three years...

[Artur Craft]

Sauber-engineer Willem Toet calculated: Mercedes AMG is two seconds faster than last year. Aldo Costa: Yes, but we need to find more downforce. =D>

I'm not doubting you, but do you have the link for it, please?

I would like to read more of what he said

[Dyanxx]

Sauber-engineer Willem Toet calculated: Mercedes AMG is two seconds faster than last year. Aldo Costa: Yes, but we need to find more downforce. =D>

I'm not doubting you, but do you have the link for it, please?

I would like to read more of what he said

It was linked only a few posts up

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 41055.html

[Rushman]

Hello.

I think Ross Brawn again remembered the Double Diffuser (attention to the area which is located above of hole for the starter):



In my opinion, this isn't legal. FIA should investigate this.

If I'm in something is not right, correct me.

[Nando]

Interesting numbers. Let´s hope this isn´t a farce like last year.

They arguably got the strongest line-up so that department is good at least.

[pmneo]

Hello.

I think Ross Brawn again remembered the Double Diffuser (attention to the area which is located above of hole for the starter):

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4909 ... ffuser.gif

In my opinion, this isn't legal. FIA should investigate this.

If I'm in something is not right, correct me.

I don't think so, because the main Layout seems to be the same like the W03 one:



(image from this post: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... &start=795 )

[Rikhart]

Hello.

I think Ross Brawn again remembered the Double Diffuser (attention to the area which is located above of hole for the starter):

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4909 ... ffuser.gif

In my opinion, this isn't legal. FIA should investigate this.

If I'm in something is not right, correct me.

They already had it last year, and it was never outlawed (or copied by anyone).

[Artur Craft]

Hello.

I think Ross Brawn again remembered the Double Diffuser (attention to the area which is located above of hole for the starter):

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4909 ... ffuser.gif

In my opinion, this isn't legal. FIA should investigate this.

If I'm in something is not right, correct me.

If there aren't any holes which will suck air into that part, then it's not a DD and it won't have any effect on the underfloor

The section that you marked, with yellow lines, is not connected with the diffuser's exit(there is an upper horizontal surface separating both) and the only way that bit could suck air, from underneath the car, is if it has holes in the floor connected to it, which was the case with the DDs. But as far as I know, those were forbidden, and was that that made DD possible

edit: here's some quick, worst quality possible(sorry), MSPaint draw showing what I meant:

[BlackMercedes]

Judging by some recent quotes by Ross brawn from the Internet that a lot of the improvements of the W04 are in disguise so will the real W04 please stand up?

I am pretty certain we haven't seen the Melbourne spec upgrade just yet Friday practise we will see the full package, something they want to do with the airflow behind the front wheels is interesting. Having put new sidepods in will they do some more work with the front wing and wheel struts

[dren]

Hello.

I think Ross Brawn again remembered the Double Diffuser (attention to the area which is located above of hole for the starter):

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4909 ... ffuser.gif

In my opinion, this isn't legal. FIA should investigate this.

If I'm in something is not right, correct me.

If there aren't any holes which will suck air into that part, then it's not a DD and it won't have any effect on the underfloor

The section that you marked, with yellow lines, is not connected with the diffuser's exit(there is an upper horizontal surface separating both) and the only way that bit could suck air, from underneath the car, is if it has holes in the floor connected to it, which was the case with the DDs. But as far as I know, those were forbidden, and was that that made DD possible

edit: here's some quick, worst quality possible(sorry), MSPaint draw showing what I meant:
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1860/dddlq.jpg

This mini diffuser is indeed connected to the main diffuser through the starter hole. The Ferrari this year has a similar solution.

[Artur Craft]

Judging by some recent quotes by Ross brawn from the Internet that a lot of the improvements of the W04 are in disguise so will the real W04 please stand up?

Probably the so called "fric-system" have improved the car's performance a lot

@dren, didn't know regulations allowed such thing. Thanks for that!

[dren]

The car has been running Penske hydraulically linked shocks for a few years now. All of the top teams run linked suspensions in some form or another. The thought is the Mercedes version is a bit more advanced than the others. The W04 is built around a Coanda exhaust. It doesn't have the finicky DDRS system. The interior cooling has been improved. The biggest area this car gained in is aero performance. It is evident by the cooling outlets, new front wing and the rake angle.

[pocketmoon]

Judging by some recent quotes by Ross brawn from the Internet that a lot of the improvements of the W04 are in disguise so will the real W04 please stand up?

I think the word disguise is a bit of a mistranslation from AMuS. A closer translations is simply stuff inside the panels/bodywork