Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2013

[astracrazy]

They should try and run 1 race without FRIC suspension system and see what happens. Maybe its the FRIC making them fast over one lap but overworking the tyres...

If they are unable to solve the problem in next 3 to 4 races, i think they should start TESTING for 2014 like they started testing for 2013 last year. Because if FRIC is causing the problem and they add it on the next year's car, it's gonna be OVER for Merc'.

its not as simple as just remove it. They could and prob are testing with various devices running without fric at the factory but your changing the whole dynamic of the car if you remove the fric system now. You may solve the tyre issure but gain a lot of different problems and be totally lost on set-up data.

If there was an in season test then yes this would be the place to do it.

I just don't understand why year after year its the same problem.

BTW I don't think its the coanda exhausts because if you remember they run with and without it during pre-season testing to check for overheating the tyres.

[reallydumb]

It has to be the FIRC system. Take it off for the next race.

[Ferraripilot]

From what I can deduce just by watching the car, I see that W04 is very very soft during heavy aero sectors (almost ground effect looking) yet stiff during mechanical sectors. I'm thinking their issue is that the soft suspension arrangement in heavy aero sectors places undue stress/heat to the tires as the heave function is placing load more to the tires than the suspension, and the tires simply cannot recover once taken over the heat threshold. I have no idea how Merc developed such a suspension system capable of altering personalities based on speed and load, but I've watched this car quite a bit and that's just what I believe they have indeed accomplished. Bravo to them as it's pretty much an active suspension, but as Kimi stated a few days ago the tires cannot cope with the stress this car places on them. I believe Lotus' version is similar but not quite as complicated nor is the suspension travel as long, from what I'm seeing anyway.

We will see a very fast W04 in Monaco just as W03 was last year as I believe mechanical prowess is W04s forte as sector 3 Spain proved by some 3 tenths over the rest of the field.

[Adamski]

I would very much liked a race weekend when Mercedes drivers tunes their cars specifically for qualifying!

[SaveMeHollywood]

Lewis Hamilton finally says what was probably on the mind of Michael Schumacher for the last 3 years:

I’m absolutely lost. I just don’t know what went wrong. It was an experience I don’t want to go through again. I did absolutely everything I did in Bahrain but the tyres just didn’t come in and give me any grip. If I pushed, they went off immediately. It seems like others have made a bigger step forwards than we did. If anything, it seems like we didn’t make any step forward even though we brought upgrades, because we didn’t fix the problems of tyre degradation.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 12759.html

Michael never said it to save the team face, even occasionally just admitting he wasn't doing so well. But Hamilton is probably more frank in his assessment.

[NewtonMeter]

I would very much liked a race weekend when Mercedes drivers tunes their cars specifically for qualifying!

You want them to be lapped by Marussia, eh? The tyre life will be measured in corners, not laps.

[Shakeman]

It has to be the FIRC system. Take it off for the next race.

Fircing hell Merc need to hire you.

[Vasconia]

I would very much liked a race weekend when Mercedes drivers tunes their cars specifically for qualifying!

You want them to be lapped by Marussia, eh? The tyre life will be measured in corners, not laps.

Hahahaha, it is funny but sad and true too.

What Lewis has commented if what Schumi was thinking over and over again after each race, so now the german has to have an inmense sense of relief.

They are totally lost, but the worst thing is that they were lost in 2011,2012 and now too. This team is a complete disaster but the problem comes from pre-Mercedes era and i cannot see a solution for this.

[Gridlock]

the problem comes from pre-Mercedes era and i cannot see a solution for this.

Paddy Lowe might.

[Ozan]

I think Mercedes AMG should hire a professional tyre expert like Ferrari did last year,hiring ex-bridgestone guy.

[McG]

Don't know if it's been said before, but Mercedes setting up the car for qualifying glory then going backwards in the race is not cool.

[k.ko100v]

Hello, I would like to share whit you something, that I've read in a local magazine.
I've read that one of the Mercedes's problem, was their fuel tank design. The fuel tank is more narrowed and taller than the rest of the field. The advantige is better aerodynamic, (which explain the beasty one lap speed), but the disadvantige is very high CoG when the tank is full. This leads to very big inertial forces on every braking and turning, which loads the tire further and leads to a huge amount of tyre degradation, when the red lights goes off.
Mercedes knows that, and have a solution. For Spain they have preparing two very important updates. The first one is fuel tank with modifield geometry with a lower CoG. The second one is some kind of revolution cooling system, which use 30% less liquid. This would give an aero advantige and would compensate the increased fuel at the start of a race (which is their second big problem). Unfortunately they have not been able to complete the changes in time for Spain. Maybe we will see it in Monaco or even Canada.

[Ferraripilot]

Mercedes made that problem with W02, they stretched the chassi for W03 to fix this, and W04 has very nearly the same chassis length as W03. W02s condition was such that Schu and Rosberg had very different car setups, Nico's favoring qualifying and Michaels's favoring race pace.

I do not think it's a fuel tank CoG issue again, not at all. Their suspension travel and application at various loads and speeds is such that it places undue stress to the tire during the heavier aero sectors. Although Lotus is running a similar type of system, I don't see their car going quite so soft at certain areas nor does it have as extreme suspension travel which is why I believe the Lotus system isn't quite as complicated as W04s which appears to have a mind of its own. We're just not sure if it's a good mind yet lol.

[marcush.]

where did i read the Renault cooling package of RedBull carries a water volume of 8litres ...30% is a mega saving of 2400 cc...
How could someone design a fuel tank for lower cof g -the confines of the tank are set by the shape of the monocoque and it does not remotely look like they have done spectacular things with their tub in the tank area.
this leaves them maybe with a tank too short and a bit on the high side-explaining why they are so reluctant to fill her completely up.
I don´t think this is anything else than more smokescreens or bad analysis the same problem was already there in all the years gone by for them.so either they have not learned from their mistakes or it simply is something else.

[Cocles]

The second one is some kind of revolution cooling system, which use 30% less liquid. This would give an aero advantige and would compensate the increased fuel at the start of a race (which is their second big problem).

This falls in line with the preseason rumor that they're now working with an American company on a radical cooling solution.