Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[Morteza]

I didn't know where to put this; the car thread or the team thread, but anyway:

Lowe to focus on 2013 Mercedes

Mercedes has instructed new recruit Paddy Lowe to focus his efforts on improving the team's 2013 Formula 1 car as it steps up its push for the world championship.

On the back of its second victory in three races, and indications that it has made a big step forward in understanding the tyres, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has revealed that Lowe's priority in his role as executive director (technical) is to drive forward the development of the W04.

"There may be a point where we say it is not better to put our efforts into next year, but at the moment we are putting the maximum into this season," said Brawn when asked by AUTOSPORT about Mercedes' title prospects.

"One of the things I have said to Paddy is focus most of your attention on this car.

"Obviously [he must] know what is going on with the other car which is progressing well under Aldo Costa, but let's push this one. That is an easy thing for Paddy to step in to.

"We will juggle our resources over the next six months to see what comes, but Silverstone was a pretty good step."

Lowe joined the team at the start of last month, after a deal was reached for him to be released from his McLaren contract early.

Mercedes' focus so far this year has been in curing its poor tyre degradation, but the way its drivers were able to match the pace of Red Bull at Silverstone has suggested it is now on top of the situation.

Brawn was encouraged by that performance, but equally knows that the team cannot get complacent.

"We took the race to them [Red Bull] this weekend, but we have to take another step because we were a little bit defensive," he said.

"We made quite a lot of changes to the car for here that we think are significant, but we have to wait and see."

[kooleracer]

Paddy already busy working i guess =D>

[Cocles]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BOKdFMaCcAAnGTC.jpg:large

Paddy already busy working i guess =D>

Lowe, "Heh, good grief. Are they really still developing that passive DRS red herring?"

[oT v1]

The invisible DRD on Goujon's car :p

Probably checking out the body work upgrade and where they've squeezed everything in

[dren]

I am not sure about the high speed stability but I think the width of their diffuser is the main cause of their tyre wear issues.

Good points by Fox. But please do explain how the width is causing the tyre wear? The Lotus tire wear is minimal in comparison and their diffuser exits 90 degrees out.

The heat of the exhaust affecting the tyres. Notice Mercedes made a modification to their diffuser for Silverstone.. they put some extra vanes near the diffuser edges.

That makes some sense. I thought you were getting at the diffuser exit itself, not the exhaust.

They also updated the rear suspension and it looks like they slowly work the tires into the window rather than beat them right in, perhaps tire pressures.

[Huntresa]

The invisible DRD on Goujon's car :p

Probably checking out the body work upgrade and where they've squeezed everything in

That boxy bodywork on romain is still larger then most teams, so there is room

[heimana]

you think that the change of tires Pirelli will greatly affect the degradation of the W04?

[theformula]

you think that the change of tires Pirelli will greatly affect the degradation of the W04?

Exactly what I was wondering. anyone think they know?

[Mika1]

I think it will help Mercedes, the tyres will be more durable, especially the 2012 tyres in Hungary.

[SiLo]

It doesn't change the tyre that much, it affect that operating temperature, should decrease the temperature by about 10 degrees meaning the teams that are in line can go a lot harder now.

[theformula]

Just seen this on a website describing the rear tyres that will be used in germany:

"The Kevlar belted rear will reduce the operating temperature of the tyre and this could have a dramatic effect on the championship. This helps Mercedes the most during the race, whilst having little effect on their dominance over a single lap in qualifying. Red Bull will benefit too."

"The losers will be Ferrari and Lotus because they have struggled when conditions are not so hot to get temperature into the tyres. This kevlar base tyre will make it even harder."

I have a question. If the operating temps are lower, then won't the merc's suffer in the race as they overheat their tyres? (arguably not a problem now judging by silverstone). And won't it help the ferrari's and the lotus cars as they struggle to get heat in the tyres over 1 lap and so due to the lower operating temps, surely they will get them in the working zone quicker than usual?
Am i missing something here??!

[diego.liv]

Just seen this on a website describing the rear tyres that will be used in germany:

"The Kevlar belted rear will reduce the operating temperature of the tyre and this could have a dramatic effect on the championship. This helps Mercedes the most during the race, whilst having little effect on their dominance over a single lap in qualifying. Red Bull will benefit too."

"The losers will be Ferrari and Lotus because they have struggled when conditions are not so hot to get temperature into the tyres. This kevlar base tyre will make it even harder."

I have a question. If the operating temps are lower, then won't the merc's suffer in the race as they overheat their tyres? (arguably not a problem now judging by silverstone). And won't it help the ferrari's and the lotus cars as they struggle to get heat in the tyres over 1 lap and so due to the lower operating temps, surely they will get them in the working zone quicker than usual?
Am i missing something here??!

If i recall well, we already talked about this, the tyres will heat less then non-kevlar, that's the point and why (supposedly) Ferr-Lotus-FI were against kevlar

[Huntresa]

Just seen this on a website describing the rear tyres that will be used in germany:

"The Kevlar belted rear will reduce the operating temperature of the tyre and this could have a dramatic effect on the championship. This helps Mercedes the most during the race, whilst having little effect on their dominance over a single lap in qualifying. Red Bull will benefit too."

"The losers will be Ferrari and Lotus because they have struggled when conditions are not so hot to get temperature into the tyres. This kevlar base tyre will make it even harder."

I have a question. If the operating temps are lower, then won't the merc's suffer in the race as they overheat their tyres? (arguably not a problem now judging by silverstone). And won't it help the ferrari's and the lotus cars as they struggle to get heat in the tyres over 1 lap and so due to the lower operating temps, surely they will get them in the working zone quicker than usual?
Am i missing something here??!

Also its not less heat req, its a smaller window, instead of 80 to 100degress its maybe 85-93 or w/e, but with Kevlar overall tyres will run with less heat, so its prob the top of the operating that will go down more then the lower going down or up.

[BorisTheBlade]

Don't confuse operating window and operating temperature in this context.
The window in which the tires operate best will stay mostly the same. But for a given load they will simply be around 10 degrees colder. At least that's what has been said.

[theformula]

Okay, so just to clear this up, will the kevlar tyres require more energy to be put through them in order to heat them up?