Mercedes F1 W05 Pre-launch Speculation

[Juzh]

I slowly begin to think merc is indeed going to be the best car next year. There's just too much rumors which don't want to die, meaning something must be going on.

[Bredd]

Martin about Mercedes
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111743

Martin mate your supposed to say mclaren are going to win the title not tip someone else. Bloody hell.

[Gerhard Berger]

I slowly begin to think merc is indeed going to be the best car next year. There's just too much rumors which don't want to die, meaning something must be going on.

a bit like BMW before 2009...

[SectorOne]

...and the future success of Mercedes is officially jinxed

You have the bad example, BMW.
But then you also have the good example, Red Bull.
As i´ve said before, Mercedes has performed better then Red Bull up to this point, but it´s in no way any security for success next year.

[Mika1]

I think the engine will be superb as always. The whole package is a different story. Compared to 2013, they have to improve race pace and tyre behaviour, so enough work to do.

[Owen.C93]

AMuS claiming that Merc found around 2 seconds from 2012 to 2013

They found 1s in S1 of Suzuka alone.

[diego.liv]

AMuS claiming that Merc found around 2 seconds from 2012 to 2013

They found 1s in S1 of Suzuka alone.

I was just refering to the subject of the article, made back in february, after the tests; i wasn't mocking AMus, neither Merc

[dans79]

I think being a works team is going to benefit them a lot more than people think. They can design the engine exactly how they want it, all they way down to the location of the mounting points. I think the biggest benefit they will have is not being hampered by the engine freeze anymore. The Renault edge when it comes to mapping flexibility is gone, that alone is huge.

[markn93]

I think being a works team is going to benefit them a lot more than people think. They can design the engine exactly how they want it, all they way down to the location of the mounting points. I think the biggest benefit they will have is not being hampered by the engine freeze anymore. The Renault edge when it comes to mapping flexibility is gone, that alone is huge.

Good point, there was a fair bit of buzz on the importance of 'works' teams when Lewis was deciding back in 2012. Now I think about it properly it is a case of the engine being built specifically for this specific car, working in tandem with the aero designers etc, not the engine team building the best they can and slotting it into the chassis and therefore effectively being the same for both works and customer teams. Potentially a huge benefit provided they take advantage of it.

[kooleracer]

Does anyone know if Paddy Lowe will have any influence on the W05 car? Geoff Willis is leading the project. Or doesn't Paddy get involved with engineering anymore as Executive Director (Technical)?

The structure in 2014 will be:

Paddy Lowe: Executive Director (Technical) -- Toto Wolff: Executive Director (Commercial)

Bob Bell: Technical Director

Aldo Costa: Engineering Director -- Geoff Willis: Technology Director

Mike Elliott Head of Aerodynamics, Jarrod Murphy Head of CFD. Report to Willis.

What i don't understand is the difference between Bob Bell and Paddy Lowe role within the team. Or could we see Bell also departing in the near future?

2014: structure
Wolff: CEO
Lowe: Team principal or Exec. Technical Director? (what does he do? Is he the straight replacement for Ross? Or will he be intimately involved in the car design like at McLaren?)
Bell: Technical Director (leader tech group) ( Will Bell be ""demoted" Chief Technical Officer?)
Aldo: Chief W06 project
Willis: Chief W05 project
Elliott: Chief Aero
Murhpy: Chief CFD
Owens: Chief Designer

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Does anyone know if Paddy Lowe will have any influence on the W05 car? Geoff Willis is leading the project. Or doesn't Paddy get involved with engineering anymore as Executive Director (Technical)?

Influence on the W05 itself doesn't seem too likely, it's pretty late in the game for that. But I would think he'll be involved in the update package brought to Australia and will responsible for in-season development. I think the same goes for James Allison at Ferrari. Both came awful late for any meaningful influence into the initial design for the 2014 car, but the first update package & inseason dev is a certainty.

[timbo]

I slowly begin to think merc is indeed going to be the best car next year. There's just too much rumors which don't want to die, meaning something must be going on.

Wasn't it the same last year with all the mercury stuff?

[Holm86]

They can design the engine exactly how they want it, all they way down to the location of the mounting points.

No they can't. Im pretty sure the mounting points are regulated with the new engines. To be able to fit any engine into any car.

[bonjon1979]

They can design the engine exactly how they want it, all they way down to the location of the mounting points.

No they can't. Im pretty sure the mounting points are regulated with the new engines. To be able to fit any engine into any car.

Of course, they have an advantage on this. The regulations stipulate the number of mounting points and the fact that they have to be on the engine but the fia didn't even know the exact shape/ sizeof the engines when the rules were made so how could they stipulate exact mounting points. Merc will have worked closely with the engine division and then fed the information though to the other teams. I expect they will have a contracted date at which they had to send a mock up of the engine to customer teams but the works team would've had the information and be able to ask for adjustments far earlier in the process.

[astracrazy]

2014 Structure

Wolff and Lowe are on the same 'level' splitting Ross's job. Wolf does the commercial side and Lowe does the sporting/tech side if you like. Lowe is overseeing the team and i don't think will have much influence directly on the car design. I think they just gave him that role this year for something to do

From what i understand Willis does preliminary work on future cars, like 2 years ahead before passing it on. How it works with Aldo and Bell i can't remember, i think they then pick up the current and next car. I don't think they alternate like you suggested (or like mclaren used to) its more like a production chain.