Mercedes W07 Speculation Thread

[f1316]

He's talking about packaging here because there is no way Mercedes would give him a power figure this early. He would have surely gotten the CAD drawings of the extents of the engine though.

Petronas seem to be talking specifically about the PU in this article: http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/74187/ ... ompetitivo

Funny how it turned out that so much of petronas' work is done in Italy (according to the article) - you'd think that would have made then ideal partners for Ferrari.

No idea about shell's operation but presuming it outside Italy.

[ME4ME]

Yes the big teams don't seem to bother announcing the passing of the crash test. It's a shame for the fans waiting for news, but at the same time it's a good way to control expectations. Inevitably people are going to read too much into it, depending on the date of passing the test, without realizing that teams have different schedules. They might be behind their own schedule even if they past the test first, and vise versa.

[godlameroso]

I have a feeling the new Mercedes isn't going to improve much in outright pace, but will have more energy to deploy over a race distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_UMoBt25tI

2015 pole was slower than 2014 in Suzuka, and this isn't an aberration the trend continues over most tracks. For example, in 2014 the race in Barcelona had no safety cars same as in 2015, and the total race distance was done faster in 2014 than 2015 by 12 seconds.

[adrianjordan]

I have a feeling the new Mercedes isn't going to improve much in outright pace, but will have more energy to deploy over a race distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_UMoBt25tI

2015 pole was slower than 2014 in Suzuka, and this isn't an aberration the trend continues over most tracks. For example, in 2014 the race in Barcelona had no safety cars same as in 2015, and the total race distance was done faster in 2014 than 2015 by 12 seconds.

Didn't we have different tyre compounds in 2015 though...or am I remembering wrong...??

[Spacepace]

I have a feeling the new Mercedes isn't going to improve much in outright pace, but will have more energy to deploy over a race distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_UMoBt25tI

2015 pole was slower than 2014 in Suzuka, and this isn't an aberration the trend continues over most tracks. For example, in 2014 the race in Barcelona had no safety cars same as in 2015, and the total race distance was done faster in 2014 than 2015 by 12 seconds.

Didn't we have different tyre compounds in 2015 though...or am I remembering wrong...??

They were definetaly harder compounds in 2015 to 2014.

[OO7]

Also Kvyat's accident put paid to a few second runs in Q3.

[Sevach]

Also Kvyat's accident put paid to a few second runs in Q3.

And neither Hamilton nor Rosberg made particularly good bankers.

[WaikeCU]

What about fiddling with tire pressures that got banned in Singapore? Might sort of limited the Merc's performance.

[Big Mangalhit]

They also had new, more stringent, nose rules that would slow their time. Ofc chassis and PU evolution made up for it in most cases.

[godlameroso]

Well they did gain like .3 seconds in Barcelona qualifying, also Rosberg wasn't really under pressure for the lead since he had Vettel behind him for the most part.

[f1316]

What about fiddling with tire pressures that got banned in Singapore? Might sort of limited the Merc's performance.

This is probably the main cause, I think. Red Bull made a lot of how much this cost them and I'm sure the same was true for Mercedes whose nose became much lower.

Inherently the cars, the engines, the overall aero is of course moving forward and getting better/more sophisticated. Without a change like the noses, this year's cars will certainly be quicker.

[Pierce89]

What about fiddling with tire pressures that got banned in Singapore? Might sort of limited the Merc's performance.

This is probably the main cause, I think. Red Bull made a lot of how much this cost them and I'm sure the same was true for Mercedes whose nose became much lower.

Inherently the cars, the engines, the overall aero is of course moving forward and getting better/more sophisticated. Without a change like the noses, this year's cars will certainly be quicker.

If Merc now has "superior " tire management, as many have said, I would think they would've been hurt the least. I personally believe the tires were a red herring, when they most likely just caught going down a set up blind alley.

[PlatinumZealot]

THe car had changed according to Lewis, but let us not go down that cul-de-sac right now..

[dans79]

THe car had changed according to Lewis, but let us not go down that cul-de-sac right now..

If you look at the quotes right after Singapore, you can tell that they did change something. it didn't become a taboo to talk about until Lewis said that it was why Nico was beating him.

[f1316]

What about fiddling with tire pressures that got banned in Singapore? Might sort of limited the Merc's performance.

This is probably the main cause, I think. Red Bull made a lot of how much this cost them and I'm sure the same was true for Mercedes whose nose became much lower.

Inherently the cars, the engines, the overall aero is of course moving forward and getting better/more sophisticated. Without a change like the noses, this year's cars will certainly be quicker.

If Merc now has "superior " tire management, as many have said, I would think they would've been hurt the least. I personally believe the tires were a red herring, when they most likely just caught going down a set up blind alley.

Sorry I quoted the wrong thing! I meant that the lower nose was the main cause