Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power +

[nim_peter]

Are the Mercedes tyre woes got anything to do with the suspension ban before the season? Ferrari did go to FIA for clarifications, any chance Ferrari found a new trick to keep their tyres in the window like how Mercedes did the last few years? We've seen in past how operating the tyres correctly results in huge laptime gains(Redbull winning every race after tyre change, not sure which year?) I think Lewis mentioned last race or earlier ones that all 4 tyres are heating up differently, lack of interconnected setup or workaround?

Posted this in race thread as well.

[Longley]

Hi,

I was wondering myself for quite a time why the mercedes propelled cars have smaller hot air outlets at the rear of the cars. I think a smaller outlet at the rear is beneficial for the aerodynamics.
Need the mercedes engine less cooling or have these teams a different cooiling approach (smaller outlet but slower air velocity)??
Mercedes

Williams

Force India

Ferrari

Red Bull


I hope I did not miss the explanation of this fact at the beginning of the season.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Hi,

I was wondering myself for quite a time why the mercedes propelled cars have smaller hot air outlets at the rear of the cars. I think a smaller outlet at the rear is beneficial for the aerodynamics.
Need the mercedes engine less cooling or have these teams a different cooiling approach (smaller outlet but slower air velocity)??

Simply put, more efficiency means less cooling needed, more of the energy is going to the wheels and thus less is going to the radiators(as waste).

[ME4ME]

Don't forget that Mercedes and I believe Williams too use (or have used) an outlet on top of the shark fin.

[atanatizante]

So now, Mercedes have shed some kilos it seems
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 91574.html

Mercedes will use the Friday training in Montreal to go new ways with the chassis tuning. Both LewisHamiltonand Valtteri Bottas do mysteriously: "We have a few new things that we will try." For example, weight has been slimmed down. "We are now close to the ideal," says Bottas.

Maybe more interesting to know is the fact that they had reassessed the high rake philosophy once again with the same bad results : "One thing the investigation of Mercedes revealed: the long wheelbase is not the problem. The low rake may already be. However, Mercedes can end being slower. Wolff says: "This is a concept we do not know. On a quick view, a high rake might solve some problems. But there is a danger that you'll getting backwards (on performance). "

From a previous article in the same AMuS, a Merc engineer said that the long base car offered them better DF levels rather than a high rake car and also they have the know how with that kind of car ...

What is crystal clear to me is that their long time low rake philosophy suffered a big blow with the FRIC ban.
In their philosophy in order to have constant DF levels you need to have a stable aero platform and this can be done for them with a stiff suspension and low rake setup.
But this stiff suspension setup will affect their car mechanical performance so they adopted Bob Bell`s FRIC system idea from Renault and perfected for the last 4 years ending with having a stable aero platform and the softest suspension setup from all the teams, as Mark Hughes said in that Sky article.
But what was he wrong about is the fact that this was the story for 2016 and is no longer available for 2017 ...
Now with these 2017 Pirelli narrow operation window and the FRIC ban they have been caught on the back foot coz they need to play more with the suspension (travel and stuff) which unfortunately is very narrow once they have to stuck with this low rake philosophy car ...
In addition their car weight isn`t help they either coz they have bigger times for axle mass transfer, hence their tyre warm up issue between the front tyres and the rear ones ...
And the last bullet in their armor was this lowered tyre pressure for which they need to stiff up their suspension in order to compensate for the lateral loads on the tyre and Ferrari will have the upper hand in traction battle coz they don`t have to do that ...

[wuzak]

FRIC was banned in 2014.

[diego.liv]

To manage temps better https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... 08-916465/

[atanatizante]

FRIC was banned in 2014.

Ok, then maybe a passive suspension system which hydraulically simulate an active one ... it is better now?

[PlatinumZealot]

To manage temps better https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... 08-916465/
https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/amp ... detail.jpg

Pretty cool! Looks inspired by Ferrari's radiator louvres. As i pointed out in the pirelli tyre pressures thread Mercedes ultra soft heating problem has to do with the brakes.. Everything around the brakes affects the tyre temps. I think this louvre thing is a response.

[SiLo]

I think they still run one of the softest suspension setups on the grid. So they clearly know what they are doing in that regard.

[mantikos]

I think they still run one of the softest suspension setups on the grid. So they clearly know what they are doing in that regard.

Funny you say that cause the first few races they didn't seem as soft as the previous few years. In Canada, that was the first thing I noticed - the suspension was soft like they had been running their cars for the past few years. Maybe they've reverted back to their previous setup philosophy.

[Mr.G]

I think they still run one of the softest suspension setups on the grid. So they clearly know what they are doing in that regard.

Funny you say that cause the first few races they didn't seem as soft as the previous few years. In Canada, that was the first thing I noticed - the suspension was soft like they had been running their cars for the past few years. Maybe they've reverted back to their previous setup philosophy.

I've read somewhere that they cut the weight down what let them make the setup softer...

[cramr]

didn't we say they were overweight? aren't all the cars lighter than the minimum weight and the reach the minimum weight with the ballast placed in strategic location to lower CofG and balance?

[k.ko100v]

didn't we say they were overweight? aren't all the cars lighter than the minimum weight and the reach the minimum weight with the ballast placed in strategic location to lower CofG and balance?

Yes, they was overweight by approximate 5 kg, which by the F1 standards is a lot. This means no ballast and high CofG. Also this can explain the stiffer suspensions setup before Canada. With High CofG and soft suspension the car will roll like a boat.

[mantikos]

I think they still run one of the softest suspension setups on the grid. So they clearly know what they are doing in that regard.

Funny you say that cause the first few races they didn't seem as soft as the previous few years. In Canada, that was the first thing I noticed - the suspension was soft like they had been running their cars for the past few years. Maybe they've reverted back to their previous setup philosophy.

I've read somewhere that they cut the weight down what let them make the setup softer...

Makes sense since right after Monaco and before Canada there was news (based on a Bottas interview) of them further reducing the weight to just below the minimum (allowing them ballast). They were 5kgs over at the start of the season, and cut about 3+ of those 5 with the Barcelona update. Maybe they cut 2ish kgs before Canada.