Mercedes W11

[NathanOlder]

DAS has been cleared and is legal as posted in the race thread by Morteza.

[nevill3]

The stewards have dismissed Red Bull's protest and found that the DAS system is legal and can be used. They have determined it is part of the steering mechanism.

[zibby43]

Link:

[Femi]

https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status ... 6447703041

https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status ... 7963194368

I do not believe those are the only benefits. It doesn't make sense to have all that weight carrying all race long just to warm up tyres after the safety car.

I think they must have shed some weight in other areas to compensate that the car would be underweight if just removed.

[zibby43]

To piggyback off the photo posted earlier, a fin change comparison shot:



Louvred panel by the cockpit:





Gorgeous hi-res overhead shot:

[atanatizante]

Is just me or they also change the "little front ears" towards the edge of the monocoque?



And from this back view of this footage, it seems as they have designed near the driver vent grills downwards, presumably both not to interfere with the main airflow above the sidepod and also by speeding up hot air evacuation:

[atanatizante]

Shame we couldn`t see RB16`s rake to make a better rake comparing ... at least we could see the RW AoA in order to understand (HP apart) why Merc was between 8-10km/h faster on the top speed chart:

[Just_a_fan]

Shame we couldn`t see RB16`s rake to make a better rake comparing ... at least we could see the RW AoA in order to understand (HP apart) why Merc was between 8-10km/h faster on the top speed chart:

And yet even with DRS, the Merc struggled to close on the RedBull. I was impressed by the straight line speed of the RB.

[SiLo]

Shame we couldn`t see RB16`s rake to make a better rake comparing ... at least we could see the RW AoA in order to understand (HP apart) why Merc was between 8-10km/h faster on the top speed chart:

And yet even with DRS, the Merc struggled to close on the RedBull. I was impressed by the straight line speed of the RB.

Merc was faster in a straight line but the corners are all about exit, so if you get a good one it doesn't matter about DRS so much.

[zibby43]

I'm just gonna leave this here

[NathanOlder]

Shame we couldn`t see RB16`s rake to make a better rake comparing ... at least we could see the RW AoA in order to understand (HP apart) why Merc was between 8-10km/h faster on the top speed chart:

And yet even with DRS, the Merc struggled to close on the RedBull. I was impressed by the straight line speed of the RB.

Did they though ? Lewis got into DRS , and was through on lap 9. Is that a struggle ?

[El Scorchio]

Shame we couldn`t see RB16`s rake to make a better rake comparing ... at least we could see the RW AoA in order to understand (HP apart) why Merc was between 8-10km/h faster on the top speed chart:

And yet even with DRS, the Merc struggled to close on the RedBull. I was impressed by the straight line speed of the RB.

Did they though ? Lewis got into DRS , and was through on lap 9. Is that a struggle ?

Exactly. I saw it as him just being patient, knowing he had speed, and waiting for the right opportunity to pass without having to make a silly dive up the inside or round the outside. It was really early in the race and there was no rush to pass.

The way Bottas pulled out 2.5 seconds on Verstappen (a fast starter) on the first couple of laps suggests there is a LOT of pace in that car under normal circumstances. Some of that is tyres, but not all of it.

[wesley123]

The way Bottas pulled out 2.5 seconds on Verstappen (a fast starter) on the first couple of laps suggests there is a LOT of pace in that car under normal circumstances. Some of that is tyres, but not all of it.

Bottas kept it at around 2.5sec, indicating they had much more pace left. Pirelli stated the mediums were .5sec a lap slower, but the way Bottas pulled away in the opening laps showed even more pace than that.

[El Scorchio]

The way Bottas pulled out 2.5 seconds on Verstappen (a fast starter) on the first couple of laps suggests there is a LOT of pace in that car under normal circumstances. Some of that is tyres, but not all of it.

Bottas kept it at around 2.5sec, indicating they had much more pace left. Pirelli stated the mediums were .5sec a lap slower, but the way Bottas pulled away in the opening laps showed even more pace than that.

Agree. It seemed very easy to open up that gap. I think he could have gone somewhat faster in the closing laps as well if it were normal circumstances and he had to do so.

[atanatizante]

Mercedes admits W11 design has fundamental gearbox issue!

They think that repeat gearbox problem on its W11 would be inevitable with its current car configuration, after revealing that a build-up of electrical noise is triggering its issues: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... e/4827558/