Mercedes W12

[DarthPlagueisTheVise]

Was Lewis running less rear wing than Valtteri today ?

[marcush]

Rake angle is a factor of rear vertical springrate (and low speed damping) vs
springrate , static rake angle is certainly different from dynamic figures ..
Static angles delta seems to be smaller
comparing RedBull and Merc.

[balalev]

Was Lewis running less rear wing than Valtteri today ?

Yep, different configuration

[DarthPlagueisTheVise]

Was Lewis running less rear wing than Valtteri today ?

Yep, different configuration

https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/upl ... N-01-1.jpg

https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/upl ... N-38-3.jpg

Thanks for the pics.

[pursue_one's]

It's interesting.

[mkay]

Is BOT's rear wing higher downforce, but offers more DRS benefits (due to taller/wider flap)?

[PlatinumZealot]

Higher downforce. No DRS benefit. The top speed dpesnt get higher but he will feel a bigger difference in speed when it opens up.

One of the advantages of being able to live with more rear tyre slip means a driver can take this low drag rear wing option. Sometimes it can back-fire though.

[marcush]

Higher downforce. No DRS benefit. The top speed dpesnt get higher but he will feel a bigger difference in speed when it opens up.

One of the advantages of being able to live with more rear tyre slip means a driver can take this low drag rear wing option. Sometimes it can back-fire though.

your post is a bit misleading in my view
being able to live with more rear tyre slip
is not an issue for any driver .Actually a
clear and honest oversteer characteristic is quite easy to control , if you have enough opposite lock available.
A tyre has a certain amount of grip available ,which can be split up into longitudinal and lateral load bearing capacity . Braking and Throttle application reduce lateral grip capacity .
So yes , different driving approaches lead to different car feedbacks .
if you brake deep into the corners you will need extra front grip ,to retain lateral grip while decelerating , if you finish braking before turnin , you have all grip of the front tyre for cornering .
But you cannot have more than optimum slip angle for a given vertical load and tyre temp and expect more grip .Grip peaks at optimum slip angle ,period .Exceeding this , and you lose grip )road holding capacity.It goes without saying Lewis is not quicker by living with higher slip angles at the rear .

[aral]

Could you please try and stay on the actual topic....W12 itself, rather than delve into driving styles etc. These can be discussed on the team thread.

[Mr5in1]

Hi I read somewhere else that the Merc had updated engine maps to improve driveability, can anyone confirm or add comment?

I think this might be an explanation for them being fast on the main straight at the weekend i.e. a good drive out of the last corner, and a contributive reason why Lewis was able to overtake Max early on (on top of Max's exit error)

[Mattchu]

I know the rake subject gets done to death, and I`m sorry about the poor picture quality, but I found this quite interesting.
Pretty much all the way round the corner the 2 cars were pretty much identical on the angle.

[F1NAC]

Basically RB is more loaded on this photo ( front wing endplate proximity to the ground) merc is stiffer

[Mattchu]

The suspension set up of the cars is different, but when the cars are actually travelling at speed I don`t think the rake angle is that much different [static to dynamic].
When the cars are static, the angle is more on the Red Bull, just watch the pass video [4th down] from the link below and pause -> start -> pause around the 17/18 second mark. The rake angle of both cars is very similar at all stages of the corner.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/31381 ... lton-trust

I`m just wondering if this is one of the reasons Mercedes seemed to have clawed back some performance and Aston Martin still seem to be floundering.

[marcush]

The suspension set up of the cars is different, but when the cars are actually travelling at speed I don`t think the rake angle is that much different [static to dynamic].
When the cars are static, the angle is more on the Red Bull, just watch the pass video [4th down] from the link below and pause -> start -> pause around the 17/18 second mark. The rake angle of both cars is very similar at all stages of the corner.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/31381 ... lton-trust

I`m just wondering if this is one of the reasons Mercedes seemed to have clawed back some performance and Aston Martin still seem to be floundering.

As posted before ,static rake does not tell you what happens dynamically .
oversimplified you could say , more rideheight allows for more bump travel and you can soften springrate.
This is of course not taking into account
spring compression by aero generated vertical load compressing the springs .

[Pyrone89]

Perhaps they increased the rake slightly and this solved their issues. Because it is light and day between Bahrain testing and the GP's