Mercedes W12

[zibby43]

Wasn't the scalloped floor a Mercedes invention? Weird that they've gone back to a regular floor.

Doesn't seem like a huge update package to me, but that's in line with the noises coming from Mercedes themselves.

Barge boards and floor are two of the most powerful components on the car. The third in the “big 3” being the diffuser, which we haven’t seen yet.

Front wing?

Which Gazzetta (IIRC?) had reported would also be part of the upgrade package for this weekend.

Would be 4th on my list. And that publication isn’t the most reliable.

We’ll see what other areas have been tweaked, but so far these updates have been in line with the sorts of changes RBR have made to their barge board and floor areas in the past 5 races.

I want to see the diffuser.

[zibby43]

Wasn't the scalloped floor a Mercedes invention? Weird that they've gone back to a regular floor.

Doesn't seem like a huge update package to me, but that's in line with the noises coming from Mercedes themselves.

Barge boards and floor are two of the most powerful components on the car. The third in the “big 3” being the diffuser, which we haven’t seen yet.

I'm well aware, and I can't say I understand the scalloped floor concept well enough to judge the effects of its removal. It just strikes me as being strange.

From where I'm sitting the bargeboard revisions seem fairly minor, apart from the upper "wing", but I'm also not sure what to make of those.

I’m guessing the ripples were there to induce underfloor vortices, but perhaps the effect wasn’t either powerful enough or consistent/stable enough. Which is why they’ve gone with a different approach topside with additional vanes.

[Just_a_fan]

Wasn't the scalloped floor a Mercedes invention? Weird that they've gone back to a regular floor.

Doesn't seem like a huge update package to me, but that's in line with the noises coming from Mercedes themselves.

They've changed some of the devices immediately in front of the scalloped floor which may have resulted in the scalloping not working / being needed.

[Marty_Y]

I know most of the set up is done before the weekend in the simulator, but one hour free practice just doesn't seem like long enough to find the balance of the car and evaluate if the changes have had the desired effect.

Hopefully they have managed to create some efficient downforce so they don't need to use such a draggy rear wing.

[matt_b]

Massive upgrades on the car, a lot more than anticipated and fortunately it looks like a dry weekend for them too, interested to see how much time this is worth

[dans79]

Wasn't the scalloped floor a Mercedes invention? Weird that they've gone back to a regular floor.

Doesn't seem like a huge update package to me, but that's in line with the noises coming from Mercedes themselves.

They've changed some of the devices immediately in front of the scalloped floor which may have resulted in the scalloping not working / being needed.

Yep, All of those changes are aimed at one thing, sealing the floor, and diffuser better than the previous revision, and to try and prevent tire squirt entering the diffuser.

It will be interesting to see if they have modified the area right in front of the rear wheels to help with tire squirt. If they modified the front edges of the floor, I assume they would modify the back as well.

The only other think I could see them modifying without to much hassle, to help with their known issues is the front wing.


Some more rake, and diffuser tweaks would be nice, but I doubt we would see anything like that given the limited amount of time they have to validate the upgrades this weekend.

[b2bL44]

Analysis-Mercedes vs Red Bull: update on the W12

That's why the engineers at Brackley have produced the update that will be tested during the British weekend. As we can see from the pictures taken by our friend Albert Fabrega directly from the English pit lane, the German team's engineers have modified the central part of the car.

Although it still has 5 horizontal elements, the area covered by the louvres has increased. In fact, the vertical profile with its split base stops at the first drift of the "shutter" and hooks into it. Moreover, if we look downwards, we notice the appearance of a horizontal flap at the end of the bridge flow diverter.

As far as the floor is concerned, on the other hand (see photo below), the solution with the wavy edge that had been the talk of the pre-season tests has disappeared, making way for a decidedly more conventional version.

It should also be noted that the horizontal profile extending perpendicularly above the floor is double-blown. All the gearboxes on the Brackley car were first studied and then made to work in unison. The W12 had shown less than optimal handling as the RB16B in keeping the lateral vortex produced by the car energised and controlled. We're talking about the Y250, redirected by the bargeboards and then treated by the appendages at the bottom edge. In this sense, the desire of the Mercedes engineers is to seal off this area more, making this vortex more energetic. However, to avoid the "burst" effect that would risk breaking it due to the "disturbance" that propagates within it, micro aerodynamic work has been carried out to control it. For this simple reason, part of the update corresponds to small appendages added in the most critical areas.

Although due to the particular format it will not be at all easy to understand, fine-tune and maximise the package, the need to produce superior downforce prevails. To challenge the very strong Red Bull, therefore, the German car will have to achieve aerodynamic balance thanks to the "free" load generated by the underbody and not using the load induced by the wings, which actually worsens aerodynamic efficiency. If the update is able to guarantee this scenario, the challenge at the top will, in all likelihood, be balanced once again.

https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2021 ... ce=10566.5

[zibby43]

Analysis-Mercedes vs Red Bull: update on the W12

Although it still has 5 horizontal elements, the area covered by the louvres has increased. In fact, the vertical profile with its split base stops at the first drift of the "shutter" and hooks into it. Moreover, if we look downwards, we notice the appearance of a horizontal flap at the end of the bridge flow diverter.

As far as the floor is concerned, on the other hand (see photo below), the solution with the wavy edge that had been the talk of the pre-season tests has disappeared, making way for a decidedly more conventional version.

It should also be noted that the horizontal profile extending perpendicularly above the floor is double-blown. All the gearboxes on the Brackley car were first studied and then made to work in unison. The W12 had shown less than optimal handling as the RB16B in keeping the lateral vortex produced by the car energised and controlled. We're talking about the Y250, redirected by the bargeboards and then treated by the appendages at the bottom edge. In this sense, the desire of the Mercedes engineers is to seal off this area more, making this vortex more energetic. However, to avoid the "burst" effect that would risk breaking it due to the "disturbance" that propagates within it, micro aerodynamic work has been carried out to control it. For this simple reason, part of the update corresponds to small appendages added in the most critical areas.

Although due to the particular format it will not be at all easy to understand, fine-tune and maximise the package, the need to produce superior downforce prevails. To challenge the very strong Red Bull, therefore, the German car will have to achieve aerodynamic balance thanks to the "free" load generated by the underbody and not using the load induced by the wings, which actually worsens aerodynamic efficiency. If the update is able to guarantee this scenario, the challenge at the top will, in all likelihood, be balanced once again.

https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2021 ... ce=10566.5

A very detailed summary of what we’ve seen in the Fabrega images above. Paints a nice picture of what they’re trying to achieve with the flow.

I could tell as soon as I saw they had chopped down the large vertical deflector ahead of the Venetian blinds/louvres section of the bargeboards that they’re clearly going for more efficiency.

Those louvres are now longer and contoured nicely where the vertical deflector once stood, too.

[bulldog]

[HungarianRacer]

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... ail-1.webp

Has this been pointed out already? Sidepod top fairing and side-fence are now split, late W10-style.

[lio007]

Old one for comparison:
Spielberg

[Cassius]

The fact they have been downplaying this upgrade probably means it is a very significant one in terms of time gain.

I expect this upgrade to solve a lot of their rear issues.

[bulldog]

https://i.imgur.com/X0u5u2M.png

Old one for comparison:
Spielberg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4qJZFBWEAY ... ame=medium
https://imgr1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/M ... 808069.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/cJM8B2dt/2021-06-23-21-15-09.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/1XsGhFKX/2021-06-2 ... -44-07.jpg

Nice comparison. Thank you.

[godlameroso]

https://i.imgur.com/X0u5u2M.png

Old one for comparison:
Spielberg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4qJZFBWEAY ... ame=medium
https://imgr1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/M ... 808069.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/cJM8B2dt/2021-06-23-21-15-09.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/1XsGhFKX/2021-06-2 ... -44-07.jpg

That little circled area is partly to clean up the airflow over the rear wheels. The airflow from there interacts with the turbulators on the outside of the rear wing endplates.

My mind was blown as well when I learned that.

[Morteza]