Mercedes GP W02

[bot6]

Could simply be that they're building the second car. Hence "new", appart from chassis since that one has to be crash-tested.
Also, "new" does not have to mean different.

Or that the guy is trying to mislead the opposition.

[Morteza]

I believe Norbert has gone mad. A new car?! Really?

[FrukostScones]

Maybe they planned it already before Valencia, this would explain their vanilla pure spec bla bla... They were already saying that there will be a new car. Maybe it will.
Maybe they had a secret shakedown a rockingham or wherever and instantly knew that it was a dog...
Maybe the info of the new car is a dog? we ll see on 9th or 25th March or what do I know.... Hoefully they gonnna strech the dog.

[Raptor22]

building a completely new car is only feasible if they planned a new car.

I have always maintained that the W02 we are seeing is an interim car. I suspect even the chassis is a carry over from W01 since they have only built one car thus far.
Whatever their actual race car is called (W03?) I am expecting a blade roll over structure, raised side pods high nose, a much changed car from what we are seeing.

Madness? Unfeasible? I don't think so.

[wesley123]

I am highly confident that the car we saw in previous test is just the car they are going to race with(apart from a few new parts), I really have doubts of an changed engine cover.
Why I think that;
-It originally is the BAR and Honda team, a team which never produced a good car, a team that took nearly a year to discover they had made a mistake in windtunnel calibration, a team that made the same mistake 2 years after each other, why should this car be different?
-You want to test a completely new car in 3 days? Why did they even minded making the W02 then, if they wanted tire evaluation they could have just fitted a 2011 legal diffuser, kers and the ARW.
-They said exactly the same thing last year, we where going to see big changes at the same time back then, what they got new on the car where a few cockpit fins and a merely revised front wing, nothing more.

I think they screwed up once again.

[luca]

I suspect even the chassis is a carry over from W01 since they have only built one car thus far.

I don't think so. As far as we know, the W01's chassis had serious weight distribution issues (possibly even stiffness issues), so they couldn't have tested the new tyres properly with it.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Seriously, whatever happens with the car this year Mercedes have me captivated.

Side pods, different airbox, double floor, new wings etc etc. Its flight of fancy stuff, and if they pull it of it will be Roy of the Rovers miraculous.
but maybe this was part of the plan. Build a base and copy any idea inherent in rivals designs.

I dont think so personally, but it is plausible.

Rather I think the team found a variant of their current package and chose to hone it.
The car that was unveiled was basic. Interesting how Mclaren guys get the heads up.....

[vinuneuro]

Considering work on following seasons' cars are begun 3-4 quarters in advance, when you guys say 'new car' you just mean a massive upgrade package that was likely in the timeline since the end of 2010 right?

Imo this team needs to be most concerned with it's FW development which was effectively stagnant at the track for almost a whole season while others were bringing updates and testing them on Fridays.

[Ferraripilot]

I have always maintained this is an interim car, but to what extent I had no real idea. I suspected a marginally more extensive upgrade package than the others, but nothing as potentially substantially as what is being conjectured. So, the chassis is remaining the same but almost all of the bodywork is being changed. So the point of testing was purely to ensure the chassis operated well and the systems operated as designed. This could be utterly brilliant. I bet we won't see 100% of what they are doing until Melbourne.

[Giblet]

Deleted some off topic posts. Feel free to find or start a thread about promotional and replica vehicles.

Will continue to delete posts not directly about the car, including ones about any perceived strengths or weaknesses of a teams ability to test the car they built.

If it merits discussion, start a new thread. Car threads to be limited to the actual physical object known as the 'car'.

[The FOZ]

We've seen other teams running 2010 cars with current-spec wings in testing, and we know that the teams can only homologate one chassis design.

Could Merc be running the W01 chassis with the W02 nose (homologated), new wings, and different bodywork up to this point?

In other words...can someone prove that the chassis itself isn't the W01?

If not, it's concievable they were running a W01 in different clothing and will be rolling out the true W02 for the final test.

This would only be possible had it been planned this way from the start...

[bot6]

I very much doubt that they are using the W01 chassis, since it would be non-compliant with the new weight distribution requirements. Also, the car would show its old roll blade. And they would have to fit the KERS in somehow.

This test car is definitely a new chassis. Might not be the final racing version of the new chassis, but it's definitely more W02 than W01.

What we know for sure is we will see a new exhaust layout and a new front wing on the W02 come the next test. These updates were announced by Brawn. This will probably come with at least a slight modification of the diffuser and floor, since the exhaust will not blow on them in the same way.

As for the other parts of the car (airbox and sidepods mainly), we won't know before the 8th.

[Ferraripilot]

Agreed. Definitely more W02 than W01 there. I supposed we can call the current car W02.1 which had a purpose of chassis and system checking only, while the race spec car can be called W02.2 followed by the later-in-the-season upgraded W02.2a.

[Florio]

How much of a 'Major Upgrade' do they actually mean? I remember the situation last year, and they were hyping up this 'super diffuser' which was sure to put them at the sharp end of the field. The two updates Brawn mentioned are quite significant, especially as they (finally) move to a three element wing.

[Ferraripilot]

How much of a 'Major Upgrade' do they actually mean? I remember the situation last year, and they were hyping up this 'super diffuser' which was sure to put them at the sharp end of the field. The two updates Brawn mentioned are quite significant, especially as they (finally) move to a three element wing.

As we are hearing about, most recently via the Mclaren employee twitter, MB is building everything anew except the chassis. So if the tub is the only portion that remains the same, that essentially means both wings, turning vanes, barge boards, airbox cover, engine cover, sidepods. This is all conjecture so we're not sure but Brawn has always maintained this current testing car to essentially be a platform for system testing only.