Mercedes AMG F1 W06

[Just_a_fan]

I wonder what Hamilton removed from his suspension and how is it worth 0.15s a lap?

He said that for this weekend he had taken off a part of the car's suspension which was worth 0.1-0.15secs a lap in improvement but that it had not made the difference he hoped.

"It was something I didn't feel was working for me," he said. "I took it off and tried to work around it. I thought I'd try something different and it didn't work."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/34954027

I wonder whether it's an aero part or a mechanical part.

[Hail22]

Abu Dhabi Saturday:

[theWPTformula]

Not sure if this is the correct thread to post these questions I've wanted to ask for a long time now, (apologies if this is very straightforward for those who knows how suspensions work)

1) How do Mercedes have very little amount of dive on their front suspension when braking,
2) Lots of suspension travel on the loaded side when going over kerbs in corners, but very minimal on the unloaded (tyre touching kerb)
3) And very minimal bounce when car is released off the jacks during pitstops?

Reference videos:
1: https://streamable.com/2vzc (can't see any movement on the pushrod, etc.)
2: https://streamable.com/tnxr
3: https://streamable.com/eetw (watching the ground shadow near the front left wheel, doesn't seem like it bounced at all)

I don't think the pitstop bounce is a valid argument, even though I agree that Mercedes are potentially doing something clever with their suspension.

Play this video back at 0.25 speed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DQWFeOGJr0

In the above case, the front drops slightly quicker the rear. If both jacks drop the car in perfect unison then there is little to no bounce whatsoever. Having said that, having looked at other pitstops with similar 'jack-drop rate characteristics', the W06 has minimal bounce, especially in comparison to Red Bull. Ferrari's is a bit more supple, though.

[Mark4211]

Not sure if this is the correct thread to post these questions I've wanted to ask for a long time now, (apologies if this is very straightforward for those who knows how suspensions work)

1) How do Mercedes have very little amount of dive on their front suspension when braking,
2) Lots of suspension travel on the loaded side when going over kerbs in corners, but very minimal on the unloaded (tyre touching kerb)
3) And very minimal bounce when car is released off the jacks during pitstops?

Reference videos:
1: https://streamable.com/2vzc (can't see any movement on the pushrod, etc.)
2: https://streamable.com/tnxr
3: https://streamable.com/eetw (watching the ground shadow near the front left wheel, doesn't seem like it bounced at all)

I don't think the pitstop bounce is a valid argument, even though I agree that Mercedes are potentially doing something clever with their suspension.

Play this video back at 0.25 speed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DQWFeOGJr0

In the above case, the front drops slightly quicker the rear. If both jacks drop the car in perfect unison then there is little to no bounce whatsoever. Having said that, having looked at other pitstops with similar 'jack-drop rate characteristics', the W06 has minimal bounce, especially in comparison to Red Bull. Ferrari's is a bit more supple, though.

I've done a compilation of pitstops from videos of my collection, for comparison with and without FRIC
https://streamable.com/itvq
With FRIC: Germany 2013
When FRIC just got removed: Germany 2014
Without FRIC 2014: Brazil
Without FRIC 2015: Belgium, Singapore, Japan, Mexico, Brazil

Some bounce is noticeable in Germany 2013, 2014, and Singapore, Brazil 2015

[zioture]

https://twitter.com/Graftechweb/status/ ... 7820667904

[trinidefender]

https://twitter.com/Graftechweb/status/ ... 7820667904

Isn't it supposed to be 2014 and 2015 not 2015 and 2016?

[spiritone]

Who is going to solve the mystery of which part was taken off the suspension of the merc that hamilton is talking about. Does someone have pictures of the frt of the merc with the front cover off.

[jamesalexw]

A naked W06 at the USGP

[Blackout]

Some new power unit pics here http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... 62#p612662

[scarbs]

I've done a dump of tech photos and facts around the W06 on my blog.

http://scarbsf1.com/?p=4317

[OO7]

I've done a dump of tech photos and facts around the W06 on my blog.

http://scarbsf1.com/?p=4317

great article, thanks scarbs.

You mentioned slimming of the bodywork around the sharkfin. I have wondered whether any changes were made in this area (excluding the blisters and around the exhaust), but whenever I've attempted a comparison with other images, I usually assume the difference must be down to lighting. The area around the variable inlets for example, often looked like a change had been made at some point (slimmed slightly), but comparisons never highlighted anything definitive.

Do you have any image that show these differences?