Mercedes GP W02

[Morteza]

The race pace was much better than I had expected it to be. They have done a solid race. W02 aka pile of crap mark II did well. Rosberg and Schumacher could fight for positions and defend pretty nicely.

[3one]

Great race for the Mgp team. They just fumbled with the fuel levels in Nicos car. He could have made it to the podiu

[marcush.]

according to Haug both drivers had not enough fuel on board ..they seemed genuinly surprised by their race pace and the amount of fuel they could burn due to their pace..
hopefully this is the start of a turnaround and not a hickup before returning to business as usual.

[analist01]

First of all, Im relieved to see the Mercedes Boys enjoying and racing with the real competitors. Rosberg drove an excellent grandprix, and i really thought that he was able to get a podium finish. It was like nostalgia seeing Schumacher and Alonso going at each other just like the Ferrari and Renault times.

The car seemed to have a good pace, holding the Ferrari's on the straight and having good speed and acceleration through the corners. I think we have to say thanks to Pirelli, cause even when you have the best car you need a good strategy to finish the black white flag as first.

It because Hamilton had fresher tyres that he could pass Vettel and drive a comfortable gap. Well, i hope that this a start of good results, the next grandprix is within 3 weeks. Does anyone know if their are some significant upgrades coming, to improve the aerodynamics, which seemed the problem the last two grandprix's.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

A W02 leading a race on merit? Who would have thought.

I was one who berated the team for not living up to the name. But today the car was worthy of the name Mercedes GP. I just hope the team can resolve these cooling issues, because turkey will be far warmer, so I expect a repeat of malaysia if no good solutions have been found.
In addition, maybe we will see an iteration of red bulls rake on the W02. it's shaping into a better season, but all hinges on how it handles the heat.

[mep]

according to Haug both drivers had not enough fuel on board ..they seemed genuinly surprised by their race pace and the amount of fuel they could burn due to their pace..
hopefully this is the start of a turnaround and not a hickup before returning to business as usual.

Yes but can we trust into this story?
Rosberg said he was half of the race in fuel save modus. Sounds a bit strange for me that they got surprised by their fuel consumption due to race pace.
They had enough time to test this out on Friday. Also I don't necessarily see a correlation between pace and fuel consumption. You can be slow and still use a lot of fuel or maybe a bit like RedBull be quick and use less fuel as others.

Maybe they started with less fuel to show a good performance at the beginning and then save it at the end. Could have been a necessary move when we think about the Mercedes board present at the GP.

Edit:
Ok let’s say 10kg less from beginning on. Can be around 0,44s/lap.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Mep

20 to 30 kilos less fuel and mercedes would have finished behind force India.
Personally, the Mercedes board being there must have added somthing to the team in terms of a kick up the backside.
Either way mercedes will be pleased by what they saw. Finishing ahead of ferrari was a massive fillip for the team, and may justify some extra investment if that is what's holding them back.

Haug smiling with rosberg leading was a magic moment, but for sure the W02 I think is a mercurial car capable of alot, in the right conditions.

[Med4224]

A W02 leading a race on merit? Who would have thought.

I was one who berated the team for not living up to the name. But today the car was worthy of the name Mercedes GP. I just hope the team can resolve these cooling issues, because turkey will be far warmer, so I expect a repeat of malaysia if no good solutions have been found.
In addition, maybe we will see an iteration of red bulls rake on the W02. it's shaping into a better season, but all hinges on how it handles the heat.

Yea Brawn already stated there will be a cooling solution starting Turkey

[Dragonfly]

Still long way to the top but at least there's hope. Again.

[jav]

Great performance by the team. And one of the most enjoyable GP's in recent history! Worth getting up at 2:30 am to watch. 2 points stick out in my mind.

1) I think that- given not much changed on the car for this race, yet performance was much improved, the teams decision not to bring the final car to test 1 has proven to be a bad one.

2) I don't understand how the FIA is letting themselves or Ferrari skate on the Alonso DRS deployment while chasing MS for position. At the very least- they should find out why it happened, how many times it happened and make a judgement about how much (if any) time advantage it produced and unwind that. This should have resulted in MS gaining 1 spot and some valuable points.

It's nice to see signs of life but I'm not getting my hopes up. A 3 week break is as likely to produce a step backwards vs forward.

[dren]

The W02 has genuine pace, just like the team expected at the start of the season. Looks to be a good season!

When Rosberg was leading, I just said oh well he'll have to pit soon, then I realized he had already pitted! A very exciting race to watch.

Bring on the cooling updates!

[Ferraripilot]

ONE more lap and Schumacher would have dominated Alonso. Schu made up over 8 seconds in 9 laps on Zo. Fabulous race, and the MB was no doubt quicker than the Ferrari on lower fuel and hard tires. Soft tires and heavy fuel however Ferrari has the edge

Oh, and what's the deal with Alonso using his DRS where it's not allowed?? He getting a penalty?

[3one]

It now proves that the W02 has great pace... Given it doesn't get too hot...

And its good to hear that they now focused more on the cars Mechanical grip... With a good base suspension setup, the would get most of the benefits on their aero updates...

I've read somewhere too that Ross said the press that a new rear wing will be available for the next race? Which as he said would fix all the problems on the DRS... Most probably a bigger upper element... I just hope they let go of the floating design and bolt that sucker to the floor..

Also noting that they might go on with a higher rake come Turkey... I'm gonna bet if it goes well, Higher Rake + New rear wing = MK III front wing...

[i70q7m7ghw]

Clearly you aren't paying attention. It's nothing to do with the mechanism, that all works fine. The airflow is not re-attaching when the wing comes back down, so it's effectively remaining stalled. Merc have one of the more aggressive DRS systems. I'm sure they could run a less efficient system and not have the problem, but they are probably getting a fair chunk of their laptime from it at the moment.

So why does Rosberg's works and Schumacher's doesn't?

I think you better hop it to the hospital!

Source for the Brawn quote please?

I would source the interview where Schumacher explained how the airflow isn't reattaching with their DRS, but the beeb appear to have already nuked it from their website

[cirrusflyer]

Bloody hell!!! The Merc is working! Alonso can't pass Schumacher!

Great race for MGP. Nico lost one P at the race to one he had started from after leading for a long time. MS gained 6 and biting Alonso”s Red godess”s ass at the end. I believe he would not end up behind him and would have been a lot closer to Nico, if he had not have to overtake whole train of sauber”s, force india”s and toro rosso”s in the third stint. Also I think he came right after Mark Webber regarding gaining positions from start to finish, also one of the most active overtaking wise.
Well, great race...
3 weeks of waiting now? Hope they will pass quickly.