Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[diego1960]

About the mercury system, is it confirmed that it actually exists and will be used on the new car? If I remember correctly, I've only read it here and maybe in the autosport forum.

[Scootin159]

Check out the wheel and the seating position...People forget how uncomfortable these cars are..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTr-G6F1 ... embedded#!

Seems to me that they'd actually be quite comfortable. Not saying that it won't beat you up (not exactly a 'cushy' ride), or that it's not physically demanding to drive, but the seating position itself looks pretty comfortable.

The seating position and steering wheel position is all right about where it is in my formula car, and it all feels very natural once you're in there. My car does have a flat floor versus the raised nose in the F1 car, meaning that my feet are lower, but the raised foot position in the F1 car is probably actually more 'comfortable'.

[Ferraripilot]

I am still non-committal about the sidepods. We need to sit it diagonally from a height to see how big the undercut is & how sleek the sidepods are.

I am very impressed with how much lower the 'roof' or 'top of the sidepods are in comparison to the rest of the field let alone W02. If you notice the apex of the sidepod at the safety cel there is a 4-5cm gap as opposed to every other car on the field which has a smooth transition from safety cel to roof of the sidepod. This is impressive packaging.


As for their missing the first test, I wouldn't be too concerned as this is a clear evolution of W02. Now, if W03 had a radical new approach car like the Ferrari I would be very concerned in missing the first test.

[Leon]

maybe they've invented something interesting which will give them a speed increase (i.e. DD in BGP01) )))

[Tyler]

Agreed Ferraripilot,
Mercedes will probably know more about their car than Ferrari at the 2nd test.
By the way, well said Schulteiss =D>

[Fredy4]

FP - Do you have any example pics?

I'm struggling to see what you mean about them being low.

[Ferraripilot]

FP - Do you have any example pics?

I'm struggling to see what you mean about them being low.

Have a look at the top of the sidepod inlet where it meets the safety cel. Of the two clear pics we have, only the front-ish 3/4 pic allows us a view of this. This is NOT visible in the side profile pic. There is a definite gap between the top of the sidepod top entry and of the safety cel top. This which is opposed to every other car on the field and W02 of course which had a smooth transition from the top of the safety cel to the top of the side pod. Now of course, there is a few CM transition to where the sidepod mounts up.

I'm at work now, otherwise I would make the pic a url and post it to show you. Hopefully the above makes sense

[Fredy4]

So to clarify, its NOT visible in this main picture everybody is posting?

[strad]

Seems to me that they'd actually be quite comfortable. Not saying that it won't beat you up (not exactly a 'cushy' ride), or that it's not physically demanding to drive, but the seating position itself looks pretty comfortable

In the modern F1 car your feet are higher than your hips and very pinched...Not what I would call comfortable. The FF I've driven has a flat floor with your feet more or less straight in front of you.

[Ferraripilot]

The two red lines are where the gap is now. W02 was smoothly transitioned as is everyone else. This shows the sidepods truly are mounted a good bit lower. This is the only pic this gap is visible in. The other is a profile image which does not really show it.

[Schulteiss]

FP - Do you have any example pics?

I'm struggling to see what you mean about them being low.

Have a look at the top of the sidepod inlet where it meets the safety cel. Of the two clear pics we have, only the front-ish 3/4 pic allows us a view of this. This is NOT visible in the side profile pic. There is a definite gap between the top of the sidepod and top entry of the safety cel top. This which is opposed to every other car on the field and W02 of course which had a smooth transition from the top of the safety cel to the top of the side pod. Now of course, there is a few CM transition to where the sidepod mounts up.

Very low indeed. With a longer WB, designed for a much lower CoG. Speculating from there, if the floor is the same length, or not much longer than last year, it could be a well planted car on track, IMHO.

[Fredy4]

I see what you mean now. Even the RB8 is pretty flush, so all things being equal these start about 5cm lower.

[Ferraripilot]

This is a bit more clear now

[Ferraripilot]

Very low indeed. With a longer WB, designed for a much lower CoG. Speculating from there, if the floor is the same length, or not much longer than last year, it could be a well planted car on track, IMHO.

Right, this caught me off-guard as I have never seen sidepods mounted this low to the crash structure except for MP4-26 U-pods of course

[Ozan]

from the pictures and videos, I think w03 will be fastest car based on velocity. with the banning of EBDs the engine will not overheat and that means low need of cooling. lower undercut sidepods mean less drag and they are similar to bgp001's design. also the team will try different exhaust positions, but I think they will use rbr way of blowing.