Mercedes GP MGP W01

[Pierce89]

honestly speaking they are sandbagging in my view they have a very good speed on the longruns ,they play down their cards to avoid what happened to them last year as
Mclaren put in a hercules job to climb back to the front as did RB with their abandonning their difusser concept in favour of the DD.In effect all teams straight pulled out their DD concepts as soon as they saw the brawn,right? For this alone ,it is the smart move to not show the true potential.
They do not look hopeless with the old wings and floor ,do they? so it is entirly possible to stuck on the new pieces in Bahrain and confident to find the correct setup quickly enough as no rain is forecast there anyways..

I'm not saying the Merc is no good, but I think they've shown more of their potential than you think. Shumi MAY sandbag, but not Nico, he has too much to prove. I just think you're a little too over optimistic. That being said their big update should have them a solid third fastest car, if everyone else's updates don't have quite as big a step as theirs. If other teams updates add just as much performance as Merc's, then Shumi might struggle for points.

[mith]

I wonder what they're using VLC for. And Windows? Aren't they afraid of BSoD during the race?

[marcush.]

honestly speaking they are sandbagging in my view they have a very good speed on the longruns ,they play down their cards to avoid what happened to them last year as
Mclaren put in a hercules job to climb back to the front as did RB with their abandonning their difusser concept in favour of the DD.In effect all teams straight pulled out their DD concepts as soon as they saw the brawn,right? For this alone ,it is the smart move to not show the true potential.
They do not look hopeless with the old wings and floor ,do they? so it is entirly possible to stuck on the new pieces in Bahrain and confident to find the correct setup quickly enough as no rain is forecast there anyways..

I'm not saying the Merc is no good, but I think they've shown more of their potential than you think. Shumi MAY sandbag, but not Nico, he has too much to prove. I just think you're a little too over optimistic. That being said their big update should have them a solid third fastest car, if everyone else's updates don't have quite as big a step as theirs. If other teams updates add just as much performance as Merc's, then Shumi might struggle for points.

+1 as you could see from my later post I became aware of the fact that i´m a bitof a fanboy already ,so my view got a bit blurred by my feelings .you are absolutely right ,only I wish they had enough up their sleeve to produce the miracle.

[outer_bongolia]

I'm not saying the Merc is no good, but I think they've shown more of their potential than you think. Shumi MAY sandbag, but not Nico, he has too much to prove. I just think you're a little too over optimistic. That being said their big update should have them a solid third fastest car, if everyone else's updates don't have quite as big a step as theirs. If other teams updates add just as much performance as Merc's, then Shumi might struggle for points.

+1 as you could see from my later post I became aware of the fact that i´m a bitof a fanboy already ,so my view got a bit blurred by my feelings .you are absolutely right ,only I wish they had enough up their sleeve to produce the miracle.

Looking at the fastest times (in 1:20's and 1:21's only) in Barcelona up till today:

Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:20.614
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:20.637
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:20.686
Pedro De La Rosa (BMW Sauber) 1:20.973
Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) 1:21.056
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1:21.258
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:21.413
Jenson Button (McLaren) 1:21.450
Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:21.487
Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) 1:21.571
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 1:21.689
Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 1:21.975

Of course, the best reference would be to know which lap of how long a stint they were in when they scored these times. I'm not claiming just looking at the numbers above would be conclusive.

Yet, considering that Merc have been using last year's diffuser and front wing, they are up there and my expectations for their performance in Bahrain is pretty high.

[outer_bongolia]

Of course, I would love to see how a Turbo Diesel Hybrid Peugeot 908 compare to them...

[raymondu999]

I wonder what they're using VLC for. And Windows? Aren't they afraid of BSoD during the race?

Andy Shovelin - "Alright Michael you're going to have to push as hard as you can now. We need qualifying laps from you"
MS - "Why?"
Andy - "Our computer just showed up with a BSoD, we can't see any telemetry right now. We think Vettel (or any other car. I just say Vettel as a random driver's name) is right behind you."
MS - "Ah... right..."

[Ganxxta]

Looks for me like they are using VLC for the livefeed of the "official" standings and they are running Win XP, at least it is almost stable ...

[PlatinumZealot]

I'm not saying the Merc is no good, but I think they've shown more of their potential than you think. Shumi MAY sandbag, but not Nico, he has too much to prove. I just think you're a little too over optimistic. That being said their big update should have them a solid third fastest car, if everyone else's updates don't have quite as big a step as theirs. If other teams updates add just as much performance as Merc's, then Shumi might struggle for points.

+1 as you could see from my later post I became aware of the fact that i´m a bitof a fanboy already ,so my view got a bit blurred by my feelings .you are absolutely right ,only I wish they had enough up their sleeve to produce the miracle.

Looking at the fastest times (in 1:20's and 1:21's only) in Barcelona up till today:

Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) 1:20.614
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:20.637
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:20.686
Pedro De La Rosa (BMW Sauber) 1:20.973
Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) 1:21.056
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1:21.258
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:21.413
Jenson Button (McLaren) 1:21.450
Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:21.487
Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) 1:21.571
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 1:21.689
Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 1:21.975

Of course, the best reference would be to know which lap of how long a stint they were in when they scored these times. I'm not claiming just looking at the numbers above would be conclusive.

Yet, considering that Merc have been using last year's diffuser and front wing, they are up there and my expectations for their performance in Bahrain is pretty high.

Last year's diffuser and front wing can't be all that bad. I personally don't expect the new ones to look much different. The 2009 ones were probably very good already. So I won't be surprised if the new ones are based on these you see now. The only thing that can rubbish my predictions out the window is if they bring some kinda super mammoth diffuser.

[Pandamasque]

I agree. A few teams copied them (for 2010 too).

[ArchAngel]

...I'm not saying the Merc is no good, but I think they've shown more of their potential than you think. Shumi MAY sandbag, but not Nico, he has too much to prove. I just think you're a little too over optimistic. That being said their big update should have them a solid third fastest car, if everyone else's updates don't have quite as big a step as theirs...

I have similar impressions. Nico, a young turk who'd always been hailed as the next big thing should he land a top drive, finally gets his most competitive car to date. I don't think he's gonna have the patience to play mind games, and would rather impress Merc and everyone else ASAP, especially against Schu.

Michael, on the other hand, will probably pace himself and be content with doing just enough in the tests to get on with the program, get a good feel for the car and just an impression of its probable limits. Remember how last Friday in one stint he was trundling around the track consistently in 1:24s, then near the end he suddenly slashes almost 3secs and bangs in a lone 1:21s before resuming his leisurely pace of 1:24s? That's like him saying "don't get your panties all a-twisted. I haven't forgotten how to drive fast." A subsequent interview has confirmed that the man indeed hasn't shown yet "the proverbial six-tenths" that he brings to his team & car.

Yet despite my optimism, in its current spec & form, the W01 probably is indeed just fourth best behind the Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. I've no doubt that they really do have aero updates for Bahrain that will gain them more downforce & pace. No way is Ross gonna stick with their 2009 wings, floor & diffuser when he clearly saw that their title rivals had already surpassed their aerodynamic advantages even before the final quarter of the '09 season. They certainly threw resources into looking for 2010 solutions early enough.

I just hope that, in relation to similar updates from other teams, Merc's performance leap will be enough to give them a shot at the podium.

[axle]

I think the W01 will fly once the balance is sorted. I can see them winning in Bahrain...I have a feeling they have more to gain than the others, and the MP4/25 is going to lose most.

[Blackout]

Modified front wing:



The horizontal shape of the wing is also different...

[timbo]

So, they also used flow-vis paint?
Haven't seen such pics.

[roost89]

Blackout, can we see more of the car with the flo-vis?

[Blackout]

Yes we can !