Mercedes W03 Launch

  • Thread starter Thread starter FranciscoJR
  • 129 comments
  • 18,786 views


mer031.png
 
The question is, is that really their new car? I thought u couldnt test it anymore.
 
You can do a "shakedown" on demo tires to make sure nothing falls off.
 
Yeah, you're allowed to do 100km for filming and shakedown purposes before the first test the car attends.
 
prisonermonkeys
Yeah, you're allowed to do 100km for filming and shakedown purposes before the first test the car attends.
Click to expand...
That 100km has been now mentioned in many places indicating it is an actual written rule. I'm just wondering if it is because it doesn't appear to be in the sporting regs. At least not very specifically. Only promo day relevant part I can find (page 9) is this:

Track testing shall be considered any track running time not part of an Event undertaken by a competitor entered in the Championship, (...), with the exception of promotional events carried out using tyres provided specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier."

A bit vague. Or perhaps the special promo tyres are designed to blow up after 100 001 m.
 
Last edited:
That car looks exactly like last years all but the nose. The inlets are the same the main and the kers as well as the exhaust used for YDT (young driver testing). I think I'll wait for the 21st before I go wild for what we see here. I mean I have no doubt the nose is going to be on the W03, but how do we know it is not being tested on a W02 and just pushed off as a shakedown or something else?
 
Damn. I need to add a silver platypus to my avatar now.
 
Has to be blatantly Mercedes though, don't want someone thinking of McLaren do we? :D
 
Thought their front wing was going to be different from the rest like rumours appointed to be, guess that was not true. Same as the rest of the teams.
 
They call this a "sneak preview"

[YOUTUBEHD]oTr-G6F1XTc[/YOUTUBEHD]
 
That is one awful, truly awful nose.

It looks like Rik Waller sat on the front of it.
 
Mercedes completed a private test of the W03 in Barcelona yesterday. And according to this article (it uses the Ferrari nose for the diagrams, but that's probably because there are no shots of the W03 nose available, and so the artist had to use whatever was available to illustrate it), Mercedes have applied the F-duct concept to the entire car, using channels in the bodywork and fins on the front wing to redirect the flow of air over the car to where it is most needed. So, when a car is going around a right-hand bend - like, say, Copse - the majority of the air is flowing over the left side of the car; likewise, when the car goes around a left-hander - like Blanchimont - the air flows over the right hand side. And when the car is going in a straight like - like the back straight at Austin - the air flow is normal over the entire car. If Mercedes have somehow managed to pull this off, not only is it ridiculously clever, but it will be difficult for everyone else to replicate because they would have to give their cars complete overhauls.
 
Last edited:
Stig's American cousin sat on it :sly:
 
So that's what they've been saying about clever front wing? It is clever... A bad design is still a bad design but if it can perform, who cares?

It is a complicated engineering and as prisonermonkeys said, it will be difficult for others to copy. It needs to pay off because Mercedes definitely can't take another dissapointing year.
 
I hope that they will do a lot better this season. Nico and Micheal really deserve it.
 
Im not sure I fully understand.. Is it just a clever shape, or does part of it actually flex/move?
 
It's a clever shape. None of it moves; none of it can move, because if it did move, it would be banned, and if it was banned, Mercedes would have to start over from scratch.

The system - if they have indeed developed it - works by using subtle channels in the bodywork to redirect air where it is needed the most. So when the car goes around a right-hander, like Copse, the aerodynamics are designed in such a way that the majority of the air will flow over the left side of the car, where the grip is needed the most.
 
prisonermonkeys
It's a clever shape. None of it moves; none of it can move, because if it did move, it would be banned, and if it was banned, Mercedes would have to start over from scratch.
Click to expand...

That was precisely why I asked. I knew it wasnt supposed to move, thats why it sounded a bit odd at first.

Is this really the first time someone has thought of shaping a car for that reason? I know I'm not exactly an engineer, but it feels like thats something they could have/should have been doing all along..
 
hawkeye122
Is this really the first time someone has thought of shaping a car for that reason?
Click to expand...
As far as I know, yes.

hawkeye122
it feels like thats something they could have/should have been doing all along..
Click to expand...
So are many of the innovations that the teams come up with - like the F-duct. It was so simple, so elegant and so effective that it was amazing no-one had thought of it before.
 
prisonermonkeys
It's a clever shape. None of it moves; none of it can move, because if it did move, it would be banned, and if it was banned, Mercedes would have to start over from scratch.

The system - if they have indeed developed it - works by using subtle channels in the bodywork to redirect air where it is needed the most. So when the car goes around a right-hander, like Copse, the aerodynamics are designed in such a way that the majority of the air will flow over the left side of the car, where the grip is needed the most.
Click to expand...

From what I could gather on the link you provided (in spanish with a video explaining how the system works in english) the air flow channeled is the one that goes into the intake on the nose... I would hardly call that the majority of air... though it will make some diference its only a small amount of airflow.
 
prisonermonkeys
If Mercedes have somehow managed to pull this off, not only is it ridiculously clever, but it will be difficult for everyone else to replicate because they would have to give their cars complete overhauls.
Click to expand...

Complete overhaul? A new front wing is considered a complete overhaul?

We will see if its really that clever, what might look a great idea in the windtunnel can turn out to be a red herring in reality, just see Renault's front-exhausts last year.

The only problem I can see with other teams copying it, is whether or not the nose cone is part of crash tests which lock down the design for the season - i.e. areas of the car the team cannot change. But otherwise its a pretty easy change to the car, seeing as nose cones and front wings are bolt-on.
I'm pretty sure sure a change in the nose cone would be acceptable seeing as we have seen teams change their nose cone design before during the season (2009 Red Bull for instance).
 
I find all this speculating hugely entertaining. Man, how awesome would it be if Nico and Michael could actually drive for the title? Ahh the thought...
 
From that demonstration, it is situated entirely within the front wing. This means that the other teams could copy without a full car change? the ducts themselves are only present on the front wing and whilst having an effect further along the line of the car, it would surely be worthwhile copying without many other changes required.

The full F-Duct was far harder to copy since the channel went the entire length of the car, but teams were quick on getting it copied too.
 
tribolik
the title says «New Mercedes W03 Formula 1 car will not feature 'big surprises' says Norbert Haug»
Click to expand...

Well yeah, also this.
 

Similar threads

The359
Mercedes-Benz SLR Trophy - Nov. 16
Replies
16
Views
4K
The_Tullster
The_Tullster
prisonermonkeys
Lotus E20 launch
2 3
Replies
75
Views
11K
Liquid
Liquid
GBalao888
Make your bold predictions for Forza Motorsport (8)'s launch content
2
Replies
43
Views
13K
GBalao888
GBalao888
05XR8
Toyota Gazoo Racing Heritage Parts
Replies
0
Views
1K
05XR8
05XR8
Cristobal1234
Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance 2021
Replies
0
Views
3K
Cristobal1234
Cristobal1234
Back