Mercedes W13 Speculation Thread

[F1Krof]

Are they allowed to run a cape under the nose as they were doing until now?

Also I wonder. Will it still have a purpose? Was it not designed to work with the Y250 vortex?

Won't they be useful directing as much air as possible to the Venturi tunnel intakes where the sidepod extravaganza used to be?

[SiLo]

Are they allowed to run a cape under the nose as they were doing until now?

Also I wonder. Will it still have a purpose? Was it not designed to work with the Y250 vortex?

Won't they be useful directing as much air as possible to the Venturi tunnel intakes where the sidepod extravaganza used to be?

I'm sure I saw something about the capes being banned? Might fall into the area where the barge boards are?

[Stu]

Also I wonder. Will it still have a purpose? Was it not designed to work with the Y250 vortex?

Won't they be useful directing as much air as possible to the Venturi tunnel intakes where the sidepod extravaganza used to be?

I'm sure I saw something about the capes being banned? Might fall into the area where the barge boards are?

Not banned per-se but technically so due to the minimum radius rules for bodywork. The ‘tea tray’ area has also been affected by this.

[SiLo]

Won't they be useful directing as much air as possible to the Venturi tunnel intakes where the sidepod extravaganza used to be?

I'm sure I saw something about the capes being banned? Might fall into the area where the barge boards are?

Not banned per-se but technically so due to the minimum radius rules for bodywork. The ‘tea tray’ area has also been affected by this.

That's the one, thanks Stu.

[Henri]

Who is the chief aero guy at merc since allison and aldo costa have left ?.. is lorenzo sassi still part of the engine team ?

[Holm86]

Who is the chief aero guy at merc since allison and aldo costa have left ?.. is lorenzo sassi still part of the engine team ?

Mike Elliott

[AeroDynamic]

Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but, can someone tell me what potential degree of benefit the squatting-no-rake engineering Mercedes deployed last year, May hold for the new ‘22 cars?

I understand the effect it had on the old cars but would this work the same, worse, or better, in theory, with these new ground effect cars? Like, would these new ‘22 cars push all times to adopt high rake with shorter wheel bases, or would it push more teams to adopt for long wheel base and low rake? Or is it unchanged and both philosophies could prove equally competitive?

I know it’s just speculation probably but I’d really value some opinions on this, especially from the most tech savvy users, thanks!

[PlatinumZealot]

I think we will still see teams trying to run a high rake to get more expansion from the venturi tunnel, but they will have a greater challenge in "sealing" the sides due to the higher air flow expected under the floor. Those cars will still have more drag though. Mercedes might still yet go with low rake if the numbers show that philosphy is still viable.

[SiLo]

I think we will still see teams trying to run a high rake to get more expansion from the venturi tunnel, but they will have a greater challenge in "sealing" the sides due to the higher air flow expected under the floor. Those cars will still have more drag though. Mercedes might still yet go with low rake if the numbers show that philosphy is still viable.

Plus they won't have the huge amount of vortex creating and management surfaces in the barge board and floor area either. I think high rake will be a real challenge, but there will still be some degree of rake (pun intended).

[Giando]

Do you remember when back in 2017 (or 2018?) Mercedes brought a (relatively simple) bodywork version for the first test session and then came up with a completely new one for the last test before the start of the season?

Would it be possible this year to see Merc (or other teams) do something like that or it would be complete nonsense given the small amount of time allowed for testing?

[SiLo]

Do you remember when back in 2017 (or 2018?) Mercedes brought a (relatively simple) bodywork version for the first test session and then came up with a completely new one for the last test before the start of the season?

Would it be possible this year to see Merc (or other teams) do something like that or it would be complete nonsense given the small amount of time allowed for testing?

I think considering how big the changes are, the teams will want as much track time as possible to help understand the car and correlate wind tunnel data. With the reduction in wind tunnel time, having good correlation becomes so much more important.

[Holm86]

Do you remember when back in 2017 (or 2018?) Mercedes brought a (relatively simple) bodywork version for the first test session and then came up with a completely new one for the last test before the start of the season?

Would it be possible this year to see Merc (or other teams) do something like that or it would be complete nonsense given the small amount of time allowed for testing?

I don't think that feasible with the budget cap

[De Jokke]

I think we will still see teams trying to run a high rake to get more expansion from the venturi tunnel, but they will have a greater challenge in "sealing" the sides due to the higher air flow expected under the floor. Those cars will still have more drag though. Mercedes might still yet go with low rake if the numbers show that philosphy is still viable.

I thought low rake was the way to go for 2022?

[LM10]

I think we will still see teams trying to run a high rake to get more expansion from the venturi tunnel, but they will have a greater challenge in "sealing" the sides due to the higher air flow expected under the floor. Those cars will still have more drag though. Mercedes might still yet go with low rake if the numbers show that philosphy is still viable.

I thought low rake was the way to go for 2022?

Thinking of the venturi effect it seems to be the best to have the underbody as near to the track as possible. That’s also what Newey told. Don’t know how high rake is playing into that.

[Big Tea]

I think we will still see teams trying to run a high rake to get more expansion from the venturi tunnel, but they will have a greater challenge in "sealing" the sides due to the higher air flow expected under the floor. Those cars will still have more drag though. Mercedes might still yet go with low rake if the numbers show that philosphy is still viable.

I thought low rake was the way to go for 2022?

As a higher rake (in effect) alters the 'pressure' along the underfloor, does the rake angle 'move' the C.O.G with speed?

(Edit, is it still C.O.G with downforce?)