2022 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Just_a_fan]

Too bad the report comes from someone who has a poor track record for credibility. But on balance of the whole situation in mind with the FIA having approved Mercedes intentions in the first place, I anticipate this will probably turn out to be true.

I think there has never been a serious doubt of the Mercedes concept not being FIA approved. Teams know the FIA looked at it way beforehand. However, this does not necessarily mean that it won't get banned at some point later on. This could happen simply because other teams could bring convincing arguments the FIA did not think about, for example.
For the sake of racing and competitiveness, I hope that it won't get banned in the middle of the season, if any.

Let's see if the Merc turns in to a double title-winning missile. If it does, the FIA might decide to step in and ban it for next year. They've got form for this, after all. They'd want to prevent a "how far can we push this idea" war erupting, I think.

[atanatizante]

There are rumours saying that for the first 2 to 3 races they`ll run the W13 Barcelona spec. car for the following reasons:

1. This spec car has less porpoising and thus less room for compromise regarding setup hence loss in performance overall
2. On harder tyre compound this car spec tends to be less prone to understeer in the low-speed corners, which will help them in a 1 stop strategy for this and the next race
3. Since the Barcelona test there is not enough time to analyze data, verify both in CFD & wind tunnel and design/build new upgrades in less than 4-5 weeks' time ...

[atanatizante]

Some questions:

1. This porpoising effect affects W13 car only on high fuel levels due to the car being heavier it lowers under the weight? Hence they can raise the ride height but lose too much performance ...
2. What`s the W13 behaviour on 2022 Pirelli tyres? Has the car the same gentle tyre management, bearing in mind these year tyres are harder than last year (regarding tyre compound), which force the teams to consider more towards the 1 stop race strategy?

So no one could answer these questions?

[Mara Nello]

There are rumours saying that for the first 2 to 3 races they`ll run the W13 Barcelona spec. car for the following reasons:

1. This spec car has less porpoising and thus less room for compromise regarding setup hence loss in performance overall
2. On harder tyre compound this car spec tends to be less prone to understeer in the low-speed corners, which will help them in a 1 stop strategy for this and the next race
3. Since the Barcelona test there is not enough time to analyze data, verify both in CFD & wind tunnel and design/build new upgrades in less than 4-5 weeks' time ...

That would assume they are not sandbagging and have bigger problems than i was personally thinking of.
Do you have any source or link to these rumours?

For sure we will need to wait 2 more days to see...

[AeroDynamic]

There are rumours saying that for the first 2 to 3 races they`ll run the W13 Barcelona spec. car for the following reasons:

1. This spec car has less porpoising and thus less room for compromise regarding setup hence loss in performance overall
2. On harder tyre compound this car spec tends to be less prone to understeer in the low-speed corners, which will help them in a 1 stop strategy for this and the next race
3. Since the Barcelona test there is not enough time to analyze data, verify both in CFD & wind tunnel and design/build new upgrades in less than 4-5 weeks' time ...

Can you please provide source to rumours?

[shamyakovic]

There are rumours saying that for the first 2 to 3 races they`ll run the W13 Barcelona spec. car for the following reasons:

1. This spec car has less porpoising and thus less room for compromise regarding setup hence loss in performance overall
2. On harder tyre compound this car spec tends to be less prone to understeer in the low-speed corners, which will help them in a 1 stop strategy for this and the next race
3. Since the Barcelona test there is not enough time to analyze data, verify both in CFD & wind tunnel and design/build new upgrades in less than 4-5 weeks' time ...

what is the source?

[atanatizante]

There are rumours saying that for the first 2 to 3 races they`ll run the W13 Barcelona spec. car for the following reasons:

1. This spec car has less porpoising and thus less room for compromise regarding setup hence loss in performance overall
2. On harder tyre compound this car spec tends to be less prone to understeer in the low-speed corners, which will help them in a 1 stop strategy for this and the next race
3. Since the Barcelona test there is not enough time to analyze data, verify both in CFD & wind tunnel and design/build new upgrades in less than 4-5 weeks' time ...

Can you please provide source to rumours?

Sorry to disappoint you guys but these were spread on a forum in my country ... and from my point of view seems logical in a way ...

[AeroDynamic]

[zibby43]

The Bahrain spec is virtually identical, mechanically, to the Barcelona spec.

I can’t see them reverting. They have equal testing time with each package. Rumors seem pretty unfounded, to be fair.

[AR3-GP]

The Bahrain spec is virtually identical, mechanically, to the Barcelona spec.

I can’t see them reverting. They have equal testing time with each package. Rumors seem pretty unfounded, to be fair.

While I agree that it sounds like a baseless rumour, the fact that the car is identical mechanically, would allow them to run both sidepod shapes rather trivially on Friday morning. For comparison purposes.

Although, what makes people think the side pod is the origin of the porpoising issue?

[rickybobbyf1]

It would surprise me if they use the Barcelona spec. If something like that were to happen, it would just confirm how badly they messed up and that all the bad form campaign is actually true. Personally, I don’t want to believe this rumor or the fact that somehow they screwed up with the concept, given that last yr it was painful watching the other team bring frequent updates, while Merc’s updates were scarce because of focusing on 2022. I have to believe a fix will be tested this Friday, for my sanity.

[ringo]

I think they will run the new spec car and learn from it.
It makes no sense delaying getting as much running on the zero pods. The early races are the best time to collect data to improve the current direction.

What i am cautiously optimistic about is that a team does not forget how to make a fast car over night. The porpoising is a simple issue to solve. If other teams can solve it the big hi tech mercedes can.
As for the design direction. I am sure they have the facilties to prove that this concept gives a big advantage.
I have a hunch they are coming to run very fast come Q3. I just cannot see why they would be behind in this formula and the likes of the midfielders have made progress.

[rickybobbyf1]

I think they will run the new spec car and learn from it.
It makes no sense delaying getting as much running on the zero pods. The early races are the best time to collect data to improve the current direction.

What i am cautiously optimistic about is that a team does not forget how to make a fast car over night. The porpoising is a simple issue to solve. If other teams can solve it the big hi tech mercedes can.
As for the design direction. I am sure they have the facilties to prove that this concept gives a big advantage.
I have a hunch they are coming to run very fast come Q3. I just cannot see why they would be behind in this formula and the likes of the midfielders have made progress.

Same thought. It wouldn’t make sense given what this team is capable of. Aside from the visually shocking aero package, the team has been keeping their heads down and have been really quiet. As Elliot said, usually the biggest upgrades are not seen and the engine dept did say they made strides with some components/packaging. Hopefully it shows this weekend

[PlatinumZealot]

Too bad the report comes from someone who has a poor track record for credibility. But on balance of the whole situation in mind with the FIA having approved Mercedes intentions in the first place, I anticipate this will probably turn out to be true.

I think there has never been a serious doubt of the Mercedes concept not being FIA approved. Teams know the FIA looked at it way beforehand. However, this does not necessarily mean that it won't get banned at some point later on. This could happen simply because other teams could bring convincing arguments the FIA did not think about, for example.
For the sake of racing and competitiveness, I hope that it won't get banned in the middle of the season, if any.

I see nothing to ban. I watched a video of Monaco 2017? (they year Daniel won) and his car had similar mirror arrangements.

Note that the downwash wing is not the part being protested, it is how the mirror is mounted on it that seems to be the problem.

[izzy]

They have a pretty strong front wing on it, that can only be to balance a lot of rear downforce. And even then it was understeery. The porpoising means downforce doesn't it, it needs to be controlled without raising the ride height. They've got a lot of flow over the body of the car, straight to the rear wings and with low drag. So on this innocent basis I'd be really surprised if they backtrack, I'm pretty sure they'll develop this concept. They're not going to beat Red Bull with anything ordinary are they, I bet that's their mindset.