Mercedes W13

[PlatinumZealot]

Yeah the porpoising has to be fixed before major upgrades happen.

[morefirejules08]

I wouldn’t call this a huge update like many rumors said before Barcelona!

All of the updates Mercedes has brought till now, are all updates that could have been on the car much earlier in the season…

That rear wing for example could and should easily have been manufactured by the 2nd round after what they saw in testing!

Mercedes look quite “lazy” let’s say to react this year! Don’t know why…understanding porpoising is an issue of course but just bringing updates may have helped them solve the problem through trial and error!

Anyway, really curious to see the results tomorrow!

Mercedes can’t afford the “trial and error” approach, they have less wind tunnel/CFD time than other teams and of course the budget cap to contend with so they have to be pretty certain upgrades will work before manufacturing parts

Also, it is difficult enough to understand a problem on a "fixed" car. Bringing updates introduce another variable and makes the understanding of the phenomenon even more difficult.

Agreed

[djones]

They should make the cars use them tyres in the sprint race. It might actually be worth watching then.

[JordanMugen]

Has been posted on the previous page! But thanks nonetheless Very excited to see it run this weekend

Not a huge change to the floor area but could be that small changes can have large consequences when it comes to porpoising, as we saw in Miami Fri->Sat performance shift

It seems Mercedes' new floor has a significantly taller tunnel height, though the picture is not super clear.

The whole venturi tunnel does seem considerably taller towards the middle of the car, noting the arch of the floor and reduced sidepod depth (assuming the livery application of the silver & green is identical)).

Taller venturi tunnel >> More usable downforce, less peak theoretical downforce?

Looks like the sidepod shape changed slightly in area of the "PET" letters on the Petronas logo.

Yes, it was clever of Mercedes to make the engine cover out of multiple pieces.

The part from below the vent panel down to the floor is new, as it had to be to accommodate the significantly different venturi tunnel height, so it seems they have taken the opportunity to reshape and refine this part of the sidepod.

I wouldn’t call this a huge update like many rumors said before Barcelona!

It's a whole new floor, which is the single largest bodywork part of the car. It doesn't seem they wanted to significantly change the upper bodywork at the same time (too many variables perhaps, or they are confident that micropods are a winner?).

If the taller venturi tunnels are indeed significantly less sensitive to ride height (as you would expect them to be) then that could significantly improve Mercedes' porpoising problem.

[GrizzleBoy]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTHNxDnWAAA ... name=large

Has been posted on the previous page! But thanks nonetheless Very excited to see it run this weekend

Not a huge change to the floor area but could be that small changes can have large consequences when it comes to porpoising, as we saw in Miami Fri->Sat performance shift

It seems Mercedes' new floor has a significantly taller tunnel height, though the picture is not super clear.

The whole venturi tunnel does seem considerably taller towards the middle of the car, noting the arch of the floor and reduced sidepod depth (assuming the livery application of the silver & green is identical)).

Taller venturi tunnel >> More usable downforce, less peak theoretical downforce?

Looks like the sidepod shape changed slightly in area of the "PET" letters on the Petronas logo.

Yes, it was clever of Mercedes to make the engine cover out of multiple pieces.

The part from below the vent panel down to the floor is new, as it had to be to accommodate the significantly different venturi tunnel height, so it seems they have taken the opportunity to reshape and refine this part of the sidepod.

I wouldn’t call this a huge update like many rumors said before Barcelona!

It's a whole new floor, which is the single largest bodywork part of the car. It doesn't seem they wanted to significantly change the upper bodywork at the same time (too many variables perhaps, or they are confident that micropods are a winner?).

If the taller venturi tunnels are indeed significantly less sensitive to ride height (as you would expect them to be) then that could significantly improve Mercedes' porpoising problem.

I'm afraid you're being duped by considerably different angles when it comes tomcomparing the height of the tunnels/middle section of the floor.

If you compare all the screw holes on and around the Petronas logo, you'll see they're all in the exact same location and the floor near the coke bottle area looks higher because of tricky reflections.

The floor definitely seems to have some different profile right around the new flap/edge wing though.

[VacuousFlamboyant]

Looks like the sidepod shape changed slightly in area of the "PET" letters on the Petronas logo.

The whole venturi tunnel does seem considerably taller towards the middle of the car, noting the arch of the floor and reduced sidepod depth (assuming the livery application of the silver & green is identical)).

Taller venturi tunnel >> More usable downforce, less peak theoretical downforce?

I could be. I bet they have a gap in towards the back to house some stains or structural carbon fibre to increase stiffness of the floor. Notice how the top isn't a smooth surface.

[AA_2019]

The metal on the floor edge could indicate the possibility of finally adopting metal skates under the floor. Whilst not directly helping bouncing, skates would directly help with bottoming.

[AA_2019]

The bulge around the E and T letters has gone, so looks like a significant internal repackaging too

This needs to work otherwise they will fall back outside the top 10. Other teams are said to be bringing up to 0.5 sec per lap updates such as McLaren, AM and Alfa Romeo. Not to mention the 0.3 sec per lap RB and Ferrari will be bringing.

Merc need 0.5 sec just to stay in p5/p6, and 1.2 sec to fight RB & Ferrari

[mkay]

The bulge around the E and T letters has gone, so looks like a significant internal repackaging too

This needs to work otherwise they will fall back outside the top 10. Other teams are said to be bringing up to 0.5 sec per lap updates such as McLaren, AM and Alfa Romeo. Not to mention the 0.3 sec per lap RB and Ferrari will be bringing.

Merc need 0.5 sec just to stay in p5/p6, and 1.2 sec to fight RB & Ferrari

I've been fooled before. Re: sidepod bulge, it's probably either lighting or Merc having realigned the sponsor sticker. Other angles don't see to show any change in sidepod configuration.

[PlatinumZealot]

The top of the floor is slighlty higher for real. Seeing it from the side angle the floor fasteners are closer to the turquoise stripe.

It could mean a foam layer to make the floor stiffer or a a taller tunnel. Only the engineers and mechanics will know.

[CaribouBread]

They seem to have changed the lower side impact structure's bulge into a small protrusion? only difference i'm seeing on the sidepods

[atanatizante]

Is that t-tray support unchanged ?

https://i.ibb.co/vhTY0DR/t.png

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... tail-1.jpg

There's a sprung or just a vertical stay connected to the T-tray?

[atanatizante]

[AeroDynamic]

Mercedes new floor; new Venturi tunnel entrance strakes?

[cplchanb]

i wonder if they will ever be able to develop the floor enough to not need those stays...
then again is there any potential loop hole that they can make the stays more aerodynamic?
something like the holes in the rims where the aero benefit was an "unintended byproduct"