2022 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Jdn1327]

Shame to see them in the woods. I really wonder if the CFD comps/wind tunnel has lead them to figures that just cannot be replicated in the real world…

IMO i think merc have fallen behing in the tooling in CFD/simulation tools etc compared to RB/Ferrari. While merc was winning with big advantages, the other teams maybe invested in these tools and got a bit ahead of the game. As its clear the % correlation of RB and Ferrari parts seems to be HIGH when they put them on the car. Mercs upgrades seem more hit and miss. Maybe its the inconsistency of the car on track but parts are good OR the parts just don't correlate well from factory to track.

Yeah I agree with this. Also I think its the philosophy of the team as well. Mercedes have always had issues with suspension hence the need for trick suspensions like FRIK and the 'collapsed' suspension they had last year. Red Bulls floor is powerful and their suspension is amazing. Same goes for ferrari...I guess time will tell for Mercedes. Either way it's going to be a long 5yrs for Mercedes fans

[chrisc90]

Shame to see them in the woods. I really wonder if the CFD comps/wind tunnel has lead them to figures that just cannot be replicated in the real world…

IMO i think merc have fallen behing in the tooling in CFD/simulation tools etc compared to RB/Ferrari. While merc was winning with big advantages, the other teams maybe invested in these tools and got a bit ahead of the game. As its clear the % correlation of RB and Ferrari parts seems to be HIGH when they put them on the car. Mercs upgrades seem more hit and miss. Maybe its the inconsistency of the car on track but parts are good OR the parts just don't correlate well from factory to track.

Yeah I agree with this. Also I think its the philosophy of the team as well. Mercedes have always had issues with suspension hence the need for trick suspensions like FRIK and the 'collapsed' suspension they had last year. Red Bulls floor is powerful and their suspension is amazing. Same goes for ferrari...I guess time will tell for Mercedes. Either way it's going to be a long 5yrs for Mercedes fans

You watch the active ride height being needed propaganda starting again. Guarantee it will be mentioned in interviews at some point this season

[atanatizante]

There will be freedom I think with exhaust pipes, and coolers and such. I could be wrong, but the PU can still be improved without the major components needing to be changed.

I'm not 100% sure but I think fuel and lube could be updated yearly, so maybe had they`ll design new sidepods it could generate better internal airflow and in conjunction with new lubs and fuel could increase the thermal PU/ICE efficiency that`ll bring performance due to running them harder for longer ... and least but not last better combustion could help too for the above target ...

[EJ22B]

I think there might be an internal divide regarding the car concept. Some probably know where they are wrong but some might be opposing that change because they think the current concept is the way to go.

This looks to me like McLaren 2003-2004 scenario where Newey knew they had to redesign the MP4/18 chassis to make the car better but Paddy Lowe and Pat Fry opposed it saying that it's not needed. Newey ultimately got his wish and the MP4/19B was miles better.

[atanatizante]

For the tyres, it could be suspension geometry and setup. They setup the car for less tyre wear to have a better average speed over the race distance.
I think this simply is a bandaid for poor ultimate pace. For example if they are 0.5 seconds a lap slower than the redbull, but gain 0.1 second per lap as the tyres degrade and the car gets slower. And if the redbull gains 0.2 seconds per lap from tyre deg... Then at some point, after a number of laps, there will be a cross over point where the mercedes is the faster car simply because it has preserved lap time better.
Say in this case after 7 laps, the mercedes should be in touching distance.

So they have a setup that wears the tyres less, but that setup also would mean less energy goes into the tyres during cornering, so qualifying suffers. That's my take on it; very simple take.

I cannot answer the drag question though. I am awaiting the team's explanation after the season is over.

THIS!
I fully agree with you Ringo!
Since day 1 of this season, they choose to setup the car bearing in mind that they are the 3rd team on pure race pace, hence they`ll have better chances when they nurse the tyres in the race
Only in Hungary gambled with RUS with a setup more towards qualy and we know what happened: his car just ate the tyres quickly!

Here, I think they are back to old habits and my proof is that in Q2 both drivers went on used soft tyres and on the second hot lap they did better S2 times than they did in Q3 with new ones... that means to me that there is no load/energy in the tyres hence they set it up the car for to be kinder on them to maybe (who knows) be able to do an M-H 1 stop race, now that the track is warmer ... this strategy is equal fastest with the S-M-S 2 stop strategy, as Pirelli predicted, btw ...

Anyway, it`ll be interesting to see how they perform in the race bearing in mind that in France, Hungary and here they use the same C2, C3 and C4 tyres, with temperatures very much the same as in Hungary, although it`s the opposite type of track regarding downforce level required ...

[Big Tea]

So maybe it is not THAT bad a car?

[F1Krof]

So maybe it is not THAT bad a car?

On race pace, they are not that far of Ferrari as it seems. Probably within 2-3 tenths (as they were until now). But Red Bull seem to have taken a huge leap, this reminds of 2013, where everybody had high hopes that Mercedes will finally catch the mighty Red Bull, only to find out that their step was even mightier than eveybody had hoped.

[cplchanb]

So maybe it is not THAT bad a car?

On race pace, they are not that far of Ferrari as it seems. Probably within 2-3 tenths (as they were until now). But Red Bull seem to have taken a huge leap, this reminds of 2013, where everybody had high hopes that Mercedes will finally catch the mighty Red Bull, only to find out that their step was even mightier than eveybody had hoped.

Had Russell not made that mistake that cost him 6 tenths that lap he would've been in drs zone by lap 43 or sooner. Not to mention ham would've had an easy podium or even 2nd. This car definitely has locked potential that is worth finding

[F1Krof]

So maybe it is not THAT bad a car?

On race pace, they are not that far of Ferrari as it seems. Probably within 2-3 tenths (as they were until now). But Red Bull seem to have taken a huge leap, this reminds of 2013, where everybody had high hopes that Mercedes will finally catch the mighty Red Bull, only to find out that their step was even mightier than eveybody had hoped.

Had Russell not made that mistake that cost him 6 tenths that lap he would've been in drs zone by lap 43 or sooner. Not to mention ham would've had an easy podium or even 2nd. This car definitely has locked potential that is worth finding

I kind of don't agree with you regarding Russel. He ate his tyres up by the time he got close to Sainz, perhaps he pushed to hard at the beginning.

I agree with you regarding Hamilton though, I think he would have easily gone past Sainz, probably challenge Perez.

[wogx]

[NicoS]

https://www.wykop.pl/cdn/c3201142/comme ... FazqqI.jpg

What is the importance of this in terms of sport (racing) or F1 technology?

[vorticism]

Here's a better angle of it.

[wogx]

It's a fun fact*/a bit of statistics about Mercedes AMG F1 driver, it doesn't need to be strictly technical IMO

*or not a "fun" fact, because he ended that streak today

[NicoS]

It's a fun fact*/a bit of statistics about Mercedes AMG F1 driver, it doesn't need to be strictly technical IMO

*or not a "fun" fact, because he ended that streak today

it's not about Mercedes AMG F1 driver. it's about a LGBTQ+ helmet.

[ispano6]

Here's a better angle of it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam ... mdensity=2

Surely that landing must have hurt his back and had more Gs than porpoising. Why did he refuse to go to the medical center afterwards?
Car damage also probably will eat into the cost cap, maybe a new PU and gearbox. Hamilton really doesn't do that great when they run 'special' liveries.