This article suggests Mercedes will go away from the "Zeropod"-Philosophy.
Clearly, the nascent creature whose authorship will once again be attributed to Mike Elliott will see modifications in other areas as well. The aerodynamic guise so peculiar could undergo a remodeling process devoted to a compromise between the "Zero pod" concept and the solutions adopted by the other stables. A "hybrid" that envisages decidedly wider bellies than those observed during the last championship as per the graphic comparison above.
"The target that the aerodynamicists of the Anglo-German franchise are chasing is to have bulkier bellies to better manage, by controlling it, the turbulent flow coming from the front wheels. The aim is to keep it at a proper distance from the car body to prevent it from adversely affecting the aerodynamics of the rear end."
Full article:
https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2023 ... e-gap.html
jordanb wrote: ↑18 Jan 2023, 04:41
wogx wrote: ↑17 Jan 2023, 22:03
Too much even last year (drag).
Is it fair to say that downforce always creates drag, but drag is not always an indicator of downforce? Many say that those big, fat rear tires create a lot of drag in Mercedes' case.
I don't know where things gets missed. The very reason why ground effect has been brought back, is to cut the drag that comes from aero surfaces. As floor downforce doesn't produce aerodynamic drag, any more than the floors of the past, just for being physical bodies moving through high speed air, they are way more efficient means to produce downforce. Mercedes was unable produce as much downforce from the floor as RB and Ferrari, which forced them to run the car closer to the ground, causing bouncing and a lot of their downforce came from larger rear wing. Those were the primary problems of Mercedes. If they have to get rid of drag, they must find better floor design to enhance the downforce produced by ground effect and then cut down rear wing dependency. It's a myth they had more downforce hence drag than other two. It's their weaker floor and stronger rear wing.
I've always found this "more drag means more downforce" argument a bit funny, to be honest. If Mercedes had so much more downforce than Ferrari or Red Bull, at least on parts of the tracks where porpoising wasn't a big problem at the beginning of the season, this advantage should have been recognized at least from time to time. But this was not the case at all. So I agree with you that this was a fairy tale and Mercedes was behind Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of floor. Also I think that the Front Wheel Wake and Tire Squirt Management was one of the big weaknesses of the W013, which is also related to the Zeropod concept. I also don't really see the possibility of getting a similarly good handle on that with this concept without continuing to have the disadvantage of too much drag, which was also partly caused by it in my opinion.
