True, but then you have the drawback of the monocoque which they had to reinforce (adds weight) when they cut into it to place the radiators further inboard.
It's likely to be the floor. James Key (McLaren TD) has also said they're changing "philosophy" whilst referring to the floor but realized too late to do anything about it for Bahrain. It's quite likely that Merc will be doing the same in the next 12 months. Considering McLaren couldn't get a basic version of it on the car for Bahrain and realized before the season ended/ at the beginning of the winter that their development direction was wrong, I would say it takes maybe 4-6 months to get a floor worth putting on the car after switching concept (at this stage in the regs) and obviously longer than that before it is developed to an acceptable level.IGOSNELL wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:01Mercedes kept on telling us their side pods don't have a big impact on performance. This weekend at the Bahrain GP after a poor result Toto basically tells us they are going to change concept. So if the side pods are not the issue what is the real problem with the W14?
Russel said recently that they still believe their side pod concept is the best, but even if there were to change it to lets say Red Bull's, they won't gain half a second from there. Remember most of the downforce in these regs come from the floor. That is probably where their concept is wrong. And floor is harder to copy since we can't really see it.IGOSNELL wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:01Mercedes kept on telling us their side pods don't have a big impact on performance. This weekend at the Bahrain GP after a poor result Toto basically tells us they are going to change concept. So if the side pods are not the issue what is the real problem with the W14?
There were good pictures of the floors of all teams circulated last yearSuvesh wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:19Russel said recently that they still believe their side pod concept is the best, but even if there were to change it to lets say Red Bull's, they won't gain half a second from there. Remember most of the downforce in these regs come from the floor. That is probably where their concept is wrong. And floor is harder to copy since we can't really see it.IGOSNELL wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:01Mercedes kept on telling us their side pods don't have a big impact on performance. This weekend at the Bahrain GP after a poor result Toto basically tells us they are going to change concept. So if the side pods are not the issue what is the real problem with the W14?
Ground effect is the name of the game. It's 90% of the development according elliot.IGOSNELL wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:01Mercedes kept on telling us their side pods don't have a big impact on performance. This weekend at the Bahrain GP after a poor result Toto basically tells us they are going to change concept. So if the side pods are not the issue what is the real problem with the W14?
Toto did say there is more to it than we can see. So it's not just sidepods. from planet f1:IGOSNELL wrote: ↑07 Mar 2023, 21:01Mercedes kept on telling us their side pods don't have a big impact on performance. This weekend at the Bahrain GP after a poor result Toto basically tells us they are going to change concept. So if the side pods are not the issue what is the real problem with the W14?
Not fully in agreement with your statement. There is not much strong evidence to suggest what you are saying. There is more evidence for lack of downforce over a range of speeds. This would suggest the floor is main issue.carisi2k wrote: ↑08 Mar 2023, 01:59There floor might not be optimal but that isn't where there problem lies. Have a look at the car in Bahrain and listen to Lewis words about how his car was performing in the race. He was always sawing at the wheel with the car always trying to break loose. This car still has aero balance issues and guess where that problem lies.
The underfloor might produce most of the downforce but that doesn't mean you can have air going all over the place above or beside the floor. All the other teams have sidepods to control the air after the front wheels and the W14 lacks this mechanism. This is clearly the area the Mercedes is struggling with and we have those lockup pictures to prove it. Those pictures show that W14 doesn't have the same control over the air that the other teams have.
I can't comment on the W14's underfloor because we haven't seen it but obviously with the porpoising gone it must be working better then last year. People need to realise that the problem is the small pod/mid wing that is causing all the issues.