2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

We.re close with ferrari in racepace.. the technical directive will expose some teams lol

Russell thinks Ferrari didn't turn the engine up.

[Matt2725]

We.re close with ferrari in racepace.. the technical directive will expose some teams lol

Russell thinks Ferrari didn't turn the engine up.

Not sure. Ferrari were topping the speed traps in FP2. I would suggest they were running a bit of power.

[Luscion]

Saying that Merc are either clipping because of drag or that they simply don't have their engines turned up, would drag have such an effect on a straight this short? Them having much more drag than AM here seems odd but who knows.

[AR3-GP]

This is a bit of a nonsense take from that twitter channel. All cars are in high downforce trim. There are no real differences in top speed. The circuit isn't quick enough for it to matter.

[dialtone]

This is a bit of a nonsense take from that twitter channel. All cars are in high downforce trim. There are no real differences in top speed. The circuit isn't quick enough for it to matter.

That's a bit of an overstatement...

SAI v RUS


* Everything that RUS lost in S1 was on the main straight, but let's ignore this one.
* At the end of straight into T7 (1600m) RUS loses something like 0.06s (with DRS, clipping at the end)
* Straight to T14 (3200-3400m) another 0.06s (with DRS)
* Straight to T17 (3600m-4200m) basically 0.2s loss (no DRS, lots of clipping at the end of the straight here).

Not sure how you can say that it's no difference, at best it's a 0.06s loss per straight with DRS, otherwise it's 0.2s loss without.

[AR3-GP]

This is a bit of a nonsense take from that twitter channel. All cars are in high downforce trim. There are no real differences in top speed. The circuit isn't quick enough for it to matter.

That's a bit of an overstatement...

SAI v RUS
https://i.imgur.com/AWkD0xY.jpeg

* Everything that RUS lost in S1 was on the main straight, but let's ignore this one.
* At the end of straight into T7 (1600m) RUS loses something like 0.06s (with DRS, clipping at the end)
* Straight to T14 (3200-3400m) another 0.06s (with DRS)
* Straight to T17 (3600m-4200m) basically 0.2s loss (no DRS, lots of clipping at the end of the straight here).

Not sure how you can say that it's no difference, at best it's a 0.06s loss per straight with DRS, otherwise it's 0.2s loss without.

Hold that thought for qualifying.

[AR3-GP]

Happy Hamilton:

“It’s actually been a really good day. It’s been nice being out here,” he said.

“It was a really smooth sailing day, I think we’ve started on the right foot.

“I think the car progressed from P1 to P2, which is not too often the case. So I feel like we’ve got a good platform to work off.

“We are a little bit off, compared to the Ferraris, but we’ll work overnight to see if we can close that gap. I think we’re very close to the top, there are three or four teams very, very close – within a tenth or so of each other.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-ham ... singapore/

Says they made the car better from FP1 to FP2 for once

[PlatinumZealot]

Based on??

Based on a few things:

mercedes is one of the only teams that has their beamwing elements not made of one continuous piece of carbon that is bonded directly to the RW endplate.

Merc used to have beamwing connections made of different materials / a top layer. Tombazis stated clearly that teams are hiding sliding elements underneath covers made of a different material.

It's also explicitly mentioned that the way the beamwing connects to the crash structure could be exploited allowing potentially the entire RW assembly to pivot and lean relative to the car, allowing drag to be shed on the straight

And around the same time as AMR were making their front wing modifications after FIA looked into them, the way the Merc beamwing looked changed.

Low df:

Baku

https://i.imgur.com/r7SiGAn.jpeg

Belgium

https://i.imgur.com/h0H7lzL.jpeg

And high df:

Spain

https://i.imgur.com/Rq57pEz.jpeg

Netherlands

https://i.imgur.com/cIIz45Z.jpeg

Now the way the beamwing connects to the crash structure is in line with what the rest of the grid does.

I'm not saying it's definitely the case and yes the connection discontinuities here seem to involve metal, but with the media already pointing towards Mercedes rear end on this and the modifications they've made in the area.. I'm saying it's possible if not likely.

I'd also point out that under similar circumstances last year with TD039 Merc were not shy to talk about the subject and bring it up in the media, press conferences, paddock etc but haven't heard a peep on TD018. Silence can also say something

The pictures contradict your hypothesis though. The mountings have gotten less rigid as the season goes on. First metal to connect to the crash structure then carbon. The end plate mountings don't seem to be remarkable either.

[TimW]

Looks more like aluminium tape on the carbon laminate. My guess would be that underneath it is the same laminate.

[organic]

Based on??

Based on a few things:

mercedes is one of the only teams that has their beamwing elements not made of one continuous piece of carbon that is bonded directly to the RW endplate.

Merc used to have beamwing connections made of different materials / a top layer. Tombazis stated clearly that teams are hiding sliding elements underneath covers made of a different material.

It's also explicitly mentioned that the way the beamwing connects to the crash structure could be exploited allowing potentially the entire RW assembly to pivot and lean relative to the car, allowing drag to be shed on the straight

And around the same time as AMR were making their front wing modifications after FIA looked into them, the way the Merc beamwing looked changed.

Low df:

Baku

https://i.imgur.com/r7SiGAn.jpeg

Belgium

https://i.imgur.com/h0H7lzL.jpeg

And high df:

Spain

https://i.imgur.com/Rq57pEz.jpeg

Netherlands

https://i.imgur.com/cIIz45Z.jpeg

Now the way the beamwing connects to the crash structure is in line with what the rest of the grid does.

I'm not saying it's definitely the case and yes the connection discontinuities here seem to involve metal, but with the media already pointing towards Mercedes rear end on this and the modifications they've made in the area.. I'm saying it's possible if not likely.

I'd also point out that under similar circumstances last year with TD039 Merc were not shy to talk about the subject and bring it up in the media, press conferences, paddock etc but haven't heard a peep on TD018. Silence can also say something

The pictures contradict your hypothesis though. The mountings have gotten less rigid as the season goes on. First metal to connect to the crash structure then carbon. The end plate mountings don't seem to be remarkable either.

That's not my interpretation. If you look at FIA statement in the TD018 thread you can see Tombazis talk about usage of covers to mask elements sliding relative to others. This could be an example.

As timw states it's quite likely the laminate is there but covered by the metallic-looking material..

[PlatinumZealot]

Nah.. Not enough evidence. Still speculative. Mercedes is not the place to look. Balance issues and slow top speeds are a good Indicator that Mercedes hasn't been taking advantage of any aero tricks.

[ringo]

Russel going well. Has quarter second over lewis. He could be on pole and could win!

[ValeVida46]

Very astute observations and like you, I find the silence regarding TD018 to be more than curious considering this team has traditionally called foul on rivals in a big way in previous seasons.

Seems like a backfire moment.

[Bill_Kar]

Great showing by Russell, he was practically fighting for pole with the Ferraris (that are always good at slow-speed stuff and one lap pace) which is no small feat.

I think race pace as well will turn the race for, rather than against, Mercedes, so there is a good chance here to achieve something good. Bar, of course, a possible SC that will turn the race on its head.

Hamilton on the other hand has not been on form since the summer break and I can't explain why. He is usually good at Singapore as well, but today he was wildly of the pace, just as in NL and IT.

[Spoutnik]

Hamilton was never good around Singapore, remember 2016 he was nowhere near Rosberg, last year he had a disasterclass...
Ofc he's an incredible driver so there's his 2018 lap, his deserved 2012... But imo it's like Austria : it's one of these tracks he doesn't like