Mercedes W15

[Holm86]

That plank is on fire! Or is that some kind of sensor?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHg5B3wXsAA ... name=large

It's quite common to get a bit of burning at the leading edge, especially when the titanium glows.

It's the same height sensor they've run previously

[SiLo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, having the adjustable arm of upper front wishbone on the downwards position, instead of upwards now, means there is more anti-dive effect?

Meaning to say;
- Set downwards => More Anti-dive Effect,
- Set upwards => Less Anti-dive Effect?

AFAIK no, from what I’ve read online about suspension design — moving the rear mounting point upwards increases the anti-dive.

In the case of the current trend of wishbone axes (upper and lower--not just either one in isolation) inclined with rear leg below the forward leg, the W15 configuration with the rear leg of the upper WB set at its lower position will tend to increase the anti-dive effect. This is because the upper wishbone pivot axis will intersect the lower wishbone pivot axis higher up on its downward trajectory.

This imagine (mark-up of a Piola sketch of SF-24 chassis mods vs. '23) shows the effect of raising the forward pick-up of the upper WB (red dashed line) with everything else being the same. It shows that the lateral Instant Center would be higher and so greater ant-dive effect. The same is the case with W15 lowering the rear leg of upper WB. On SF-24, this was not the case as they also raised the fwd pick-up of the lower wishbone--see SF-24 thread:

https://i.imgur.com/5JMdXhA.jpg

What the above image shows, though, is that with RB-style inclined WBs, the anti-dive effect is ironically--ironic because of the over-hyped use of anti-dive to describe these--very much reduced, resulting in an IC close to ground level. If it was anti-dive that the teams were looking for they'd angle the WBs in the opposite direction and get a bunch more anti-dive effect:

https://i.imgur.com/BowZHzx.jpg

I would imagine for driver feel you want a lot of this centred around where the driver sits, same for overall centre of pressure from aero load as well.

[Owen.C93]

That plank is on fire! Or is that some kind of sensor?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHg5B3wXsAA ... name=large

It's quite common to get a bit of burning at the leading edge, especially when the titanium glows.

It's the same height sensor they've run previously
https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=65E77BCE

You wouldn't see it side on like in the image as any sensor would be recessed. You can see it got hot when they had Russell setup too low causing a small plank fire/glow. You can see it from 0:35s onwards.

[atanatizante]

One could question why they didn't do the same trick at the rear suspension as they did at the front one ... or just anti-squat effect is not so important on the F1 car as it is on the slower single-seater formulas? then how about the rear tyre management due to the anti-squat setup, could you please enlighten us with some info ...

The fact they didn't design in adjustability at the rear for anti-squat (reaction to thrust load at axle height) or anti-rise (reaction to braking loads at the contact patch) doesn't mean they have not considered these or designed in their effects--they just didn't design in adjustability, either because they understand what the have, or have no room for multiple pick-ups with the existing suspension configuration.

Why they designed-in adjustability at the front is a bit of a mystery as no one else has. Maybe they don't have a good understanding of the dynamics and need to test it on track. It is well known that anti-dive reduces compliance to bumps as well as driver steering feel under braking.

This structure could be a panel around the rear pick-up points for the upper and lower front WB in order to reinforce the structural area or it could change its position to resemble what they did at the rear upper front WB?

[atanatizante]

This rear wind tip/edge shape is new? What`s the role of it?





Is there is a cutout on the edge of the floor or it`s just bent upwards? And there`s a water slide near the sidepod or it`s the car`s carbon fiber shadow?

[JRodrigues]

That plank is on fire! Or is that some kind of sensor?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHg5B3wXsAA ... name=large

It's quite common to get a bit of burning at the leading edge, especially when the titanium glows.

It's the same height sensor they've run previously
https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=65E77BCE

Not, it's really fire.

[Martin Keene]

Watching Lewis's fastest lap today, wow, it looks nicely planted. No bouncing in the first 2/3rds of the lap. They can now run low to the ground. Have they found the RB trick of being able to run low with minimal wear on the plank ?

I can't help but notice the smile on James Alison's face when talking about the W15. Could the W15 compete for the title this year?

I have noticed the same thing. Allison looks very relaxed when talking about W15.

[AMG.Tzan]

As far as the plank is concerned, I remember last year at the US GP that it was the back of the plank that was worn out! Now we’re seeing the front of the plank producing the sparks just like Red Bull last year!

Is this true? Does the the point of the plank getting worn out play a role in the possibility of it getting DSQed?

[SiLo]

Could they be running a bit of rake? So the rear is protected a bit more, and the front mostly wears down the titanium skid block?

[Watto]

As far as the plank is concerned, I remember last year at the US GP that it was the back of the plank that was worn out! Now we’re seeing the front of the plank producing the sparks just like Red Bull last year!

Is this true? Does the the point of the plank getting worn out play a role in the possibility of it getting DSQed?

one of the 7 inspection points appears to be at the very front of the plank, the rear most ones are set in a little from the back

https://www.formula1-dictionary.net/pla ... block.html

[Farnborough]

Watching Lewis's fastest lap today, wow, it looks nicely planted. No bouncing in the first 2/3rds of the lap. They can now run low to the ground. Have they found the RB trick of being able to run low with minimal wear on the plank ?

I can't help but notice the smile on James Alison's face when talking about the W15. Could the W15 compete for the title this year?

I have noticed the same thing. Allison looks very relaxed when talking about W15.

There's no "trick" just a fundamental understanding of their aerodynamic platform, this to facilitate and keep the peak loading within the constraints of suspension control.
As they did the last two years ....just making the suspension stiffer .... effectively fires the peak load into an undamped tire carcass, to then produce the characteristic "porpoise" frequency.

How the aero platform attenuates it's load curve would be vital in remaining within reasonable control of their spring, heave spring and various damper limitations, without excitement of the tires, is fundamental.

All evidence so far points to them creating a chassis with these attribute, just a little later in the day than some others

Definitely appears to be on the right development plane from running to date.

[Farnborough]

As far as the plank is concerned, I remember last year at the US GP that it was the back of the plank that was worn out! Now we’re seeing the front of the plank producing the sparks just like Red Bull last year!

Is this true? Does the the point of the plank getting worn out play a role in the possibility of it getting DSQed?

The front section appears (in RB config) to rub more lightly on the track surface and likely give more life than being "plunged" in towards the track surface ..... as the rear from observation at COTA last year seemed to be more affected by that rear vertical frequency and "hammering" that location into highly loaded material removal.
Subjecting a hard material like these skid points to that intermittent load and frequency will likely cut it away faster than pure light dragging the front.

[Venturiation]

[Ozan]

I cant understand why they changed the cooling shoulders from w14 to w15 to Haas' solution

[AR3-GP]

I cant understand why they changed the cooling shoulders from w14 to w15 to Haas' solution

It seemed like Merc just wanted to distance themselves from the previous cars.