Mercedes W15

A place to discuss the characteristics of the cars in Formula One, both current as well as historical. Laptimes, driver worshipping and team chatter do not belong here.
GrizzleBoy
GrizzleBoy
33
Joined: 05 Mar 2012, 04:06

Re: Mercedes W15

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Lewis' car was literally hugging the ground at the end of the straights.

As in, disqualification levels of plank scraping.

Did he put on more downforce and/or soften the suspension to protect the tyres in the race or something?

AR3-GP
AR3-GP
364
Joined: 06 Jul 2021, 01:22

Re: Mercedes W15

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GrizzleBoy wrote:
01 Mar 2024, 20:57
Lewis' car was literally hugging the ground at the end of the straights.

As in, disqualification levels of plank scraping.

Did he put on more downforce and/or soften the suspension to protect the tyres in the race or something?
They could be relying on increased tire pressures during the race runs to lift the car slightly.

Sevach
Sevach
1071
Joined: 07 Jun 2012, 17:00

Re: Mercedes W15

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https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... /10581977/

Mercedes talking about setup changes they made since yesterday.
They did raise the car.
Other than that i think they gave it a little less front perhaps, since they say it's for better race pace.

AR3-GP
AR3-GP
364
Joined: 06 Jul 2021, 01:22

Re: Mercedes W15

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It is legal as per the rulebook, and rival teams have not lodged any complaints or protests, with Allison describing what the team is hoping to achieve.

"We just want to have less load in that section of the wing, and that's a convenient way of doing it," he said.

"It is a way of us getting the load away in a way that we found efficient - it is just a small chord wing."

https://racingnews365.com/mercedes-appl ... k-debunked

Andi76
Andi76
422
Joined: 03 Feb 2021, 20:19

Re: Mercedes W15

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ing. wrote:
01 Mar 2024, 05:28
atanatizante wrote:
28 Feb 2024, 18:08
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.
I think James Allison has just remembered what was not unusual 20 to 30 years ago. It was not unusual back then that a car had 2 or even 3 different mounting points for the wishbones, as can be seen here in Piola's drawing of the Williams from 2003:

Image

The Williams from these years are the best source to see this, because Williams did not tape them. Ferrari, for example, always taped them off for aerodynamic reasons, as did McLaren, but back then it was nothing unusual and it was really about being able to "play" with different anti-dive values. I think that Allison has realized that the suspension and a certain amount of flexibility in its settings has become more important again on these cars, so he reintroduced the second mouting point. Going back to the greater adjustability seems a logical step to me with these cars/suspensions. Of course, it is also conceivable that this is purely about aerodynamics and that they want to be more flexible in terms of downwash. Especially in conjunction with different front wing settings, this could open up new possibilities in terms of aerodynamic car set-up.

Andi76
Andi76
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Joined: 03 Feb 2021, 20:19

Re: Mercedes W15

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Mercedes Front-Wing Evolution 2022-2024:

Image

zibby43
zibby43
613
Joined: 04 Mar 2017, 12:16

Re: Mercedes W15

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CaribouBread
CaribouBread
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Joined: 29 Mar 2022, 08:37

Re: Mercedes W15

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Replace the "x" with "twitter" to embed.


Venturiation
Venturiation
98
Joined: 04 Jan 2023, 19:48

Re: Mercedes W15

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Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?

OO7
OO7
171
Joined: 06 Apr 2010, 17:49

Re: Mercedes W15

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Venturiation wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:14
Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?
The small side pods didn't compromise cooling AFAIK.

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chrisc90
41
Joined: 23 Feb 2022, 21:22

Re: Mercedes W15

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Toto mentioned in a interview is Laura on F1TV that the cooling was the problems, so they had to lift and coast which puts tyres in the wrong window.

Watto
Watto
4
Joined: 10 Mar 2022, 15:12

Re: Mercedes W15

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Venturiation wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:14
Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?
Toto just said in an interview they chose the wrong cooling package

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AMG.Tzan
42
Joined: 24 Jan 2013, 01:35
Location: Greece

Re: Mercedes W15

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Watto wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:21
Venturiation wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:14
Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?
Toto just said in an interview they chose the wrong cooling package
I mean…they were testing there for 3 whole days plus another 3 practice sessions! They had plenty of data to select the best cooling option! So I wouldn’t say this is true…more like an excuse! :oops:
"The only rule is there are no rules" - Aristotle Onassis

Watto
Watto
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Joined: 10 Mar 2022, 15:12

Re: Mercedes W15

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AMG.Tzan wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:35
Watto wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:21
Venturiation wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:14
Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?
Toto just said in an interview they chose the wrong cooling package
I mean…they were testing there for 3 whole days plus another 3 practice sessions! They had plenty of data to select the best cooling option! So I wouldn’t say this is true…more like an excuse! :oops:
Yeah probably- Lewis sounded pretty disappointed when asked for positives he didn’t really want to answer eventually said at least it’s consistent

Farnborough
Farnborough
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Joined: 18 Mar 2023, 14:15

Re: Mercedes W15

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AMG.Tzan wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:35
Watto wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:21
Venturiation wrote:
02 Mar 2024, 19:14
Why is the PU overheating now that their cooling isn't compromised by zeropods?
Toto just said in an interview they chose the wrong cooling package
I mean…they were testing there for 3 whole days plus another 3 practice sessions! They had plenty of data to select the best cooling option! So I wouldn’t say this is true…more like an excuse! :oops:
They've historically specified, designed and run cooling configuration with the projected track position they'd notionally encounter.
If expecting to run at the front of field this has forged a path, throughout dominant years, of team analysis.
Looks like they were predicting to qualify in front two rows of grid, with cooling appropriate for that scenario :oops: but with higher demand through initial phase of race on both cars making that seem wide of the mark.