Mercedes W15

[chrisc90]

Some vid here

Thats mine. I imagine it's going to get blocked soon for copyright on Youtube. Streamable links are the same though.

[Clubman1d]

Thank you for the clips.

Maybe it's just me, but I could swear that this panel moves down, maybe just a few mms.



Or I'm maybe seeing things that aren't there.

[Luscion]

Images comparing Merc to RB, but different points on the track with the images on the right


Merc


Red Bull

[PlatinumZealot]

Thank you for the clips.

Maybe it's just me, but I could swear that this panel moves down, maybe just a few mms.

https://postimages.org/

Or I'm maybe seeing things that aren't there.

Don't be distracted by the light playing tricks on your eyes. The cars are not infinitely rigid. Small deflections can seem large under certain conditions. But after TD018 trust me.... deflections bodywork, like under the nose as you say are monitored more strictly than ever before.

[Stu]

Thank you for the clips.

Maybe it's just me, but I could swear that this panel moves down, maybe just a few mms.

https://postimages.org/

Or I'm maybe seeing things that aren't there.

I can’t see it myself, all I can see is the light & shade ‘dancing’ over the seam.
Tbh, I cannot see Merc risking anything so obvious as a part of the fix/upgrade package, particularly as they had to reinforce the same area last year after teams were reminded that hinging mechanisms were “just not on”.

Everyone is flexing the flaps & main span to a degree, some are obvious (they have the flap adjustment outboard), others are much less visible (flap adjusters are inboard).

[ringo]

It's natural with improved performance people will look to see if they cheated to get the improvement. But clearly they did complete change in wing philosophy to get more performance. The rear wing has little dot stickers on it that are monitored by the FIA optically. Mercedes is too busy trying to undersrand their car to waste a whole manufacturing cycle on a limited budget to make a cheating wing that could be found out.

[Matt2725]

Most of the rear wing movement is down to the rear squatting under aero load.

And the front is no worse than I've seen on their car in previous years which the FIA were obviously fine with. The McLaren front wing seemed a lot worse from some onboards I saw from Shanghai.

Personally, I don't see anything egregious, and Horner is clearly on a fishing expedition because they're not half a tenth or more per lap up the road any more.
And as stated, with the cap and the front wing being the first in a long list of updates which one would assume are reliant on the previous to an extent...it would make zero sense to try and cheat your way forward.

[Luscion]

[sport777]

wait but the new floor was supposed to come to Spain? if it's not there it's frustrating

[SiLo]

wait but the new floor was supposed to come to Spain? if it's not there it's frustrating

Maybe it's been postponed? The team did say they would bring upgrades at every single track for a while now.

[Henk_v]

Well, wouldn't that imply that there is a (risk of) overweight, either now or after the upgrades?

If a team favours weight over aero, they may want to first assess the reliability of the weight saving, before bolting on (heavier) aero upgrades, because they can immediately reap rewards. The other way around, the increased weight may (partially) outweigh the aero benefits and if the lighter parts prove unreliable, the whole upgrade push would have to be reverted.

[cplchanb]

Well in the end the rumors are just that
.. rumors... nothing is certain until you see it physically on track

[cplchanb]

well apparently Merc did in fact bring a new floor.... they didnt declare it because the design and shape of it was unchanged. they just somehow found a way to make it lighter...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why- ... /10625565/

[Venturiation]

well apparently Merc did in fact bring a new floor.... they didnt declare it because the design and shape of it was unchanged. they just somehow found a way to make it lighter...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why- ... /10625565/

Does this mean the changes are not visible unless the car is lifted or there are 0 changes?

[Sevach]

well apparently Merc did in fact bring a new floor.... they didnt declare it because the design and shape of it was unchanged. they just somehow found a way to make it lighter...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why- ... /10625565/

Does this mean the changes are not visible unless the car is lifted or there are 0 changes?

No aerodynamic changes, only allows them to add some ballast.