Mercedes W17

[vorticism]

No mousehole there on the diffuser, they wouldn't be legal in these regs.

Someone didn’t read the regs, was it you or Mercedes?

Neither. The mousehole was a specific reference to the small vertical notches found on the '22 era cars that were flat, oriented to a Y plane, and named after their shape (raised half circle). This has depth in Y. There is a reference plane that needs to be obscured when viewed from the side, so a Y oriented hole (visible from the side) wouldn't be feasible. The cutout here seems to be oriented to X and Z planes, and much larger. The surprise for me is that the Z oriented area of the cutout can be so large--apparently the Z reference plane that must be obscured is rather far inboard.

[BorisTheBlade]

Do we have any historical examples of a hole in the diffuser that large being used to good effect? I feel like i've seen it in racing cars generally, but don't have the knowledge of where in formula one.

Well, once there was this underdog Team born from a Management Buy-out that had to adapt to a new engine on short notice. It had two pretty big holes in their diffuser as well. And that turned out to be quite beneficial.

/edit: And not to forget - it was basically THIS Team.

[wowgr8]

In this case, I wonder why did Mercedes show it to everyone this early?? There is a lot of time till the first race and every team is focusing to do quick changes at the moment...

Textbook misdirection to me, point eyes at the diffuser hole to distract from something(s) else

[LM10]

In this case, I wonder why did Mercedes show it to everyone this early?? There is a lot of time till the first race and every team is focusing to do quick changes at the moment...

Textbook misdirection to me, point eyes at the diffuser hole to distract from something(s) else

They did a massive hole in the most critical area of the car just to distract from something else?

[edu2703]

I'm intrigued that Mercedes itself is releasing high-quality footage of the car. I don't know if it's some kind of deliberate tactic or something like that.

[SiLo]

I know introducing some flow in that area is beneficial, but I thought it was to help porpoising? Or am I wrong?

Introducing such a volume of air into a low pressure area doesn’t make sense to me.

[Emag]

I'm intrigued that Mercedes itself is releasing high-quality footage of the car. I don't know if it's some kind of deliberate tactic or something like that.

It’s honestly a weird feature. Havent seen anything like it before. I like the confidence in them just showing it like this. Could mean two things :

1) It’s a very well thought out feature that requires certain chassis decisions to accomodate and hence very hard to copy in-season.

2) They think it’s not a big deal and they don’t care.

[Puffpirat]

No mousehole there on the diffuser, they wouldn't be legal in these regs.

Someone didn’t read the regs, was it you or Mercedes?

Neither. The mousehole was a specific reference to the small vertical notches found on the '22 era cars that were flat, oriented to a Y plane, and named after their shape (raised half circle). This has depth in Y. There is a reference plane that needs to be obscured when viewed from the side, so a Y oriented hole (visible from the side) wouldn't be feasible. The cutout here seems to be oriented to X and Z planes, and much larger. The surprise for me is that the Z oriented area of the cutout can be so large--apparently the Z reference plane that must be obscured is rather far inboard.

Here in this video around 17 and 18 mins marks, he’s showing rs floor sidewall, which seems quite far back and an exclusion zone that would allow mouseholes.

[vorticism]

Seems to be more EBD in spirit than double diffuser, as the diffuser isn't larger, just being given an addition inflow. It looks like the neck of the diffuser is pushed slightly inboard from where it would otherwise be to provide the frontal area of the opening.

Here in this video around 17 and 18 mins marks, he’s showing rs floor sidewall, which seems quite far back and an exclusion zone that would allow mouseholes.

I see, thanks. I conflated RV-Floor-Sidewall with RS-Floor-Sidewall. Given how small the latter seems to be, it couldn't be considered a potential missed opportunity for other teams. It would have been obvious to the designers from the outset. We'll probably see more of this if it's advantageous.

[Puffpirat]

You’re welcome! I was surprised how small it was actually

[wowgr8]

They did a massive hole in the most critical area of the car just to distract from something else?

Well obviously not. I’m talking about them posting an image of it on display so clearly.

[AR3-GP]

I know introducing some flow in that area is beneficial, but I thought it was to help porpoising? Or am I wrong?

Introducing such a volume of air into a low pressure area doesn’t make sense to me.

I think there are two potential explanations.

(1) It's like a multi-element wing. We're seeing the "Slot". They can work the diffuser sides harder through the rake, ride height, geometry expansion, fences, or whatever before it separates.




(2) Tire squirt control. Blow air into the hole to push the tire squirt (wake at the ground) away from the diffuser.



In both cases it would be helping to preserve the low pressure in the diffuser.

[AR3-GP]

There is something funny going on with the front brake ducts. What is this?

[mythr-ran-dire]

Been digging through old threads and archives to look for earlier indications of this so called "mousehole" idea. Found this old post for others wondering like me:

https://x.com/dr_obbs/status/1629094645 ... 0&ref_url=

[mzso]

The backside seems really shrunken to me. Even with the wheels being closer it seems that there's barely anything there of the car.