Mercedes W17

[AR3-GP]

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

https://i.postimg.cc/CxCZw3h6/image.png

[Longley]

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

https://i.postimg.cc/CxCZw3h6/image.png

Seems like Mercedes goes back to a solution used with the W06

[Lasssept]

inst ckrphotography__

[Stu]

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

https://i.postimg.cc/CxCZw3h6/image.png

Possibly a very old school solution, similar to late 80’s/early 90’s when the front wing endplates were similarly located in relation to the tyre and ‘simple’ front wing profiles were

https://share.google/1S8O462wzifR3Naom

[Badger]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. It makes sense to have smaller brake ducts, and I guess one solution is what Merc has done here.

[ScottB]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. It makes sense to have smaller brake ducts, and I guess one solution is what Merc has done here.

Didn't Brembo flag last year there was a big difference in brake disc sizes some teams had been asking for, with some going very aggressive etc etc

Makes sense that will turn up in things like this I guess!

[matteosc]

What are your toughts about this? Something interesting about the front wing and (maybe most importantly) the diffuser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYqi-qvOkNI

[De Wet]

Craig Scarborough:

[Lasssept]

[Seanspeed]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. It makes sense to have smaller brake ducts, and I guess one solution is what Merc has done here.

Aren't we expecting them to spend less overall time on the straights, though?

[michl420]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. It makes sense to have smaller brake ducts, and I guess one solution is what Merc has done here.

Didn't Brembo flag last year there was a big difference in brake disc sizes some teams had been asking for, with some going very aggressive etc etc

Makes sense that will turn up in things like this I guess!

Brembo said that primarily about rear brakes.

[Badger]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. It makes sense to have smaller brake ducts, and I guess one solution is what Merc has done here.

Aren't we expecting them to spend less overall time on the straights, though?

We're expecting them to spend a lot of time harvesting at the end of the straights, that 350 kW MGU-K will be doing a lot of the retardation, putting less strain on the front and rear brakes.

[Tommy Cookers]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. ...

... that 350 kW MGU-K will be doing a lot of the retardation, putting less strain on the front and rear brakes.

well .....
the front brakes will still be braking up to the limit of the grip of the front tyres ....
so we could say that the 'strain' on the front brakes isn't relieved

ok it's relieved to the extent of the all-round reduced tyre grip due to the reduced aero DF

[Badger]

The way these cars are going to be driven there will be much less energy going through the front brakes. ...

... that 350 kW MGU-K will be doing a lot of the retardation, putting less strain on the front and rear brakes.

well .....
the front brakes will still be braking up to the limit of the grip of the front tyres ....
so we could say that the 'strain' on the front brakes isn't relieved

ok it's relieved to the extent of the all-round reduced tyre grip due to the reduced aero DF

I disagree. The aim in the braking zone will not be to slow the car at the fastest possible rate like before, it will be to regenerate as much energy as possible. The way to do that will be to maximise the 350 kW regen for the most amount of time. The more energy you absorb at the front brakes the less energy you can harvest at the rear. There will therefore be less energy going through the front brakes which equals less brake cooling required.

[matteosc]

... that 350 kW MGU-K will be doing a lot of the retardation, putting less strain on the front and rear brakes.

well .....
the front brakes will still be braking up to the limit of the grip of the front tyres ....
so we could say that the 'strain' on the front brakes isn't relieved

ok it's relieved to the extent of the all-round reduced tyre grip due to the reduced aero DF

I disagree. The aim in the braking zone will not be to slow the car at the fastest possible rate like before, it will be to regenerate as much energy as possible. The way to do that will be to maximise the 350 kW regen for the most amount of time. The more energy you absorb at the front brakes the less energy you can harvest at the rear. There will therefore be less energy going through the front brakes which equals less brake cooling required.

That is true, but it would be slower in that specific corner. It may be faster overall, but that depends on a lot of factor and it will likely be different in qualifying vs race. Bottomline, the front brakes may be designed to break at the limit.

Another thing to remember is that this year's cars are lighter, which should help.