Mercedes GP MGP W01

[raymondu999]

The W01 isnt a dog like the McLaren last year, its got more potential, but its one of those cars that can go either way, if it hasnt won by Canada/Silverstone, id expect development to be stopped and all resource put behind the MGP W02 for 2011.

Brawn's giving them until June, then he's not competing anymore and focusing on 2011. Ironic that last year Ferrari did that so they could combat these people

[marcush.]

The W01 isnt a dog like the McLaren last year, its got more potential, but its one of those cars that can go either way, if it hasnt won by Canada/Silverstone, id expect development to be stopped and all resource put behind the MGP W02 for 2011.

Brawn's giving them until June, then he's not competing anymore and focusing on 2011. Ironic that last year Ferrari did that so they could combat these people

the decision when to cease development for the current car is a two sided sword,really:

First ,how close will they be in the running for the current championship at this point...

Second just how much different needs the 2011 contender to be ,with KERS coming back ,loss of DD undertrays....and what have you to be introduced as new regs for 2011.. with the smaller group of employees they wil need to start the new design quite soon .

[JohnsonEvilTwin]

There are many arguments for and against dropping development of a car in-season.
But we should remember there are no guarantees as to time/speed cycles.
Teams may even have to scrap the design before it races as McLaren have done before.

Personally I think Brawn should terminate development if the W01 is not looking racey by June. Saying that Rosberg is only 4 points of the lead of the WDC(commendable really) with what is the 4th best car out there.

Also in terms of upgrades, China will have no surprises. Everyone at Mercedes have said wait till Barcelona, then judge us. Rosberg is expecting quite alot with Schumi and Haug being more reserved. How they will overcome the nigh on 1second gap to Red Bull is the main problem because even a brilliant update is usually only worth 0.4-5 seconds a lap. How will they overcome the added 0.5 seconds plus anything that Red Bull bring?
Its a very very tall order but the saving grace for Mercedes is that their cars look more reliable, and so can take advantage of any Ferrari and Red Bull problems(Ferrari already on their 3rd engine in Malaysia plus well documented issues with Red Bull).

The competitors may turn out to be McLaren! I think if you add the F-duct to the W01 it is a match for it. The W01 suffers more drag than the MP4-25 and so would benefit hugley from the device. The proof is in what it can do on the track with all the updates added. Expect China to be more of the same, but as an avid Mercedes fan I pray Barcelona brings a car that is worthy to challenge Red Bull etc throughout.

PS FIA have banned the use of leveling devices on cars. How will this affect Red Bull?
Excuse my War and Peace, i had 10 mins to kill!

[marcush.]

There are many arguments for and against dropping development of a car in-season.
But we should remember there are no guarantees as to time/speed cycles.
Teams may even have to scrap the design before it races as McLaren have done before.

Personally I think Brawn should terminate development if the W01 is not looking racey by June. Saying that Rosberg is only 4 points of the lead of the WDC(commendable really) with what is the 4th best car out there.

Also in terms of upgrades, China will have no surprises. Everyone at Mercedes have said wait till Barcelona, then judge us. Rosberg is expecting quite alot with Schumi and Haug being more reserved. How they will overcome the nigh on 1second gap to Red Bull is the main problem because even a brilliant update is usually only worth 0.4-5 seconds a lap. How will they overcome the added 0.5 seconds plus anything that Red Bull bring?
Its a very very tall order but the saving grace for Mercedes is that their cars look more reliable, and so can take advantage of any Ferrari and Red Bull problems(Ferrari already on their 3rd engine in Malaysia plus well documented issues with Red Bull).

The competitors may turn out to be McLaren! I think if you add the F-duct to the W01 it is a match for it. The W01 suffers more drag than the MP4-25 and so would benefit hugley from the device. The proof is in what it can do on the track with all the updates added. Expect China to be more of the same, but as an avid Mercedes fan I pray Barcelona brings a car that is worthy to challenge Red Bull etc throughout.

PS FIA have banned the use of leveling devices on cars. How will this affect Red Bull?
Excuse my War and Peace, i had 10 mins to kill!

you give the correct hints already.

if you are updating a well balanced piece of kit ...you may loose the balance and not be able to really get a net benefit out of it.. just look at Brawn last year...

On the other hand if you really have a major issue with the car...as Mercedes ...and you are able to fix it completely ,then you may find quite a big chunk of time ....see Maclaren last year... they had almost the slowest car at the beginning of the year and managed to climb to the sharp end of the grid ba midyear.
and that car was not really a fundamentally good car ...so Mercedes can gain more than others because they do not optimise they redesign and adjust their concept..this is more than an update.

[ggajic]

I don't thing that Mercedes car is slow, but I would rather say that it has issue with tyres. How is it possible that during Q3 in Malysia Michael tyres were gone. Besides, McLaren faced same problem with Hamilton during race in Australia? Does this mean that any more aggressive driving style would require more pit-stops or is it matter of suspension?

[marcush.]

at this time the Merc is not the car to beat ,it is nowhere near capable of bagging a pole on merit ,it simply is no match for the RedBull ,and to a lesser degree Ferrari and maybe not even matching the Mclaren....In fact the Renault seems to be on the verge of overtaking them already.

the fundamental problem they have will of course lead to a compromised setup an d all this will inevitably not be helpful in conserving tyres.
so both drivers are obliged not to push too much to avoid eating up the tyres in no time ..the speed of the car is restricted by the performance of the axle that is worse ....simple as that.that they arrived at a setup eating up their rears is testimony of just how much they compromised to get some balance into the car..

[volarchico]

What's the reason for the red exhaust cover?

[WhiteBlue]

What's the reason for the red exhaust cover?

It is an FiA engine seal. You cannot run the engine when the exhausts are sealed.

[basrawi]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82780
I hope that flat out means the real deal next race

[dren]

There are many arguments for and against dropping development of a car in-season.
But we should remember there are no guarantees as to time/speed cycles.
Teams may even have to scrap the design before it races as McLaren have done before.

Personally I think Brawn should terminate development if the W01 is not looking racey by June. Saying that Rosberg is only 4 points of the lead of the WDC(commendable really) with what is the 4th best car out there.

Also in terms of upgrades, China will have no surprises. Everyone at Mercedes have said wait till Barcelona, then judge us. Rosberg is expecting quite alot with Schumi and Haug being more reserved. How they will overcome the nigh on 1second gap to Red Bull is the main problem because even a brilliant update is usually only worth 0.4-5 seconds a lap. How will they overcome the added 0.5 seconds plus anything that Red Bull bring?
Its a very very tall order but the saving grace for Mercedes is that their cars look more reliable, and so can take advantage of any Ferrari and Red Bull problems(Ferrari already on their 3rd engine in Malaysia plus well documented issues with Red Bull).

The competitors may turn out to be McLaren! I think if you add the F-duct to the W01 it is a match for it. The W01 suffers more drag than the MP4-25 and so would benefit hugley from the device. The proof is in what it can do on the track with all the updates added. Expect China to be more of the same, but as an avid Mercedes fan I pray Barcelona brings a car that is worthy to challenge Red Bull etc throughout.

PS FIA have banned the use of leveling devices on cars. How will this affect Red Bull?
Excuse my War and Peace, i had 10 mins to kill!

you give the correct hints already.

if you are updating a well balanced piece of kit ...you may loose the balance and not be able to really get a net benefit out of it.. just look at Brawn last year...

On the other hand if you really have a major issue with the car...as Mercedes ...and you are able to fix it completely ,then you may find quite a big chunk of time ....see Maclaren last year... they had almost the slowest car at the beginning of the year and managed to climb to the sharp end of the grid ba midyear.
and that car was not really a fundamentally good car ...so Mercedes can gain more than others because they do not optimise they redesign and adjust their concept..this is more than an update.

I am expecting this for Barcelona. I expect the car to be 'fixed' along with some aero updates to give a pretty nice jump in pace. I expect the F-Duct to help out the W01 quite a bit. I expect to see it working in Barcelona. I think Mercedes will be close to or even with Ferrari and I think Mclaren will jump up to or pass Red Bull.

[dren]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82780
I hope that flat out means the real deal next race

I expect a slight increase in pace due to set-up in China. I don't expect any actual car updates until Europe. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see the W01 changing much anytime soon.

[Ganxxta]

I just read that they could develop a B-Spec car for Barcelona, with new Aero, weight distribution, redisigned rear-end and gearbox: http://translate.google.de/translate?js ... auto&tl=en

Also a new wheelbase is rumoured... like some of you guys predicted it before

Their source is 'Auto Motor und Sport', in my opinion its a reliable F1 news source...

[mike]

<span>I just read that they could develop a B-Spec car for Barcelona, with new Aero, weight distribution, redisigned rear-end and gearbox: <a href="http://translate.google.de/translate?js ... auto&tl=en" class="smarterwiki-linkify">http://translate.google.de/translate?js ... </a></span>

Also a new wheelbase is rumoured... like some of you guys predicted it before

Their source is 'Auto Motor und Sport', in my opinion its a reliable F1 news source...

so it sounds like they are going to reduce the length of wheelbase by reducing the length of gearbox to bring the weight to rear bias

[BorisTheBlade]

According to AMuS they are going to increase the wheelbase of the W01 by putting the front-suspension a bit forward. But that would result in a redesign of more or less the whole car concerning the aero. They also seem to reroute the rear suspension in order to make room for a bigger DDD.

[Timstr]

28.7 a)One specification of each of the following parts must be homologated prior to the first Event of the Championship season :
- survival cell ;
- principal and second roll structures ;
- front, rear and side impact structures ;
- front wheel ;
- rear wheel.
Once homologated, changes to the these parts will only be permitted for clear safety or reliability reasons following written approval from the FIA.

According to AMuS, Mercedes submitted front and rear parts for crash testing to be able to implement the changes to the front axle and rear axle/gearbox.

In light of this, how should we read the above?
Especially the bit that says 'One specificaton'. At first I assumed the parts were submitted just before the start of the season (I read a rumor somewhere about that). But now I don't see how the rule would allow this.