Mercedes GP MGP W01

[Mandrake]

I personally feel Merc would be better going back to last years car as a base, and trying again evolve the design for the new tyre sizes and now the new Pirelli tyres.

They got this years car wrong, I think they openly admit that, so why try and fix it when last years car is probably a better starting point.

Last year's car was designed around the DDD. With the Diffusors being banned next year, it doesn't make sense to focus on the outdated car.

[raymondu999]

I think you're missing something here. This year's car was also doing that exact same thing, based on the Brawn BGP001, improved in a few parts, and redesigned with this year's tyres. But they fluffed the last part.

[marcush.]

what i noticed on the tub us that the underside is shaped quite weird, there just seems to be cut out an piece and that was placed on top, the shape there isnt clean.

Overall you cannot point out an clear error, the car is not right at all.

the underside of the tub looks like it has in places something like a keel ,but not to attach suspension to it...


as for the efficiency of the design vs .cost I think TR does the best job by a long shot.
But of course EVERYONE knows the air gets considerably thinner when you aim for wins .so to compare Virgin with their low budget no windtunnel approach with Mercedes is unfair.
Compare Renault with Mercedes.

[Darknight]

How possible is it that Brawn never intended to compete for the title and use 2010 as a development year? And everything we have been hearing all along has been a smoke screen...

1. New drivers get used to the team and the car
2. A LOT more time vs competitors to develop the car according to the new rules (no DD)
3. Early testing on tires since coeficcents are out for the Pirelli tire
4. It worked with the championship winning Brawn car (full year developement)

There is no way that only Mercedes between all the teams got the chassis so wrong.. something is starting to smell.

[raymondu999]

They didn't get the chassis wrong. The chassis is using the tyres wrong!! And when that's the only thing that is delivering your grip to the road, that's a grave mistake

[marcush.]

in your dreams..
fact is :they got rid of some 120 workforce in 2009 .... lets assume each of them would have cost them 100k€ in 2009 that ´s 12 million € saved ....hm .. and they ended their fiscal year with gains of 70+ Mill € after taxes ....So getting rid of the people was not a financial issue there ...if they have not suddenly learned to count as Mercedes came to the desk.
In reality all 5 people involved in the deal came out as made men not bad for a guy like Fry I have to say.
To say they were on the verge of collapse is completely exaggerated and not true
especially as all involved already knew that this car was gold and they had the support of the forces ...so the DDD was there to stay.
In my view Brawn played the cards to put Mercedes under pressure,and stopped or restrained development on the 2010 contender to force Mercedes to commit as early as possible.Which still took very long for Brawns liking .So priority one was to sell the hot property to his friends at Mercedes as Branson was not prepared to
fork out the sums Ross was calling.
In all this they completely forgot to really put recources behind the 2010 concept.Remember they originally had forecast a refined 2009 contender but looking at the two cars the one thing that was carried over apart from the engine
was the weight distribution driver forward concept.
So now these Brawn GP heros do show in a completely new light ...yes they took

the challenge credit to them ..but it was clear from day one this was not THAT big risk as they catched a moving steamroller...with the 100 mill from Honda they could easily survive and as success came they secured a big portion of 2010 budged already.add to this Virgin and other sponsorship..and there was no reason not to sdo a decent job on 2010 contender.

[mach11]

i agree with marcush. It will be logical to secure the financial backing of mercedes rather than venturing into the new season with out the money to develop the car and also run the team throughout 2010.

But the 2010 car did show it was capable to bring out some strong performances.

But like the earlier posts, I feel that the car is perfect but it is using its tires badly.

But now I feel with a strong backing from mercedes, and also with the rule change of now DDD, my prediction is that Brawn will have a better chance of launching the 2011 contender better than before.

But my question is who will the lead driver be Schumi or Rosberg???

[mach11]

i agree with marcush. It will be logical to secure the financial backing of mercedes rather than venturing into the new season with out the money to develop the car and also run the team throughout 2010.

But the 2010 car did show it was capable to bring out some strong performances.

But like the earlier posts, I feel that the car is perfect but it is using its tires badly.

But now I feel with a strong backing from mercedes, and also with the rule change of now DDD, my prediction is that Brawn will have a better chance of launching the 2011 contender better than before.

But my question is who will the lead driver be Schumi or Rosberg???

[aral]

.
.add to this Virgin and other sponsorship..and there was no reason not to sdo a decent job on 2010 contender.

From recollection, the Virgin sponsorship was something like 250,000 per race, although it may have increased before the end of the year. Then Virgin was not prepared to fully sponsor the team in 2010, and transferred their affections to Manor, to whom they made a LOAN. Also in 2009, Brtawn had very few sponsors, who were only contributing peanuts.

[marcush.]

250.000 times 17 races thats still 4.25mill and they had more than this to their books ...

[Francesc]

New turning vanes

[mach11]

during the singapore grand prix free practice... the merc reported the second fastest time...

Hope it is an improvement for the coming races and the next season....

[marcush.]

the comment from MS was .
the cvar seems good in low grip situations .for example a drying track .As soon as theres normal griplevels the other cars gain more than us...
They are in fact overworking their fronts (too much vertical load) or the car is just too bendy.

[tok-tokkie]

The WO1 has problems. It has been suggested that the balance may be wrong. A persuasive argument was made that it is the insufficient stiffness of the tub is the problem. I noticed this picture and was struck by the front wing. The air has to be guided away from impacting the front tires head on. Mercedes are deflecting it away to the side. There are thus two (balanced) aerodynamic forces acting sideways to the car right at the front. However, when the car tries to change direction the angle of attack of the inside wing fence increases &, conversely, the outside one reduces. The nett effect is an increase in the aerodynamic force opposing the direction change of the car. The effect is greatest on high speed sweeps and least on low speed hairpins.



Now look at what some of the competitors do. They deflect much more air upwards over the tyre as against sideways around the tyre. That does two things – 1. Reduces the centering force & 2. Increases the downward force.

Ferrari


Red Bull (I looked for a decent overhead picture but failed to find one)


McLaren.


Renault.




I am no aerodynamicist but it was mentioned that the front wing is generating 2000N (per side?) of downforce and it seems that Mercedes is deflecting a lot of air sideways so the lateral forces are probably significant giving an understeering car.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Rethink what you just said. When the car is turning the outside of the car is turning through the air quicker.

I think the concept is to provide stability under yaw, much like gurneys on the rear-wing end-plates.