Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[aral]

I wonder what the odds on offer are for a MGP 1,2 in Aus.

Just checked. 1,000,000/1. Might be worth a penny bet?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I wonder what the odds on offer are for a MGP 1,2 in Aus.

Just checked. 1,000,000/1. Might be worth a penny bet?

Gotta link for that gilgen?

Best I could see is 800/1

[MercAMGF1Fans]

You mean they give up on 1/3rd of their testing time just to hide something on the W03 from the competition & the FIA? No way Ross Brawn would take a dumb risk like that. German press is grasping at straws. For some it is hard to digest this extra two weeks development time concept. So no, it is not true.

The alternative is that the car just isn't ready to be on track. Which would be a bit of a cock-up for MGP given how precious the lost 1/3rd testing time could be.

When Honda pulled out of F1 (by flying in and meeting the managment at Heathrow to tell them!) Ross and the team took a punt because they knew they had an epic car. Not just a good car but something worth putting your mortgage on. That car was late to testing

I wonder what the odds on offer are for a MGP 1,2 in Aus.

Yeah remember that cos Ross knew that they spent 18months developing the 2009 car, and it was a Monster of a car that was a guaranteed winner.. Mind you the Toyota T-F110 the car that never raced didn't have the same fairytale

[Ferraripilot]

It may well be a dielectric fluid i.e. one with metal solids, that comes into play when the KERS is activated.
KERS geenrates an electric current, this can be used to apply a current to a separate fluidline connected to teh dampers. the applied current will align the metal particles to change the viscosity of the fluid.

there are many ways to skin this cat. I don't understand why you are beligerantly hung up on mercury

I see where you're going with this. So, could it be 'activated' by way of another button (seperate to KERS) on the steering wheel I wonder?

[bhall]

It may well be a dielectric fluid [...]

That's not permitted.

10.2.2 Any powered device which is capable of altering the configuration or affecting the performance of any part of the suspension system is forbidden.

10.2.3 No adjustment may be made to the suspension system while the car is in motion.

[retpog55]

First post, lifelong Schumacher fan, 3 year merc fan, complete noob to all of this

Haug - "We will have a couple of parts to learn from at the first test," he said. "We can use the new generation of tyres, which is a good way to draw a baseline because you have the data with the old tyres to compare it to.

"We need to learn more about the behaviour of the tyres on our car."

Could part of the reason for the deliberate delay be to achieve more accurate tyre data by comparing the new tyres on the same car setup as last year? The information obtained could prove very useful which can then be transferred to the new car.

After the first test results using the W02 with the new Pirelli's, adjustments can be made to the whole of the W03 if required. Other teams will be more restricted in their changes after their findings throughout the first test having already submitted their new car. Could be one of the reasons, unless it is true that they are hiding something big from the competition.

[Schulteiss]

First post, lifelong Schumacher fan, 3 year merc fan, complete noob to all of this

Haug - "We will have a couple of parts to learn from at the first test," he said. "We can use the new generation of tyres, which is a good way to draw a baseline because you have the data with the old tyres to compare it to.

"We need to learn more about the behaviour of the tyres on our car."

Could part of the reason for the deliberate delay be to achieve more accurate tyre data by comparing the new tyres on the same car setup as last year? The information obtained could prove very useful which can then be transferred to the new car.

After the first test results using the W02 with the new Pirelli's, adjustments can be made to the whole of the W03 if required. Other teams will be more restricted in their changes after their findings throughout the first test having already submitted their new car. Could be one of the reasons, unless it is true that they are hiding something big from the competition.

No. In the same article you quoted from they emphasize for the umpteenth time that they opted for extra two weeks of development time to refine the design. There is no secret here at all. Tyre testing with the W02 obviously gives some value to testing given certain similarities in the suspension, but I hardly think that could be a reason to miss a test session with the W03.

[rowano]

It doesn't have to be mercury to be a dense solution. Alloys of gallium can reach nearly 6g/ml. Granted you wouldn't generate the same pressure as mercury, but a hell of a lot safer!

[Mr.S]

First post, lifelong Schumacher fan, 3 year merc fan, complete noob to all of this

Haug - "We will have a couple of parts to learn from at the first test," he said. "We can use the new generation of tyres, which is a good way to draw a baseline because you have the data with the old tyres to compare it to.

"We need to learn more about the behaviour of the tyres on our car."

Could part of the reason for the deliberate delay be to achieve more accurate tyre data by comparing the new tyres on the same car setup as last year? The information obtained could prove very useful which can then be transferred to the new car.

After the first test results using the W02 with the new Pirelli's, adjustments can be made to the whole of the W03 if required. Other teams will be more restricted in their changes after their findings throughout the first test having already submitted their new car. Could be one of the reasons, unless it is true that they are hiding something big from the competition.

No. BIG NO. No major change can be done. Ferrari could not change the way it handles the tyres through 1 Full year & you expect absured miracles in 10 days. Sorry mate forget 10 or 15 days they can barely make any major non-aerodynamic changes in the whole year. Especially on the mechanical sides. If it could have been made then every team would have done the same.

BTW Welcome mate. Be active. You are the same kind of fan like me. Anyways I repeat no change is possible with the way the tyre behaves. That is why every team is debuting their new car to maximize the limited in-season testing days. I really hope Mercedes have some great invention or Costa-Willis brought some great ideas which takes a BIG while to implement. Or else It is a BIG DIS-ADVANTAGE.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Changes to the car can be made to influence tyre behaviour.

Depends how bad the problem is.

[dren]

You can make minor changes like spring and damper settings, ride height adjustment, weight distribution (slight).

[Ferraripilot]

You can make minor changes like spring and damper settings, ride height adjustment, weight distribution (slight).

Both Merc and Ferrari made geometry changes to the back last year and I think Ferrari got their hands somewhat around teh situation by Britian while Merc weren't there until maybe Japan. I think they both assumed the tires would be one way, but were completely the opposite. This year, I would conjecture they are more into the fine tuning changes this year's only somewhat different tires will bring.

[Mr.S]

Obviously you can. But those will be very minor. No big change is possible. And if any big change is made it could have a serious effect on performance.

[dren]

You can make minor changes like spring and damper settings, ride height adjustment, weight distribution (slight).

Both Merc and Ferrari made geometry changes to the back last year and I think Ferrari got their hands somewhat around teh situation by Britian while Merc weren't there until maybe Japan. I think they both assumed the tires would be one way, but were completely the opposite. This year, I would conjecture they are more into the fine tuning changes this year's only somewhat different tires will bring.

Right, I was just noting the changes you can make in the small time frame between tests. Mercedes changed/shifted the W01 wheelbase, but it took a lot of time.

[dren]

The major benefit of running with the new tires will be observing how they perform between the compounds. Also observing how long they last on different fuel levels compared to last year's tires. Also finding a sweetspot for set-up.