Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[diego1960]

Hello everyone, I'm a new user here, first post to the forum! I've been a supporter of Mercedes (and a MSC fan) since they entered Formula One in 2010, and before that I was a long-time McLaren fan due to the Merc link.

I must say I can't wait for the full-spec release of the new W03, so we can have some proper HD pics without wondering whether what we see is a "shadow" or the actual exhaust location. However, from what we 've seen so far it seems that the car is an evolution of the W02, eliminating however the aspects that made last years car such a dog, such as the SWB and the big-ass sidepods. I hope that when we get our hands on some HD pics, we can see that they have given better attention on details as that area was a major problem in the W02.

As for the star on the nose, it was painted on the W01, but it changed to a 3-D star for the W02 and i guess for the W03, the reason that people get confused is that the video released last year in the beginning of the 2011 season(with MSC visiting the factory) showed a W01 nose being painted to illustrate the importance of the people creating the livery etc.

[Websta]

Interesting. Seems the starter hole is being utilized by some teams yes. Do you by any chance imagine a U-sidepod? Just can't get rid of the feeling. Something is definitely very different if I imagine a front view.

That is interesting, it certainly looks as though the side pods are heavily curved on top.

[Leon]

I keeps hope to see

[VarioR]

I keeps hope to see

I'm not sure but think that this solution was baned by FIA, because it was ver dangerous in case of roll over, especially on the gravel.

[wesley123]

I think last year says enough already.

[Metalrulz]

I keeps hope to see

I'm not sure but think that this solution was baned by FIA, because it was ver dangerous in case of roll over, especially on the gravel.

The solution was not banned by FIA . Changes were made to the same where the center blade thickness had to be increased..

BTW. the sidepods are BLOODY LOW but what is interesting to see is the front suspension pickup points (P.S. DO NOT START ANOTHER MERCURY/NON MERCURY SUSPENSION BATTLE )

[jav]

I too was hoping to see something revolutionary or at least different enough to justify -1) early start of development, -2) missing first test and -3) confirmation of the teams assertion that development time was more important than testing.

While very early, and with no true indication of where the team stands- I "see" nothing that stikes me as exciting or more innovative than any other midfield or top team. Perhaps that "step forward" is not obvious (and a good thing) and it remains my hope that they've had better success this year versus the last 2. The teams own comments are not leading me to expect much.

It seems to me that last year, McLaren had that wow factor- which was quite scary early on- but they got a handle on it by the first race. This year Ferrari looks to have made some bold (and scary) moves - as well as Force india. They may both finish the season behind Merc but at at least thier initial offering are outwardly indicative of an extraordinary effort.

That's what I hoped from Merc last year and was disappointed. This year I hope for results. If evolution is faster than revolution, I will be a happy fan. If this effort produces another 4th place finish or is closer to fighting with Lotus and FI than Ferrari and Mac... I will have a very hard time.

[Ferraripilot]

I can't believe I didn't notice this before as it's quite obvious.

Avert your eyes to the TOP LEADING EDGE AND ROOF OF THE SIDEPODS in comparison to W02 and you will notice W03s sidepods 'top' or 'roof' is indeed a couple to a few CM lower than that of W02.

What makes this very visible is the apex where the top of the sidepod meets the safety cel, there indeed is a dropoff present from the safety cel to the roof of W03 sidepods which was formerly a smooth transition on W02 from safetey cel to sidepod roof. No other car on the grid has the roof of their sidepods this low.

This is going to be a great car.

[Metalrulz]

You can see the triangular inlet in the left mirror

Could be a cooling inlet for KERS. In one of the earlier pics uploaded on this thread it shows a hole just next to the drivers head on the right hand side of the sidepod so it could be cooling for KERS.

[volarchico]

So there doesn't appear to be any special bifurcated inlet at the nose step. Nor do the sidepods look to be innovative. So much for all that speculation.

[raymondu999]

Wow. The field seems converging on the RB7 wing mirror design. Even teams like McLaren/Ferrari/Mercedes who have (until last year) maintained their own designs are now moving to the RB7 design

[raymondu999]

I can't wait to see the car in its actual press photos or the actual launch spec-especially interested on those sidepods; which were probably inspired by the MP4-26 sidepods.

[dren]

Any rule changes considering the mirrors? Mercedes liked to run the mirror-wing.

[Owen.C93]

Wow. The field seems converging on the RB7 wing mirror design. Even teams like McLaren/Ferrari/Mercedes who have (until last year) maintained their own designs are now moving to the RB7 design

It seems like Mercedes are the car which has NOT copied RBR and kept them low surely?

[raymondu999]

shorter stalk; yes. But the design is the same. Compare to the BGP001/W01/W02 mirror; which used the same design.