Mercedes AMG F1 W03 (pre-launch speculation)

[Fredy4]

I think the black line is just heat proof paint stuff, not a gap.

The image is such bad quality the blacks are poor. For example take the camera on the top or the tip of the rear crash structure. It all just looks like a black hole.

[raymondu999]

I wonder if someone has a superhighres shot out there in the wild of the car - I'm sure there are super high res shots - I doubt they could do the entire track mileage with no prying SLRs, but any in the wild?

I don't think we can really draw anything conclusive in terms of the car's features from the shots we have other than that it's using a stepped nose; has the same livery as last year, and it works on a fundamental level - ie it can brake/accelerate.

[Fredy4]

As a side note...

If your the sort of person who posts stuff up on twitter, surely you would have more than a 0.00005 MP camera. Even for a phone, every single picture so far has been a joke

[raymondu999]

The pictures get compressed as they're uploaded on Twitter - all Twitter apps do that to minimise the time needed for the data transfer and the amount of data they need to transfer.

[Mestrades]

Rosberg pic on my Twitter

[Fredy4]

Any chance you can post some that are higher res?

Good effort for actually taking some pictures, but it would be so much better if they were bigger.

[wjpbill]

I've worked out what that line is along the bottom of the side pods.

If you look at the original higher res shots by Roy Powell, you can see it's where the floot sticks out past the sides.

That would indicate that it is indeed, narrow.

[skgoa]

Hey guys! Finally the speculation can be laid to rest, since I have figured out all the secrets of the W03:











(yes, it's supposed to look that way.)

[Fredy4]

Is there a fine for going over your test miles?

I mean, they were meant to be limited to 150km for the shakedown and video day.

Yet even on their own twitter they are saying they have so far done over 300km in the new car!!

Maybe there is a fine and they have just accepted to pay it?

[beelsebob]

Hey guys! Finally the speculation can be laid to rest, since I have figured out all the secrets of the W03:
(yes, it's supposed to look that way.)

Rofl – I nearly wet myself.

[bosanac1]

Is there a fine for going over your test miles?

I mean, they were meant to be limited to 150km for the shakedown and video day.

Yet even on their own twitter they are saying they have so far done over 300km in the new car!!

Maybe there is a fine and they have just accepted to pay it?

its all legal

mercedes didn't test on last day at jerez

so they are allowed to make up for it at barcelona

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Is there a fine for going over your test miles?

I mean, they were meant to be limited to 150km for the shakedown and video day.

Yet even on their own twitter they are saying they have so far done over 300km in the new car!!

Maybe there is a fine and they have just accepted to pay it?

its all legal

mercedes didn't test on last day at jerez

so they are allowed to make up for it at barcelona

Yeah I saw that tweet from them. Interesting other teams didn't go this route so they could test in private. Smart of them! Seems rather Brawn-esque to me.

[Fredy4]

Ah!

So why were people saying merc had missed out on a load testing?

Looks to me like they have used it better than anybody. They have put a load of miles on the new car, yet perfectly benchmarked the new tyres on a car they know.

All that while hiding any secrets they had for a few weeks extra.

[bosanac1]

I don't think you can make this advantage Mercedes more of risk, considering there is only 2 tests left and reliability problems could cause havoc.

[Schulteiss]

Ah!

So why were people saying merc had missed out on a load testing?

Looks to me like they have used it better than anybody. They have put a load of miles on the new car, yet perfectly benchmarked the new tyres on a car they know.

All that while hiding any secrets they had for a few weeks extra.

THIS

(though frankly, I don't believe in any secrets)
The new simulator provided them with a chance of added development of the new design, while not missing out on the testing at the same time. They have hopped a development phase. Ingenious. If the have tucked in 60-70 laps today, -knock on wood- the reliability is as expected so far. They have been mocked at for delaying the launch, and now they seem to be proving themselves.