Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[NoDivergence]

It costs you in acceleration up to the top speed, though

[mantikos]

It costs you in acceleration up to the top speed, though

Misread

[Huntresa]

Are people still on the belief that monkey seats produce that much downforce and is used to produce downforce as its main purpose for being there ?

No it's main purpose is to look cool of course. We all know that is the most important thing in F1.

I don't think anyone believes it produces a ton of downforce on its own. But it does produce some. And it helps with extracting air form the diffuser which again also gives more downforce.

But its lift/drag coefficient is not that good. Which means it produces a relative large amount of drag. That's why its used on high downforce tracks. Where every little bit helps and speed isn't the main factor.

I thought it was to stabilize the flow to the rear wing.

[mantikos]

Are people still on the belief that monkey seats produce that much downforce and is used to produce downforce as its main purpose for being there ?

No it's main purpose is to look cool of course. We all know that is the most important thing in F1.

I don't think anyone believes it produces a ton of downforce on its own. But it does produce some. And it helps with extracting air form the diffuser which again also gives more downforce.

But its lift/drag coefficient is not that good. Which means it produces a relative large amount of drag. That's why its used on high downforce tracks. Where every little bit helps and speed isn't the main factor.

I thought it was to stabilize the flow to the rear wing.

On tracks that demand very aggressive AoA for rear wings, the monkey seat's kicked up airflow helps with attachment - that was not the case here, since the rear wing angle wasn't that aggressive and there were no flow separation issues.
That is the secondary side effect of the monkey seat. Primary goal is downforce creation.

[ringo]

I don't think anyone believes it produces a ton of downforce on its own. But it does produce some. And it helps with extracting air form the diffuser which again also gives more downforce.

It helps the rear wing more. Diffuser is too far away compared to the monkey seat size for the seat to have an effect.
It does improve the efficiency of the rear wing however, but comes at a slight drag penalty and also changes DRS behavior slightly.

[smlbstcbr]

Interesting, Pirelli saying the tires is not the cause for Mercedes win.

"[It's] something they have done," said Hembery.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109211

Not sure i´d agree with that, it seems these tires are less sensitive to thermal deg, which was the Merc´s achilles heel.
But i´m no tire expert so maybe they do have found something. Maybe it´s the rubber strip we all talked about pages ago.

If they have finally solved their loooooooooong lasting tyre problems, they are going to be the team to catch. Looking forward to the second half of the season!
I think their double skin gear box has finally given results. Have Pirelli lifted their restrictions on the wheel setup?

[JMN]

I thought it was to stabilize the flow to the rear wing.

This. I don't recall the name of the poster, but there was an engineer on this forum, I believe from HRT, who clarified this was the dominant function of the monkey seat. I believe he wrote the added downforce of the monkey seat itself was miniscule at best.

[SectorOne]

Bit odd that Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus all ran it.
I´m not sure but they might just have been alone in not running the monkey seat.

[Mika1]

Bit odd that Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus all ran it.
I´m not sure but they might just have been alone in not running the monkey seat.

They will have a good reason I guess, I have seen them doing the same during a couple of sessions this season.

[turbof1]

Luck certainly played a part in budapest. However, it does tell that there is a set up for mercedes that works. That is significant; now they atleast have a good idea which direction to go to.

It also highlights the flexibility of the car and the team. No matter how much luck, it is an incredible feat for them to get it all working in just one and a half days, in circumstances they (and we) were convinced of that would give a dramatic weekend.

Next 3 grand prix are a bit atypical. We'll have to wait for japan to tell how much real progress has been made. However, they won grand prix both in hot circumstances (budapest) and a high-load circuit (silverstone). At some point the dots get connected.

[GrandAxe]

I think what people need to ask themselves is also, what´s in it for Pirelli to help Mercedes?
What could they possibly gain from them as opposed to let´s say Ferrari (Italian team) or Red Bull?
-


Edit: Also, some words from Brawn, exciting

”For Spa and Monza we have some great update packages in the works. Depending on how well things go, we will then decide what to do for the rest of the season.”
http://grandprix247.com/2013/08/10/merc ... -campaign/

For Monza it´s obvious you have another wing etc but maybe they are going for a specific SPA pack as well?
Something of a hybrid between regular and Monza pack.

I imagine its the DDRS for Spa.

[Richard]

The car threads are meant to be about the features of the car.

Pirelli debate moved to the Pirelli thread http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... ead#unread

Race converstoin has been moved to the race thread .... I'm not aware of the Blanchemont corner being an aero feature http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... ead#unread

[godlameroso]

Perhaps the slot in the wheels uses the heat from the breaks to warm the tires and since Kevlar holds it's shape in heat somewhat than steel the new construction has sort of helped them. Perhaps Mercedes overheats the tires when excessive amounts of breaking are required. Which explains Bahrain Canada Barcelona Melbourne and Germany, which incidentally have some of the heaviest braking events on the calendar. Spa might be a question mark because there are not many very heavy braking events and large periods at full throttle which cool the breaks meaning that they won't be able to use that one lap pace. Especially if the weather is as I predict.

[Mika1]

Luck certainly played a part in budapest. However, it does tell that there is a set up for mercedes that works. That is significant; now they atleast have a good idea which direction to go to.

It also highlights the flexibility of the car and the team. No matter how much luck, it is an incredible feat for them to get it all working in just one and a half days, in circumstances they (and we) were convinced of that would give a dramatic weekend.

Next 3 grand prix are a bit atypical. We'll have to wait for japan to tell how much real progress has been made. However, they won grand prix both in hot circumstances (budapest) and a high-load circuit (silverstone). At some point the dots get connected.

Don't forget the Hungarian GP was Merc's ''YDT test'' with the new tyres, they can use that data now.

[diego.liv]

Can we rule out the ramp-exhaust as one of the updates?
Ok that the season is only at the half-point, but why would they have studied a ramp-style, to be mounted only at half-season, given that next year they won't be permitted?

I suggest the DRD and narrower sidepods, recalling this pre-season tests when rumors/interviews were talking about a 30% smaller radiators, studied in association with an American company