djos wrote: ↑14 Jun 2018, 13:54
wesley123 wrote: ↑14 Jun 2018, 13:34
Then why isn't Mercedes running it? It's a concept that isn't anything new. Seems weird to not apply a solution that is so incredibly amazing.
Simple, their aero philosophy is quite different - in F1, teams usually converge on the optimal solution, Mercedes is the only team left running low rake, everyone else has decided that high rake is a more efficient aero platform. This is one area Mercedes are not leading - I'm not saying they havent done an outstanding job, they have. I'm just saying I personally think them sticking with low rake is going to cost them performance compared to RBR & Ferrari.
As others have said, it's not as simple as jacking up the rear ride height, it's an entire aero philosphy that needs to be in-sync to work.
That said, I think Spa and Monza will either validate or invalidate my theory.
I don't think their aero philosophy is all that much different, apart from the floor, there isn't anything 'weird' about it.
And considering how they have had 5+ years to apply this to the car, I doubt the godlike idea behind it. Mercedes has really focused on suspension, applying a much more complex layout, a large part of this is driven by aerodynamics. Reducing pitch can have a large effect on the car.
The large amount of rake is fairly draggy, as the frontal area is increased compared to zero rake. This can be solved by a softer rear, which will squat under speed. The softer rear can also help with traction, and imo the amount of rake is driven because of traction, a desire to run a soft rear, rather than primarely aero driven.