Marty_Y wrote: ↑01 Jul 2021, 20:37
My main concern is if Mercedes do have a long term strategy of improving the W12 later rather than sooner, they could leave it too late because nobody knows for definite how many races will go ahead because of the uncertain nature of the covid pandemic.
I believe that 8 races is the minimum needed to constitute a season from what I've read,
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-m ... 5/4983325/
"The minimum number of races needed for a season is eight, as set out under Article 5.4 of the sporting regulations."
I think the strategy Merc is currently following started with late changes to the W10, and is continuing with the W11, & W12. I believe the end goal is making next years car they best they can make it.
The aero rules are going to be very tight and simple next year. Who wins and who loses is going to come down to fine details on the underside of the car.
Imo to get every last ounce of DF out of the venturi tunnels and diffuser(s), is going to require a very stable car. The removal of all the complex vortex generators means it will be significantly harder to seal the floor going forward, so I think all teams will move towards cars with little or no rake.
However the move to 18" rims complicates the task of making an aero stable car. For a long time teams have relied on the high profile sidewalls of the 13" rims to Perform a lot of the work that would normally be done by the suspension.
The 18" rims mean teams are going to have to put in a lot more work into the suspension systems to keep the cars aerodynamically stable while still being able to ride the curbs etc.
I think Merc started thinking about this way back with the W10 when they experimented at the end of the season with bevel washers in the front suspension, as Hydraulically controlled heave springs will be banned.
I think they have continued to experiment with there suspension system in preparation for 2022. Evidence for this being how they went from being potentially the team that abused their tires the most in 2017/18 to the complete opposite end of the spectrum this season.
Imo the aero updates they bring to the W12 this season, will be enhancements that can be carried over to 2022, either directly or conceptually.
Another area I find interesting is the new intake plenum, and issues they have had with it. I've pondered more than once that this might be somehow related to the move to 10% ethanol next year. If memory serves more ethanol means they can run higher compression ratios.
