Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[Mika1]

Look at the Mercedes brand on their helmets, then you can see the difference.

[ESPImperium]

EDIT: Do I see a vertical opening here?

Is it me or they missing something with a captive steering arm in the upper suspension A arm???

Look at more or less every car now, they have the captive steering arm in the upper A Arm. The W04 may be loosing out in aero performance there. Even the much me-lined HRT F110/F111 had this detail. This may be something the team will be looking at for 2013 as more teams since 2010 have been using this captive arm since 2010, only about 10 cars I can see havnt had this detail.

Thats just my opinion. Ill be happy to take that humble pie if the car is subtly fast!

[dren]

Is it me, or does the W04 hark back to the shortwheel based W02?

Yes, it does. The sidepods are actually tighter than they look.

[skoop]

hi all,
i'm new here!

in pictures the C32 and the RB9 look very slim and fast while the new merc looks kinda fat. but you cant see the cars speed on the pictures so we'll have to wait till testing begins.
the back of the car looks very interesting. i wonder what tehy're up to

[Timstr]

Decent car all around though. Lots of potential. They have yet to show their 5 element front wing and I'm sure they have other addons coming especially at the back where I'm sure something is going on. Costa did Merc right with this one IMO.

Notice the Merc, Mclaren both exit their exhausts quite low compared to Ferrari who clearly are a good few CM higher. I suspect a velocity loss would be apparent from a higher exit.

This is the 5-element front wing. You need to count the 2 top elements as well.
It's an evolution of last year's wing.

[dren]

Is it me or they missing something with a captive steering arm in the upper suspension A arm???

Look at more or less every car now, they have the captive steering arm in the upper A Arm. The W04 may be loosing out in aero performance there. Even the much me-lined HRT F110/F111 had this detail. This may be something the team will be looking at for 2013 as more teams since 2010 have been using this captive arm since 2010, only about 10 cars I can see havnt had this detail.

Thats just my opinion. Ill be happy to take that humble pie if the car is subtly fast!

Teams seem to go back and forth year to year with incorporating the steering arm into or just in front of an A-arm. I am guessing the packaging may be difficult if they have some sort of fancy linked suspension.

[Artur Craft]

What screams low downforce on that wing?

the slots between the main flaps are takes aways much more of lower pressure under the wing, than on other cars. Also, the upper minor elements are flat and quite small. Other teams use much more downforce generators elements

Anyway:
Uh oh, a more technically qualified person than all of us is not satisfied with what he saw from W04:

Gary Anderson:
"At first glance I can't see where the 'step change in performance' Mercedes are talking about is going to come from with their new car.

"There are a few changes here and there, but not necessarily in ways that look like they will be a big advantage.

"One area that is definitely working a bit harder is the front brake ducts, which are more elaborate.

"The nose has the allowed 'vanity panel' to hide the height difference between nose tip and chassis. If you put little ridges on either side of the nose, that can help prevent air spilling over the side. But the way Mercedes have designed their nose it looks like it will exacerbate that problem, which affects the aerodynamics detrimentally.

"The sidepods have a raised outer edge. It's aimed at getting air to the rear but it creates lift, and then there are turning vanes on top to reduce the lift. So that confuses me a little.

"They are trying to use the exhaust for aerodynamic effect at the back, but there is an awful lot of bodywork back there which will block the airflow and reduce the effectiveness of the 'coke-bottle' shape, which is what gives overall downforce, as opposed to the on-throttle downforce you get from the exhausts.

"Unlike the McLaren, which looked a step forward in every area, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm seeing anything too exciting about the Mercedes."

[MercAMGF1Fans]

Ross Brawn has said that the team will be testing a new front wing and various exhaust set-ups in the upcoming test sessions - Skysports News

[GrizzleBoy]

For everyone saying the "new" front wing is supposedly low downforce or that this is their new 5 element wing.
W04


W03 in Brazil


Could have fooled me lol.

[f1316]

Is it me, or does the W04 hark back to the shortwheel based W02?

I said that - yet to see the specs though to verify it

[Giando]

Hello... i was looking at Mercedes pics and I was wondering...

where the hell is the lower triangle forward arm?!?

The one you can see on the new Sauber here, for example?



I don't see it... do you?

[user001]

Is it me, or does the W04 hark back to the shortwheel based W02?

imho yes, it is. maybe they will have cooling problems again.

i don't get why they're doing this. the car still seems to be built upon BGP001. lauda said that the w04 "should" be a totally new car. as far as i can see it is not. forth they copied, as mentioned, the ferrari (tube) coanda.

if they won't change the whole rear before or in melbourne, they certainly won't improve rear downforce(front downforce was ok last year) levels to redbull or mclaren levels. goodbye merc.

[Ferraripilot]

Ross Brawn has said that the team will be testing a new front wing and various exhaust set-ups in the upcoming test sessions - Skysports News

Right. The wing they currently have in place employ upper elements used at Monaco last year and the main plane is post Canada. This is not the new 5 element wing.

[Ferraripilot]

Hello... i was looking at Mercedes pics and I was wondering...

where the hell is the lower triangle forward arm?!?

The one you can see on the new Sauber here, for example?



I don't see it... do you?

It's just behind the pull rod although I am having difficulty seeing the other arm behind it. Costa is a mechanical genius you know.

[GrizzleBoy]

The mass of bodywork absent from every other car on the grid so far is playing tricks.