Mercedes GP MGP W01

[dren]

When you compare Mercedes now to where they were at the start of the season, they haven't fallen back that far in the ranks, still around 4th best, but at a distance. This leads you to believe they have found pace with the car over the season. The inherent design flaws have limited the team, but the car has improved. Hopefully the team starts with something better for 2011.

[Yups]

I don't agree. Mercedes was comfortable ahead of Renault, Williams and Force India the first races. After some races Renault was several times faster or at least equal fast, know they are struggling with Williams or even Force India in some races. Also the gap to Ferrari and McLaren is bigger now compared to earlier this year. But of course they found some pace over the season, would be odd if not.

[dren]

Rosberg is keeping the car up in the top 6 or so. Who knows what MS is doing.

[7TTT]

What if MGP goes above the weight limit, so the weight distribution match with the front tires?
10kg extra weight for the perfect weightdistribution?

[marcush.]

What if MGP goes above the weight limit, so the weight distribution match with the front tires?
10kg extra weight for the perfect weightdistribution?

the front tyre situation does not get better when you increase weight at the rear..That is the reason why the car is not as bad with full tank.

There was not given a proper reason why the front heavy weight distribution could not be resolved...unballasted the car should not have anything near a 50/50 split
so why should it be so difficult to get this corrected?
Theres suspicion theres more to it than weight split...maybe a stiffness issue compounding their problem.For sure their proble is with a component they cannot change at it is homologated...surely not the engine?

[Tim.Wright]

What if MGP goes above the weight limit, so the weight distribution match with the front tires?
10kg extra weight for the perfect weightdistribution?

No. To put it simply, the vehicle mass is more important than the distribution.

Remember, the mass acts laterally in a corning situation, not just vertically in a static situation.

A quick sum, a 600kg F1 car corners at 4G - that means the tires are capable of giving 23544N of cornering force. That same force acting on a 610kg car will only corner at 3.93G.

Some simplifications there but you get the idea.

Tim

[PlatinumZealot]

But poor weight distribution can be a cause to having tyres that do not get into the peak operating range, it might even affect how the car behaves before the turn.

So That 3.93g at peak tyre operating range with a 610kg car can be better than 3.80G at lesser tyre operating condition in a 600kg car. Remember the Brawns of 2009 qualifying in the top slots with medium race fuel? You can argue it's a result of downforce, but it could be attributed to good weight distribution as well.

[natehall]

What if MGP goes above the weight limit, so the weight distribution match with the front tires?
10kg extra weight for the perfect weightdistribution?

the front tyre situation does not get better when you increase weight at the rear..That is the reason why the car is not as bad with full tank.

There was not given a proper reason why the front heavy weight distribution could not be resolved...unballasted the car should not have anything near a 50/50 split
so why should it be so difficult to get this corrected?
Theres suspicion theres more to it than weight split...maybe a stiffness issue compounding their problem.For sure their proble is with a component they cannot change at it is homologated...surely not the engine?

It cant be the engne as its powering the McLaren and FI

[Byronrhys]

What if MGP goes above the weight limit, so the weight distribution match with the front tires?
10kg extra weight for the perfect weightdistribution?

the front tyre situation does not get better when you increase weight at the rear..That is the reason why the car is not as bad with full tank.

There was not given a proper reason why the front heavy weight distribution could not be resolved...unballasted the car should not have anything near a 50/50 split
so why should it be so difficult to get this corrected?
Theres suspicion theres more to it than weight split...maybe a stiffness issue compounding their problem.For sure their proble is with a component they cannot change at it is homologated...surely not the engine?

It cant be the engne as its powering the McLaren and FI

He means the placement of the engine is not functioning with the weight distribution.

[aral]

He means the placement of the engine is not functioning with the weight distribution.

Oh goody! Will we see a front engined Merc next year? or maybe an engine behind the axle line!

[lolzi]

He means the placement of the engine is not functioning with the weight distribution.

Oh goody! Will we see a front engined Merc next year? or maybe an engine behind the axle line!

No, we will have to wait for Porsche to be in F1 to see a "real" rear-engined car

[marcush.]

hey guys...I was joking with the engine...
apart from the engine ,the TUB is also a homologated part,at least for one season....
Are you sure a front engined car would be legal?

[djones]

Its interesting to see all of the teams still bringing new parts to the car and Merc saying they arnt going to spend a single second on the W01 anymore.

You can see why, but I wonder two things...

1. Surely next years car is going to be a good one. Design flaw this year aside they havent dont that bad if you take into account the fact the tub probably flexes.

2. Will they do soemthing crazy in the last races like run without a difuser?

Yeah they will probably be at the back of the grid, but they can then not just design but test next years bits.

[Scotracer]

I'm still concerned about Honda/Brawn/Merc's ability to solve problems and develop. With the RA107 then RA108 they have shown they can create true dogs that they can't fix and with the BGP001 they were lucky I feel to get the DDD stuff down and modelled the car around it. The W01 has barely improved since day 1, has a F-duct that barely works and can only be driven by one of their drivers. Lovely.

The W02? I can only hope. I'm worried however since they have a mandated weight distribution that they wont be able to make a chassis that Michael gets along with.

[dren]

I expect the car to be better than this year's car. The W01 has improved quite a bit since the last testing sessions. Not as much as the top 3 teams, but it has improved quite a lot. Don't forget the team has turned out good cars along with dogs for cars. The Honda buy-out and management arrangement with Nakamoto heading the development side of things took them in the wrong direction. Ross Brawn turned the team around back to what they were achieving with David Richards. I expect Mercedes to have a much more competitive car next year.