Mercedes AMG F1 W04 (pre-launch speculation)

[FoxHound]

Interesting that Mercedes took the suspension concept one step further.

McLaren Ferrari and RB all use the front to rear hydraulically linked suspension. Yet Mercedes system attempts to additionally
compensate for heave and roll.
Is it really any wonder they where screwed with tyres?

[Nando]

you cannot separate tyres from suspension as the suspension is clearly there to connect the tyres to the chassis in the best possible way to assure optimum grip under all circumstances.
Too good grip ? Not existing

What i´m saying is that if you have enough aerodynamic grip you don´t need that much mechanical grip.
It was just a theory that because they lack in downforce they are trying to compensate that with more mechanical grip.

we know the car has incredible rear end grip out of very slow corners, Schumacher at Monza 2011 is a great example.
Hamilton could not hang on to Schumi despite having the same engine and a better entry to the left hander of the chicane.

Eventually that will eat away the tires because of the great mechanical grip. Just a theory though.

[raymondu999]

Eventually that will eat away the tires because of the great mechanical grip. Just a theory though.

More mechanical grip doesn't mean worse on tyres.

While it is possible to make certain setup changes that increase tyre appetite, additional mechanical grip in and of itself does not mean the tyres get finished quicker.

[matt_b]

Ironically Mercedes were 1 and 3 in Monaco qualifying, which is all about mechanical grip!

The W03 seems like such a complicated car to understand, if you watch Rosbergs pole lap in China and Michaels pole lap in Monaco the car looks on rails.

[mach11]

I was curious....

IMHO...When a team decides to develop a completely new chassis, with a new package for the 2013 season, it is does not seem logical with the rule changes in 2014 and would be too risky.
But with the W03 not performing, would Mercedes actually consider starting fresh with a new chassis?? And would Daimler support this by providing the finances??

[godlameroso]

What I think is going on for next year...The trick front wings will be the ones that sort of flap. This flapping however isn't in the normal sense because the wings aren't allowed to flex, but they can vibrate, and they're sort of allowed to rotate horizontally, as we have seen the Red Bull wings do. Imagine driving over bumps and curbs makes the wing oscillate improving downforce

You know, kind of like how insects generate lift by vibrating their wings, or some similar sort of sorcery.

[marcush.]

if the car was difficult to sort ,it would be more logical to start slow and have difficulty to get it right till Q,right?
The general trend was the other way round methinks .
the car was not shabby at the start of the weekend and as the season progressed the car progressed less and less towards Q3 ...
A trait it shared with w02 and w01 btw.. so it could as well be a general lack of adaptivity of the engineers ?
I well remember one of Brawns 1 liners in 2009 ...we prefer to wait for the conditions to come to us instead of chasing the conditions with setup...remarkable . (BGP001 was quite often NOT the quickest car in FP1+2 but came alive only towards Qualy..)

[godlameroso]

if the car was difficult top sort ,it would be more logical to start slow and have difficulty to get it right till Q,right?
The general trend was the other way round methinks .
the car was not shabby at the start of the weekend and as the season progressed the car progressed less and less towards Q3 ...
A trait it shared with w02 and w01 btw.. so it could as well be a general lack of adaptivity of the engineers ?
I well remember one of Brawns 1 liners in 2009 ...we prefer to wait for the conditions to come to us instead of chasing the conditions with setup...remarkable . (BGP001 was quite often NOT the quickest car in FP1+2 but came alive only towards Qualy..)

The W03 has served pretty much as a test bed since the summer break, I'm pretty sure their goal was a win and a pole position, they got that, and when they saw that their car was a developmental dead end like the FFE Lotus, they decided to pull all their resources into what they think is a legal car for next year. Now I'm not expecting miracles but it will definitely be a step up from this year's car. That said I think the majority of resources and engineering talent is going towards 2014.

[Mika1]

I was curious....

IMHO...When a team decides to develop a completely new chassis, with a new package for the 2013 season, it is does not seem logical with the rule changes in 2014 and would be too risky.
But with the W03 not performing, would Mercedes actually consider starting fresh with a new chassis?? And would Daimler support this by providing the finances??

They have to. The W03 is a horrible project.

[wunderkind]

I think the W04 will be a W03 modified to cure the tyre wear problems and the lack of downforce in the rear.

If Mercedes tries to do anymore than that, they'd be biting off more than they could chew.

[user001]

I think the W04 will be a W03 modified to cure the tyre wear problems and the lack of downforce in the rear.

If Mercedes tries to do anymore than that, they'd be biting off more than they could chew.

Lauda told us that a whole new car will be built...

[MercAMGF1Fans]

I think the W04 will be a W03 modified to cure the tyre wear problems and the lack of downforce in the rear.

If Mercedes tries to do anymore than that, they'd be biting off more than they could chew.

Lauda told us that a whole new car will be built...

well obviously, as the team will be using the new scale model

[marcush.]

what would you believe coming from that corner.
Of course it will be all new.
As we have seen them going from one extreme to another ,ditching cf gearbox casings for cost reasons only to reintroduce them the following year ,high and low noses ,long and short wheelbase ,blade and non blade rollhoops fancy f-duct ideas galore they should find the right measure ...but then they have hired Elliot who was chief aero with Renault when they snot only switched from 50 to 60% Modelsize but also when they had their famous forward exit exhausts...Guess who has some weird new ideas in the pocket and a team willing to jump at every half baked opportunity to jump the entire field....
More seriously ,idon´t think the car needs to look that much different if the process leading to the finished product is corrected and all decisions made on the journey are based on facts requirements and opportunities and not on wishful thinking...or creative calculations...

[Nando]

blade and non-blade rollhoops? Anyone got some example of both? I can´t put the word blade on anything near the rollhoop but i´m guessing it´s the intakes around the main intake?

[marcush.]

i was mentioning the W01 ..