The new Mercedes is alive (albeit receiving critical care)!

Perhaps it's a trick of the light in the image but it appears the
W04 has a much longer wheel base.

BHW

 

2 different noses?

 

they're not showing much at this stage.
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from press release:


The aerodynamic design philosophy has been optimised around a new five-element front wing design and a second-generation Coanda exhaust at the rear. The car retains pushrod front suspension and a pullrod rear suspension, aimed at optimising tyre life and performance, while the rear end has been aggressively packaged to optimise aerodynamic development potential. The F1 W04 also does away with the stepped nose design of its predecessor thanks to a small ‘vanity panel’, which was found to offer a small gain during aerodynamic testing. The car completed its final mandatory FIA crash test on 15 January.




Looking forward to seeing the new 5 element front wing.

Definitely some F2012 influence with the sidepods. Sidepod intake is smaller. Nice looking frontal sidepod view profile, not really an undercut, they're just slanted, compact, and low. Exhaust blowing appears optimized. New rear brake ducts (they look very complex) Good evolution overall here.
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The best part of it are the two yellow helmets.

 

The exhaust is pointed in a much more agreeable direction, straight back to the gap between the diff and rear wheel.
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Many of the teams sidepods with Coanda exhausts (non RB) from behind the driver now pretty much look the same except for Ferrari who have their exhaust exiting a good few CM higher than everyone else.

 

Is that a blackberry logo just before the cockpit? lol.

 

I'm sure they did will mount a passive drs at the back and the hole at the front isn't just for cabin cooling

 

Isn't that a frozen yogurt company?

 

No, that's how Ham refers to his testis

 

LAWL

 

What do they have to say about this car now? Another bunch of empty promises?

 

Rosberg: Strong start to 2013 season unlikely for Mercedes - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

Theres the Brackley we know and love!

 

What are you up to Mr. Costa...... This dangling rod has a purpose we do not yet know..... testing equipment or drag reduction device partially stalling the rear wing? hmm
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TifosiUSA posted the article I was going to cite already.

That all being said, W04 at this point is just what Mercedes needs, which is a fundamentally vanilla car hopefully with lots of room to grow. Costa clearly employed Ferrari's sidepod idea, but W04 has something going on with the floor just under the exhaust bulge. The floor dips downward in this area.

The rear suspension of the car is also missing the forward lower a-arm, Costa is either running just one lower arm or the rearmost a-arm is more rearward than any of us are seeing so far. The rear of the car has evolved a massive amount and air is not so directed at the center but more at the sides of the diffuser. Let's see where this goes.

New 5 element wing testing sometime this week. The wing is Bell/Willis' baby

 

No, what they need is a car that's good from the get go and at least able to compete for podiums regularly, kinda like the lotus was last year. They don't need another car that has lots of room to grow, because that'll only mean it's a **** design (again). For all involved, this is the year that should promise complete transformation for Mercedes compared to the last 3 years.

 

Merc will compete in the top 5 at best from the get go, they are too much on the back foot from the end of 2012. W03 was a car that was near its full potential with the DDRS system at the beginning of the season. W03 had minimal room to grow due to that system and Mercedes were not expecting such an issue. No team is able to come from a 1.000+ deficit at the end of a season to a front-running car over winter break with a new machine, it's just not possible. It just doesn't work that way minus a silver bullet such as a DDD or the like.

Brawn stated today they are bringing several 'innovations' to the various testing over the coming weeks. Costa's rear suspension work on this car interests me most though, it's very different to anything else. they have something going on with the floor too.....

 

Blackberry is a fitting sponsor for a "too little, too late" kind of outfit like this team. We will watch them both (MB and Blackberry) squirm and flop like a dying fish this year.

 

Why is Blackberry a sponsor? Was Atari not available?

 

W04 is 21cm longer than W03. I suspect that's a combination of a tiny bit more nose length and additional wheelbase.


Lewis' first drive:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw_p7neUfFM&feature=player_embedded]Lewis Hamilton - first laps in the F1 W04 - YouTube[/ame]

 

I could barely tell it was Hamilton...it looked like Nico for the first half, lol.

 

Ian, what say you to the lower suspenion a-arm Costa has come up with here? The lower arm is positioned behind the pullrod and the other is back almost under the beam wing. So they have a more traditional upper a-arm and the lower is very small and acute by comparison.


Also notice under the exhaust and venting tunnel there is a dip in the floor! What is that doing. Certainly generating a lot of buzz.

In comparing to F138, I notice Ferrari have opted to make the beam wing almost integrated as part of the crash structure. Mclaren and Merc have the crash structure lower than most as the beam wing sits above said structure a couple CM. While several teams have the beam wing at the same height as the rear crash structure, most everyone else has a hump at the center to provide space between the beam and the crash structure for air to flow under thus making the wing more efficient. Ferrari certainly have the know-how to get their structure lower so I'm wondering what they're playing at.

Thus far I definitely believe Mclaren have the car of the field, drivers goes to Mercedes though.
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Interesting. But without something approaching an engineering drawing of the geometry I have no idea TBH!

We know it's all about aero & tire management so I guess they're trying to be "gentle" on the tires throughout the whole range of movement - Which isn't a whole lot these days of course.

Cheers,
Ian