nah... who can say it's longer/shorter based on that teaser where 90% is not visible and no scale given? The only proper dimension references are the tires and there also 1% only is visible. So that comparison with the Ferrari is only useful to see the different sidepot shapes, but that's about all. To me the Merc looks a hell of a lot shorter. Which would also make sense to me, as they went for SWB as their alternative to the EBD, which isn't there any more. So I wouldn't be surprise to see them with SWB again this year, as they have already gone through the pain to master such a car with all it's issues... We will only be smarter next week : )
Brawn has confirmed on numerous occasions that W03 is much longer than W02. Also, looking at the approximate to scale comparison pic I included in an earlier post, it clearly shows the leading edge of W03s rear wing beginning approx 5CM past that of the Ferrari. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes I understand 100% what you are saying, but still what part of the cars would you use to try scale them for a comparison? You can only use something of common dimension and there's not much. The weels? Look at the shade of the camera ontop of the airbox. It looks much bigger on the Merc than on the Ferrari, while it is a standard size as far as I know. Maybe the rendering plays tricks on that... I don't know but I would be surprised if someone would know : ) On the other Brawn statement. I'd say the same if I knew SWB will be the way to go but I'd want to confuse the competitors... There is a long history in F1 on such things, a la Ferrari with the huge KERS-box or Vettel whining about the stress on pushing the DRS button, while he is using a pedal... I am not saying there new car will be SWB but it would make sense to me to counter the loss of EBD. And mind they had the fastest non-EBD car last year, even being able to give the EBD teams trouble every now and then. So to be honest I expect an evolution of the W02, maybe add some gimmicks such as F-duct wing or an improved interlinked suspension.
agreed. And yes, with the scales in the teaser being what they are, it's difficult to compare now. Soon enough though right
W03 having another shakedown only at Silverstone today. Reports stating Red Bull are wary of the new Merc. I'm not that confident however. But I do believe the Red Bull is going to have a more difficult time this season, most likely from Mclaren though
HERE IT IS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy4LtpZQZiM&feature=youtube_gdata_player at silverstone not long ago today. very very low sidepods and another ugly nose
Red Bull wary of Merecedes February 16, 2012 Adrian Newey: "I assume that they want to hide something from the competition" Red Bull's Adrian Newey believes that Mercedes is launching its car later than its rivals in order to hide something from the rest of the teams. The new Mercedes W03 will be launched on February 21 as the second pre-season test gets underway in Barcelona. Mercedes said it was a trade-off between development time and on-track mileage but with only two tests remaining before the start of the new season Newey believes that the team is trying to conceal a development on the car. "I assume that they want to hide something from the competition," Newey admitted to Sport Bild. "It must be something that can be copied quite quickly; otherwise they wouldn't try so hard to keep it secret." Mercedes - under its previous guise as Brawn - has previously succeeded with a late launch in 2009 when a car featuring a double diffuser was only run at the final two tests but went on to win both championships. Newey was not alone in believing Mercedes had discovered some sort of innovation once again, with Helmut Marko adding: "They seem to have something special at the front of the car." Nico Rosberg carried out a shakedown of the new W03 for Mercedes at Silverstone on Thursday.
Good news for those pushing for MS http://planetf1.com/news/3213/7524521/-Daimler-Keen-To-Re-Sign-Iconic-Schumi-
By looking at these pictures it seems as if the new car has some sort of horizontal pipe attached to the sidepods: http://twitpic.com/8ko28t/full
MB board have been saying this for months. They *love* having iconic Schumacher on their team. Sponsorship and loyalty to the team are remarkably high with him there. He remains the most popular driver on the grid and because of this, MB and Ferrari are the two most popular teams.
Fuzzy pics and the stepnose is clear, but it looks like MB has designed large air inlets into the middle section of the rear bodywork which may be routing airflow to the rear diffuser. As the goal is to recapture rear downforce lost by the EBD, this could be a novel aero approach.
I had a feeling that Merc would be bringing in some new stuff with their new chassis and hopefully I will see a podium or dare I say a win from the team this year.
Mercedes is *pissed* about this leak I hear. I guess I don't quite understand considering they are the ones who wanted to test at Silverstone which is a very open layout. Difficult keeping a Formula 1 car under wraps at a place like that. Image Unavailable, Please Login
MERCEDES AMG F1 @MercedesAMGF1 Close "Nico and Michael completed 50kms each at Silverstone, with Nico taking the W03 out for its first lap at 10.24 (precisely)..."
Awesome! thanks for the shots. What do you think? hard to say if it is SWB or not. It looks to me like SWB and they maybe tried to keep the sidepots low to counter the effect of the higher COG... sort of a tradeoff? Can't wait for next week to see the car properly : )
It's definitely longer. If I had to guess, I would say 15-20cm longer. The sidepods appear more vacuum packed and the exhaust config is really tough to say, but somewhere on the sidepods.
