Mercedes W03

+1 and top speed is everything here almost like Monza it seems. Those low on top speed will suffer. Ferrari is and so will Mercedes as the race wears on potentially. Mclaren look tops so far. More of that and then there will be a team dominating!

 

BINGO. Pic below shows the ducts to the nose through the safety cel.
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Not sure how you get the unbelieveable pics of the Merc, but I love it! This has quickly become my favorite source of F1 discussion!

 

Pirelli downplays Merc tire issues;

I think he has a point.......

Cheers,
Ian
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98298

PS - Very interesting pic above..... I'd love to to see the pressure readings in various places under the different conditions on this thing. If it is indeed feeding forward (and I'm still not convinced it's not going the other way!) the rear hole is gonna have to be at a *much* higher pressure than the front to force thru all that piping. OTOH, I guess the underside of the front wing is about as low (pressure wise) as it gets......

 

I think we can safely say the Merc has certainly improved.

 

I believe this is how it works, and it supports my theory that the front wing duct remains in semi-constant operation:

DRS IS NOT ACTIVATED - Air enters through the nose hole, pressure builds up in the nose cone and air is blown out through the slots on the underside of the wing stalling the front wing above a certain pressure.

DRS IS ACTIVATED - The two ducts in the nose cone now release the pressure in the nose cone and allow the air to flow through the ducting and exit out the rear wing DRS-duct. The slots on the underside of the wing are not blown sufficiently to keep the airflow attached, and the wing stalls, reducing drag. This method essentially uses the DRS-duct as a release valve for the air in the nose cone.

 

I'm not getting it.
Why stall the front wing when DRS is inactive?
Isn't that when you want downforce and grip?

 

Stall the front wing once a certain pressure is realized. So, set up the wing so it's not affected by this tangential flow inside the nose until let's say above 120mph. This would also allow them to use a lower front static ride height due to less high speed tea tray deflection (due to less downforce from stalled front wing).

 

A delicate balance to finesse. But more has been done for smaller benefit so who knows.

 

I love how everyone was crying about it and talking about protesting. Its a great design that other constructors didn't think of and is a great example of thinking outside the box.

 

ha! agreed, they simply wish they'd thought of it first

 

Make note, W03 has by far the softest front end on the grid which is evident by the massive front end roll displayed especially on quick turns. Still trying to figure out why this is.......

 

A soft suspension gives more mechanical grip, this is how Merc is dealing with the rear tire degredation issues found in Australia.

As long as the roll incurred does not 'roll' the tires off their 'proper' dynamic camber, little harm is incurred.

 

Given the tiny differences between soft and hard on a modern F1 car I don't see it as a concern.

 

much better shot of the potential duct holes (someone Photoshopped what they could look like). neat
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What is the light covered plate?
Is it temporary, just there to disguise?

 

I hear W03 is going to undergo a Mclaren-type exhaust treatment soon. I've also finally heard some reasonable conjecture regarding the current EBD. Whiting is quoted saying the Mclaren and Red Bull exhaust arrangements are currently worth about 20% of what the original EBD was worth and that 2013 exhaust regulations will further crack down on this EBD blowing nonsense. Furthermore, the original EBD was worth right around 25% of total rear downforce meaning this year's version is perhaps worth 5%. Still no one knows how it compares to the W03 or Lotus E20 current exhaust arrangement, but apparently Costa sees value in the Mclaren arrangement as he has been quoted as saying such a exhaust arrangement being declared 'legal' is a 'gift'. I would definitely say that Costa's words imply they will implement such a thing shortly.

 

MB's "super DRS" will be banned next year.

http://www.motorsport-aktuell.com/automobil/es-hat-sich-ausgeklappt-verbot-von-doppel-drs-naht-5315151.html

 

Big deal...has it helped?

 

Of course it will. These days any innovation in f1 is.

 

Nope.

I pondered last night the problem with W03, as it doesn't have any fundamental issues like W02 and W01 had, or even like F2012 still has (yet Ferrari have done a magnificent job working around them). The problem with W03 is it is a very fickle machine. Everything has to line up just right for it to be truly quick, and we've only seen that happen at the 100% level a couple times this year, and that was of course Monaco and China.

 

Compared to W02 and W01, W03 even compared to most cars on the field except Mclaren and Lotus, has exceptional attention to detail. I'm really not worried about this team, especially compared to how poor F2012 came out at the beginning of the season. Ferrari have poured too many resources into that car and have no chance at a WCC, just my opinion.

Pic shows old wing (below) vs new wing. Note they have not been running the primary cascade as I believe the wing is running more rake than it was earlier in the season when we did see it with the cascade. I'm guessing the rear is unbalanced with it in place.
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Interesting but since they run different configurations for high and low downforce tracks are you sure that the changes aren't track specific modifications?

 

I believe they partially are. Each team must weigh if they want heavy downforce or less drag and figure a balance of the two depending on their chassis capabilities. In most cases they want more downforce and it's usually at the rear.

 

As a rule all teams have rather different high and low downforce setups and the front ends differ markedly.