Mercedes AMG F1 W03

[raymondu999]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

[Hemsy]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

This. With the ban on EBD, the most a team can gain from the exhausts in 2 or 3 tenths. Having said that, however, in a season as tight as this one, just 2 or 3 tenths can mean the difference between winning & just barely finishing in the top 10. It is, however, a well known fact that Merc overheat their tires more than the other teams so maybe they have more to lose than gain from changing their exhaust set up.

[ArchAngel]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

Pretty much my sentiments from a few races ago. Hence, I wasn't too bothered about every other team trying out every possible combination & permutation of exhaust configurations they could copy off others. Developments in this area could still happen in the W03, but at the moment I don't think the team not frantically falling over themselves in an exhausting copy-test-copy-test loop (like a dog chasing it's tail) is in any way a sign that the team dropped the development ball in this particular area.

[roadwarrior]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

True, but Red Bull seemed to find a junk of time in Valencia with their new rear floor arrangement so perhaps there is something in that exhaust setup. But I agree that Merc need to fully understand their car, tires and setup before throwing another variable of exhaust configuration into the mix.

[ReLax]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

True, but Red Bull seemed to find a junk of time in Valencia with their new rear floor arrangement so perhaps there is something in that exhaust setup. But I agree that Merc need to fully understand their car, tires and setup before throwing another variable of exhaust configuration into the mix.

Well, its the second year with the "basic" model of that car.
I mean, the W03 is only a better W02, nothing more. So It's time for some futher developement, they should improve the diffuser easylie with a well developed exhaust/sidepod layout.
Srsly, Red Bull was 4 tenth of a second in Qualifying and half a second as i recognize faster in race. And what did they brought to Valencia? Some Vortexgenerator on the Sidepods to stabilize the airflow to the coke-bottle-area and the genius Newey-Sidepod-Floor.

[Matt Somers]

Don't know if it's already been mentioned as they weren't new for Valencia but Mercedes appear to be using a wing mirror design that utilises a naca style duct in the front profile of the mirror that exits on the side into the path of a recess creating trailing edge vortices.



It's included in my Valencia Tech roundup for Final Sector: http://finalsector.co.uk/valencia-gp-te ... roundup-2/

[zyphro]

...

Thanks, good read.

Keep it up!

[Owen.C93]

Don't know if it's already been mentioned as they weren't new for Valencia but Mercedes appear to be using a wing mirror design that utilises a naca style duct in the front profile of the mirror that exits on the side into the path of a recess creating trailing edge vortices.



It's included in my Valencia Tech roundup for Final Sector: http://finalsector.co.uk/valencia-gp-te ... roundup-2/

Sorry but it seems to me that reflections have gotten the best of you again. That looks like the blue pit lane stripe with a guy standing on it IMO.

[Huntresa]

Don't know if it's already been mentioned as they weren't new for Valencia but Mercedes appear to be using a wing mirror design that utilises a naca style duct in the front profile of the mirror that exits on the side into the path of a recess creating trailing edge vortices.



It's included in my Valencia Tech roundup for Final Sector: http://finalsector.co.uk/valencia-gp-te ... roundup-2/

Sorry but it seems to me that reflections have gotten the best of you again. That looks like the blue pit lane stripe with a guy standing on it IMO.

Look at the edges, you see its cut out.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Sorry but it seems to me that reflections have gotten the best of you again. That looks like the blue pit lane stripe with a guy standing on it IMO.

I agree, when you right click and view the picture you can see it's the blue & white stripe reflecting off of the mirror. I've went back and looked through some pictures and haven't seen any cut-outs in their mirrors.

Very high res. Right Click>view image



Another angle, linking to save bandwidth

http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/me ... 649.78.jpg


Damn reflections! They get the best of us. I've been gotten by them more times than I want to remember...

[Huntresa]

Sorry but it seems to me that reflections have gotten the best of you again. That looks like the blue pit lane stripe with a guy standing on it IMO.

I agree, when you right click and view the picture you can see it's the blue & white stripe reflecting off of the mirror. I've went back and looked through some pictures and haven't seen any cut-outs in their mirrors.

Very high res. Right Click>view image



Another angle, linking to save bandwidth

http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/me ... 649.78.jpg


Damn reflections! They get the best of us. I've been gotten by them more times than I want to remember...

Yeah but on that 2nd pic you can see the mirror is cut out on the edge.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Yeah but on that 2nd pic you can see the mirror is cut out on the edge.

I didn't see anyone dispute that part of the mirror on the very edge was cut out. What was disputed was that you & Matt thought there was a NACA duct cutout in the middle of the mirror(yellow triangle). You can see it's the blue & white pit lane markings if you zoom into the picture.

[Owen.C93]

That little cutout is to give a full view from the mirror. Imagine the mirror surface it inset 1cm into the mirror housing and you can imagine that the driver wont be able to see out the edge of the mirror because it is reflecting the mirror housing. Hence the cutouts.

[Ferraripilot]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

I very much agree with this. Both Lotus and Merc benefit from greater laminar flow around the sidepods without attempting to blow the diff which I believe has its own benefits.

Also, earlier in the season we heard Brawn and others mentioning that exhaust rules will probably be further tightened making any kind of diffuser blowing illegal. Further regulating exhausts I believe provides Mercedes and Lotus an advantage as they were not attempting to blow the diffuser this season thus they understand the benefits of their current positioning (meaning they may have a better solution already) which very well may the direction we see all teams having to follow come 2013.

[raymondu999]

The Lotus has no exhaust trickery and is still very good - I still don't think exhausts are the answer. Exhausts could maybe be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I think there's also a lot to gain through a more "organic" development of the car too.

True, but Red Bull seemed to find a junk of time in Valencia with their new rear floor arrangement so perhaps there is something in that exhaust setup. But I agree that Merc need to fully understand their car, tires and setup before throwing another variable of exhaust configuration into the mix.

I'm not sure I agree with that. The exhaust portion of the Red Bull wasn't changed in Valencia - it was the tunnel underneath the exhaust. Red Bull's exhaust remained pretty much unchanged for Valencia. So in effect it was also an upgrade on the more "fundamental" aerodynamics of the car.