Mercedes AMG F1 W03

[Huntresa]

Its just bits and bobs from diff cars, same with RBs show car, has weird cooling outlets and stuff, just rly basic stuff so it works everywhere.

[turbof1]

If it is a showcar they are better off using a normal nose. Why in the hell do you want people to recognize your car by a plattypus nose for gods sake? And not just any nose of that type, but a very ugly one in the ughly categorie, second only to ferrari.

[Huntresa]

If it is a showcar they are better off using a normal nose. Why in the hell do you want people to recognize your car by a plattypus nose for gods sake? And not just any nose of that type, but a very ugly one in the ughly categorie, second only to ferrari.

Cause they have destroyed the old noses and only had a new one?

[turbof1]

If it is a showcar they are better off using a normal nose. Why in the hell do you want people to recognize your car by a plattypus nose for gods sake? And not just any nose of that type, but a very ugly one in the ughly categorie, second only to ferrari.

Cause they have destroyed the old noses and only had a new one?

Well in that case: the one you see there is infact also an old model, being used in the races before monaco if I am correct. I also can't believe they don't still have atleast one nose from 2011.

[Huntresa]

If it is a showcar they are better off using a normal nose. Why in the hell do you want people to recognize your car by a plattypus nose for gods sake? And not just any nose of that type, but a very ugly one in the ughly categorie, second only to ferrari.

Cause they have destroyed the old noses and only had a new one?

Well in that case: the one you see there is infact also an old model, being used in the races before monaco if I am correct. I also can't believe they don't still have atleast one nose from 2011.

Well it might just be a descision to show ppl who dont rly know much but know how the cars look this year aka platypus nose. So ppl will think its this years car or w/e. Everyone runs showcars that consists of parts from diff years of cars and even part from rly old cars.

[zyphro]

Well it might just be a descision to show ppl who dont rly know much but know how the cars look this year aka platypus nose. So ppl will think its this years car or w/e. Everyone runs showcars that consists of parts from diff years of cars and even part from rly old cars.

This is correct; it's basically an old Merc car with a few new additions to it.

[turbof1]

Well it might just be a descision to show ppl who dont rly know much but know how the cars look this year aka platypus nose. So ppl will think its this years car or w/e. Everyone runs showcars that consists of parts from diff years of cars and even part from rly old cars.

This is correct; it's basically an old Merc car with a few new additions to it.

Which I am -for all clarity- not disputing at all. They used the same mock up at the goodwill festival. What I am getting at is that if you are just going to run a show car, make it atleast esthetically pleasing. People who know just enough about F1 that this year they have those noses, also know they didn't run that before this year. From what I heard they are next year allowed to add up non structural bodywork on top of that nose so that the bump disappears, so why not do the same or just put an old nose on it (common! you really aren't going to tell me they don't have one around somewhere).

I know it is just a detail and it will not keep people away, but: To put it in Ron Dennis' words: it really bugs me out.

[Huntresa]

Well its either optional bodywork ontop or 2014 nose regs in 2013.

[Ferraripilot]

Is W03s suspension its greatest achievement as well as biggest fundamental flaw?

The Mercedes suspension system, when it works right, I believe is the class of the field. The problem is it appear to be incredibly fickle with how and where (venue wise) it wants to work. At Monaco, the Mercedes of Schumacher was untouchably quick and excellent on tires, yet in every race thereafter it was an utter mess of tire shredding and downforce reductions to prevent that. The Mercedes also IMO has the downforce to run at the sharp end of the grid, when they can run it.

So, is the answer to their issue in the suspension arrangement rather than bolting on an EBD as others have previously suggested? I just can't see how an EBD on its own is going to change much, in fact it could make matters worse with regards to rear tire heat.

[turbof1]

Is W03s suspension its greatest achievement as well as biggest fundamental flaw?

The Mercedes suspension system, when it works right, I believe is the class of the field. The problem is it appear to be incredibly fickle with how and where (venue wise) it wants to work. At Monaco, the Mercedes of Schumacher was untouchably quick and excellent on tires, yet in every race thereafter it was an utter mess of tire shredding and downforce reductions to prevent that. The Mercedes also IMO has the downforce to run at the sharp end of the grid, when they can run it.

So, is the answer to their issue in the suspension arrangement rather than bolting on an EBD as others have previously suggested? I just can't see how an EBD on its own is going to change much, in fact it could make matters worse with regards to rear tire heat.

An EBD would create rear df, which in turn would lighten the stress on the tyres. I haven't seen one team complaining about their EBD cooking the tyres this year, so it isn't that a problem.
I'm also not inclined to believe the suspension is at the root of the cause; there haven't been any analysing on that and there's nothing out of the ordinary about that. I could be wrong of course, but the extremest of the suspension this year is with Ferrari. They can't use the data from previous years so this was starting from scratch, but they did made it work quite well. Just to say, if there is anything extreme at all at the suspension, being at the front or the rear, it doesn't have to the cause of the tyre problems.
Mind you that I am not saying either EBDs will solve the problem or is the only solution. Lotus is a schoolyard example of a car that indeed is concerning qualy pace a fraction slower, but is very kind on its tyres. Now that I think of it, the team is known for innovative suspension solutions and knowhow. So you might be right, but it could also be the chassis itself.

[Ferraripilot]

So, can we say the crux of W03 is the suspension then? The car was arguably the 2nd or 1st quickest qualifying car out there. So what's it's issue? It appears to me that it has more suspension travel than any other on the grid, especially at the front end. Could this be causing excessive heating and cooling of the tires? The car is remarkably stable under heavy braking, at least in China it was, and at an exact opposite track (Monaco) it was brilliant as well. Brawn previously stated that this suspension can almost 'think' for itself as if it has ESP or something. This is terribly vexing as nothing seems to make sense on the outside.

I would love to get my hands dirty with their data as this conjecture is killing me. W03 appeared at first to be a brilliant car.

[Joie de vivre]

Why bother wondering why they performed so well at the start of the season since it is more than obvious that others improved their cars but merc remains the same from start till now. They had zero progress, only some internal "improvements". Hell, they even removed cascades on FW to even a balance a of the car since obviously they suffer from lack of downforce at the rear.

They need to step the game up!

[marcush.]

it´s like always when you think you have to compromise....you gove up on strengths to gain in your weak areas.It seems the imbalance was big enough to warrant removal of the front cascades. But then ...it did not bring ultimate tyre life as a reward ...the car still eats its tyres quicker than anyone elses car.
the fun bit is they seem to have made no gain at all with that Aero balance shift..They completely lost their qualy strength and have not gained on the tyre life front either...Somebody inb the team must believe it was the way to go otherwise they would have pursued other development directions..
I fail to see the worth of their evolutions ,but there you go.

[Vasconia]

By the way, has anyone seen any image of the car in SPA???

[zyphro]

By the way, has anyone seen any image of the car in SPA???

I've just took a look at Sutton-images, nothing on Merc yet.