Mercedes F1 W05 Pre-launch Speculation

[NewtonMeter]

As seriously as it gets. I expect the best and nothing less from Mercedes on every level. It is a huge brand with a historic name that no-one should take lightly. Cars like the W01-W02 are unacceptable. Non-existant attention to detail is unacceptable, unless you have forgoten they hideous craftsmanship, the holes they had to open, the brown surface near the exhaust etc. And lets not forget the tire degradation problems, possibly the worst in the field.

If it's fast and (mostly) legal it can turn any colour it wants. I'd much rather have a mostly brown mercedes in the lead than an impeccalby silver one in 13th. I'm sure the shareholders would agree.

Let them apply their resources on making the car fast, not keeping it pretty.

[diego1960]

I can only be satisfied with a silver impeccable Mercedes in the lead, anything else is a failure of some certain degree for me, so we agree to disagree.

BTW, I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable by the reports about the Ferrari engine, although earlier ones said that the Mercedes unit was the most competitive. I know it's pure speculation but one has to wonder, is Mercedes going to field an engine at least equal to the competition, or is it going to be below par?

[FoxHound]

All the engines will have ball park performance.
And if they don't, they will be allowed to catch up as they where in the V8 era of the engine freeze.
The first few months will have differences, but these will gradually plateau imo.
And as much as it pains me to say it, a silver mercedes has no divine right to lead any more than a red Ferrari.

[Anon123]

I can only be satisfied with a silver impeccable Mercedes in the lead, anything else is a failure of some certain degree for me, so we agree to disagree.

BTW, I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable by the reports about the Ferrari engine, although earlier ones said that the Mercedes unit was the most competitive. I know it's pure speculation but one has to wonder, is Mercedes going to field an engine at least equal to the competition, or is it going to be below par?

It's all speculation and even if we did know that a certain car is going to have more power than another, how do we know that it is going to be reliable? and what if that car has a reliability issue that takes months to cure? I'm not worried about the Mercedes car being uncompetitive after seeing how the W03 developed into the W04, imagine what they can do with an even stronger team and a clean slate.

[tuj]

All the engines will have ball park performance.

I agree with this in terms of the ICE performance, yes they will all be about equal. But when you factor in the ERS, I highly doubt it will be a level playing field. Remember when KERS first came about and Mclaren had the strongest unit by far. Red Bull AFAIK, never got their KERS to the same levels as the other teams; they didn't need to. But with the new engine formula, I think the importance of ERS as a % of performance will be quite high.

[FoxHound]

With more power and for a longer period of time to use I agree ERS will be a factor.
But, there are still limitations. Only a maximum amount of power for a set period of time is allowed.
Therefore the only differentiation in relation to performance will be recuperation (which will all be similar), mass of the system and the integration of this sytem into the car.

Those final 2 points are where we will see teams getting one over the other.
In relation to the W05, I'm not overly optimistic of mercedes packaging.
This could be an achilles heel of the car especially when you consider the historical issues the team have had in this area.

[Cocles]

This could be an achilles heel of the car especially when you consider the historical issues the team have had in this area.

Agreed, although keep in mind that the W01 through W04 were carrying an engine that had been originally designed for McLaren. We might see much more advanced packaging from Brackley now that Brixworth is able to design an engine for them from scratch.

[McG]

But it shouldn't turn brown, it is something that has occured many times before and from now on it should fixed before launch. I expect them to have simulated the temperatures and figured out whether they need more black material or not. You are Mercedes for God's sake! These things are unacceptable.

PS: From this year on though, I doubt if we will see this black material used, unless it is for a small part as the exhaust exits in a different place.

Wow seriously! Please tell me this guy is not representative of what Mercedes fans feel.

The only team that I can think of that might care about some discoloured part of their car would be McLaren, but only if Ron noticed it. For example he was unhappy about dumping a standard wet rag on the hot part of car that the exhaust was under, so had new nicer towel type things made for the purpose.

In my opinion the discoloured exhaust exits look cool, like the car has been pushed to the edge of design. I'm sure if it had to go 10 more laps it probably would catch fire.

[FoxHound]

This could be an achilles heel of the car especially when you consider the historical issues the team have had in this area.

Agreed, although keep in mind that the W01 through W04 were carrying an engine that had been originally designed for McLaren. We might see much more advanced packaging from Brackley now that Brixworth is able to design an engine for them from scratch.

I think engine integration was not the problem. The issue was cooling due to stringent demands placed on the engine guys from the design lads.
If it was simply integration the W01would have had more than enough time as it was designed with the F1-08 engine from concept.

My apprehension is somewhat balanced by the promise of the W04 and the changes mercedes have made these last 2 years.

[shuberty]

[diego.liv]

http://i57.fastpic.ru/big/2014/0109/74/ ... cc0874.jpg

Hmm?

[SaveMeHollywood]

SectorOne, you're my hero. And while we're at it, might as well nip this one in the bud too, since we see it every year:

Should some of the silver paint around the exhaust turn brown, it is not a "major cooling problem".

While we're on the subject of Old Quotes taken on the Mercedes Team, how's this one from one-time poster "AlfredNeubauer"?

"The only way Mercedes can improve in the fastest way possible is to find a way to skirt the F1 Testing Ban."

Source: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... 42686&f=12

Was he right or what?!!?

[NewtonMeter]

All the engines will have ball park performance.
And if they don't, they will be allowed to catch up as they where in the V8 era of the engine freeze.
The first few months will have differences, but these will gradually plateau imo.
And as much as it pains me to say it, a silver mercedes has no divine right to lead any more than a red Ferrari.

It does. I believe that.

Re: Engines
No one knows who will have the best powretrain (I include IC and ERS). It's a difficult definition to pin down anyway and includes fuel consumption, power, power delivery, heat rejection, packaging, etc. With so many variables, if someone says Mercedes/Ferrari/Renault/Honda has the best engine - I'm not even sure they know exactly what they're referring to. Therefore, with so many variables, it's utterly pointless to take any rumours seriously.

But there's lot of seriously competent people at MHPP, so I'm sure they'll do an excellent job nevertheless. Even if it isn't the outright {insert characteristic here}.

Exciting times, chaps. Exciting times...

[diego1960]

I am more worried about packaging, cooling and reliability to be honest than speed or power delivery. If I could choose, I would want the Mercedes engine to be the one that is packaged better and is more reliable with maybe a good fuel consumption. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the packaging the most difficult thing to change if you figure out you have a disadvantage?

As for the pic posted above, I can only see what seems to appear like bulky sidepods.

[Cocles]

Wow seriously! Please tell me this guy is not representative of what Mercedes fans feel.

I bleed silver and made the post he's referring to, so no need to worry.

<Insert joke about me bleeding "browned silver" when I have a high-grade fever.>