Mercedes W11

[LM10]

Quite amazing they're still 100% pushing for developments even though they probably can stop developing until next season and still easily be on top for the beginning of 2021 at least.

[Moore77]

Revised bargeboards on the W11 for Spa.

These are usually a pretty potent upgrade. An area of the car ripe for development:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgfWe5PU8AA ... ame=medium

via @NicolasF1i

Last time Merc overhauled the bargeboards in Barcelona '19 on the W10, they gained about 0.3s worth of performance: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/repo ... rix-report

Somehow, the old one looks more developed than the new one! Anyone else thinks so?
I also feel, the surface area on the floor housing those horse heads has increased.

[zibby43]

Another comparison:

[Just_a_fan]

Quite amazing they're still 100% pushing for developments even though they probably can stop developing until next season and still easily be on top for the beginning of 2021 at least.

That's one of the reasons that they've stayed the team to beat for the last 6 years. They don't take their foot off the gas.

[Just_a_fan]

Revised bargeboards on the W11 for Spa.

These are usually a pretty potent upgrade. An area of the car ripe for development:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgfWe5PU8AA ... ame=medium

via @NicolasF1i

Last time Merc overhauled the bargeboards in Barcelona '19 on the W10, they gained about 0.3s worth of performance: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/repo ... rix-report

Somehow, the old one looks more developed than the new one! Anyone else thinks so?
I also feel, the surface area on the floor housing those horse heads has increased.

Could be a design that has a bit less associated drag - Spa has two long flat out sections where top speed is important. Maybe they're trimming a bit of downforce production to give better top speed.

I think the floor area is an illusion created by slightly different angles from which the photos are taken. If you look at the top right, you can see that the sidepod entry is different in each shot, showing that one was taken from further forward than the other.

[Sieper]

Might it also be, that as this track does put some energy in the tires, that they do indeed try to shed a bit of downforce to indeed decrease drag, but also lessen the chance of blistering like per Silverstone 2? Same compound here and similar pressures I think. Then again, Silverstone does put more energy in the tires, with less chance to cool down imho.

I had always thought the more downforce, the more planted and the less friction From sliding so less heat and thus less chance of blisters but Silverstone 2 seemed to show differently?

[Just_a_fan]

Sky showing newly re-shaped turning vanes on the top of the tub of the W11. Has anyone seen any of pictures of them?

[balalev]

In addition to the bargeboards and the three vertical deflectors on the floor, Mercedes has modified the shape of the fin inside the sidepod vane (yellow arrows)



And new winglets on the nose of the W11, as well. Quite an extensive package from MercedesAMGF1 in Spa.

[atanatizante]

Sky showing newly re-shaped turning vanes on the top of the tub of the W11. Has anyone seen any of pictures of them?

sorry for the low picture quality

barge boards horns area seems also modified ...

[atanatizante]

Mercedes have added 3 vertical deflectors in front of the rear wheel
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgcpfAYWkAQ ... ame=medium

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... tail-1.jpg

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... deta-1.jpg

Via Matthew Somerfield, in relation to these photos:

“Also note what appears to be bulkier sidepod bodywork and a larger cooling outlet at the rear of the car.”

It would be useful to see some head to head pictures with rear-wheel rims between Silverstone, Barca and here Spa as I heard they increased the heat sink area ...

[HungarianRacer]

The secondary air inlet's shape has also been altered:

[godlameroso]

quote=godlameroso post_id=914656 time=1596306040 user_id=9250]
It occurred to me, last year Red Bull had an upright guide vane at the edge of the bargeboard, which combined with the bargeboard created a sort of tunnel. Mercedes, and now McLaren have tried exploiting this area, this year Red Bull instead have gone with a different arrangement, using the two little horizontal winglets to channel air instead of an upright. I suppose that the channel is difficult to achieve with the rest of side pod end fences.

https://files.catbox.moe/117onz.jpg

https://files.catbox.moe/dsr9hk.jpg

Last year this vertical end fence was at the edge and tip of the bargeboards, and used the trailing slope of the bargeboard to create a sort of tunnel.

If this area has been deemed to work better with those little wings instead of the vane tunnel, who am I to judge. However that area has changed and not sure it changed for the better.
[/quote]


You're welcome.

[zibby43]

[zibby43]

While looking at this RW comparison from Gary Anderson/The Race, I noticed that the bodywork at the rear of the sidepods (new specification on the right) is more open compared to previous weeks.

Really stands out in this comparison shot. Interesting that we see the bodywork opened up despite the much cooler temperatures. Anticipating running the engine harder in the race going forward?

This is something Matthew Somerfield picked up on, and I agree with his assessment.

[bosyber]

While looking at this RW comparison from Gary Anderson/The Race, I noticed that the bodywork at the rear of the sidepods is more open compared to previous weeks.

This is something Matthew Somerfield picked up on, and I agree with his assessment.

https://cdn.the-race.com/wp-content/upl ... erc-RW.jpg

Yep, sure looks like it. Maybe the new PU and the large amount of on-throttle here (and at Monza) asked for more cooling from the engine?