Mercedes AMG F1 W03

[clipsy1H]

I heard today from a commenter something about FW-Duct. that guy said " Mercedes didn't use F-duct at Melbourne" and its source is Ross.

[bhall]

I believe that. Rather than the aperture on the nose, I think their f-duct is fed by the scoop on top of the chassis, which is new this weekend.

[banibhusan]

James Allen said it gives an advantage in qualifying of around 3 to 4 tenths. That is quite large.

If that is true then the W03 must be serious rubbish without such a system. It would imply that the rest of the car is just as bad as it was last year. Is that even possible?

Brian

The advantage of the system is probably smaller on different tracks. James Allen said the Mercedes looks good at Malaysia. The car looks to be third best, and not too far off from the front. This is much better than last year. The best finish last year was a 4th place in the rain.

Moreover last year they were well over 2sec off the pace of the RBR. This year they are 1sec off it seems on an average in terms of race pace (considering Melbourne only), which is much better. At least they can be the third best team on the grid.

[bhall]

Am I on everybody's ignore or the picture I posted is not visible to the rest?
It's clear as sunny day that the bulk is the attachment point of the front arm of the upper wishbone to the chassis.

The suspension is attached to the chassis as normal. It's much more evident in the full photo.

[Ferraripilot]

Pushrod extension inserts here. Are they simply adding more preload to the system with this? Front end a bit too soft?

[hardingfv32]

I believe that. Rather than the aperture on the nose, I think their f-duct is fed by the scoop on top of the chassis, which is new this weekend.

So now we have the system being fed by a duct above the drivers feet or pedal assembly. This duct has to make a 180 deg turn.

1) You loss 40% of your velocity with that turn.

2) Where do you find space for the 180 degree duct when the pedal assembly/drivers feet occupy that space.

3) Why expect good air flow on the back side of the 45 deg nose ramp. If they really wanted to capture good flow they would have extended the duct forward to the edge of the 45 deg ramp.

The design and placement of these ducts does not represent sound engineering practice IF you are trying to route flow to the FW. This is not sound speculation.

Brian

[Dragonfly]

The suspension is attached to the chassis as normal. It's much more evident in the full photo.

No, it is not.
There isn't another car with such deep cut in the side wall of the nosecone.
Didn't you see this picture?

I've drawn the red line exactly on the seam line and enlightened the cone and FW to be more clear what it is all about.

[hardingfv32]

[quote="Ferraripilot"]Pushrod extension inserts here. Are they simply adding more preload to the system with this? Front end a bit too soft?


I do not understand the preload statement nor the implication of an incorrect spring/wheel rate. This is a simple ride height adjustment that has no bearing on the spring/wheel rates.

Brian

[dren]

I heard today from a commenter something about FW-Duct. that guy said " Mercedes didn't use F-duct at Melbourne" and its source is Ross.

Where did that come from?

[siskue2005]

The suspension is attached to the chassis as normal. It's much more evident in the full photo.

No, it is not.
There isn't another car with such deep cut in the side wall of the nosecone.
Didn't you see this picture?

I've drawn the red line exactly on the seam line and enlightened the cone and FW to be more clear what it is all about.

sorry i still dont get what you are talking about

[hardingfv32]

I heard today from a commenter something about FW-Duct. that guy said " Mercedes didn't use F-duct at Melbourne" and its source is Ross.

Clearly then the W03 will jump to the front of the time sheets this weekend now that they have use of the FD systems.... or will they.

Brian

[dren]

The suspension is attached to the chassis as normal. It's much more evident in the full photo.

No, it is not.
There isn't another car with such deep cut in the side wall of the nosecone.
Didn't you see this picture?

I've drawn the red line exactly on the seam line and enlightened the cone and FW to be more clear what it is all about.

That's the steering arm that is towards the front, not part of the A-arm.

[Dragonfly]

That's the steering arm that is towards the front, not part of the A-arm.

You're right. I've mistakenly swapped their places.
But it does not change the fact that the bulge seen on the other photo with nose taken off is most probably the support for the steering rack which seems to be mounted at some distance in front of the vertical wall and the master cylinders of the brakes.
What I want to say is in my view there are no pipes or channels in the carbon fiber structure.
And the bright piece in front seems to fit into the curved upper wall of the nose cone. I mean it is not removed when the nose is attached.

[tikavi]

Pushrod extension inserts here. Are they simply adding more preload to the system with this? Front end a bit too soft?

No, longer rod=higher car, nothing to do with stifness.

[bhall]

But it does not change the fact that the bulge seen on the other photo with nose taken off is most probably the support for the steering rack which seems to be mounted at some distance in front of the vertical wall and the master cylinders of the brakes.
What I want to say is in my view there are no pipes or channels in the carbon fiber structure.
And the bright piece in front seems to fit into the curved upper wall of the nose cone. I mean it is not removed when the nose is attached.

(Click to enlarge)

The carbon fiber piece I've denoted with a red dot does one thing and one thing only: it couples the ductwork from the car to the nose. That's it. Nothing else is connected to it.

If it wasn't in the way, you'd see that everything else, save for the ductwork, is standard F1 equipment.