Mercedes GP MGP W01

[JohnsonEvilTwin]

There appears to be no external updates added to the car from Barca.

Long weekend ahead for Mercedes GP I reckon

[Longley]

Mercedes has a snorkel too just behind the diagonal suspension arm.
But only for cooling benefits for the driver I think.

[dren]

There appears to be no external updates added to the car from Barca.

Long weekend ahead for Mercedes GP I reckon

There are plenty of updates, just small ones. The side pods looked a tad different too, but that may just be me. I haven't seen the car in action until this morning.

[Blackout]

Yes there is many very little updates added to the car since Barcelona...

[f1rules]

wow, it sure has been an amazing update package mercedes so far showed

[myurr]

wow, it sure has been an amazing update package mercedes so far showed

Told everyone not to expect a big update - teams always exaggerate the size of the changes, probably because whilst the changes look significant to them, outwardly the aero is still based on the same concepts and is just refined a little. It happens every year that the teams say "you'll see huge changes for the first race", and all the fans get all excited, but when they say "ta da" and present the car most of the fans struggle to see what's new.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Myurr

Yea, that may be so. But FP2 has shown Mercedes arent goint to be scrapping for 11th and 12th as some doom-mongers predicted.
We dont know what fuel they were running but, its looking okay for them wouldnt you say?
No one is giving them a prayer against Ferrari and Mclaren, so maybe 3rd or 4th is a decent target, as they have been saying all along.

[Raptor22]

there lots of small changes.

the diffusor top vent is larger
the sidepods are a subtley different shape on top and the undercut is slightly larger.

the mirrors are different
the exhause covers are different.

and its currently 1st and 3rd quickest

[myurr]

Myurr

Yea, that may be so. But FP2 has shown Mercedes arent goint to be scrapping for 11th and 12th as some doom-mongers predicted.
We dont know what fuel they were running but, its looking okay for them wouldnt you say?
No one is giving them a prayer against Ferrari and Mclaren, so maybe 3rd or 4th is a decent target, as they have been saying all along.

I don't doubt that, and never subscribed to the whole 'they're looking awful' camp. I think that they will be there or there abouts, perhaps a little behind Ferrari and McLaren but until tomorrow no one is going to be sure.

I think the podium is a realistic target for all the drivers in the expected top 4 teams, the finishing order looks like it's going to be dependent on circuit and conditions which should lead to a pretty mixed bag of results for each of the drivers.

For what it's worth I feel that the Mercedes and McLaren cars are the ones that have the most potential for development over the course of the season, with the Red Bull and Ferrari cars already being closest to the ultimate potential of the designs. So over the long haul of the season it should look good for Mercedes, but thats pure armchair speculation.

[gluon]

Myurr

Yea, that may be so. But FP2 has shown Mercedes arent goint to be scrapping for 11th and 12th as some doom-mongers predicted.
We dont know what fuel they were running but, its looking okay for them wouldnt you say?
No one is giving them a prayer against Ferrari and Mclaren, so maybe 3rd or 4th is a decent target, as they have been saying all along.

Right, the positive note of FP2 is that the MGP 01 isn't a dog at all.

After analyzing the lap times of the long stints and taking into account that both McLaren and Mercedes were on the same program (as heard on the pit radio), I'd say Mercedes is pretty much matching if not slightly faster than McLaren.

On the other hand, Ferrari and Red Bull were way ahead, ultra fast.

If McLaren are too harsh on the tyres (like reported by Lewis on the radio) and Red Bull struggles with reliability issues then it looks pretty good for Mercedes. The moving target is Ferrari though.

Having said that, we're all still guessing, let's wait till Sunday or maybe till the next race!

[dren]

Who knows how much fuel the Ferrari and Red Bull had though. Their longer stint times looked quicker, but there is no way those two cars are 1s+ quicker than the Mclaren and Mercedes cars.

[gluon]

Who knows how much fuel the Ferrari and Red Bull had though. Their longer stint times looked quicker, but there is no way those two cars are 1s+ quicker than the Mclaren and Mercedes cars.

You're right.

[ringo]

now:

before:

The plates extending rearward from the front wing struts look bigger. this is what i thought they might have done to shield under the nose and maintain a bigger lower pressure area. Though i was expecting some kind of barge board arrangement like BMW last year.



I think this is why they were able to removed the dive planes/vortex generators.

So they should have a slight front end grip improvement, i think.

(edit: I also put similar sheilds on my 3d model last week and there was an improvement! though they look more like the BMW ones)

[RacingManiac]

the camera also moved....

[gluon]

That's right, the flaps are also more elaborated. But the wing they ran today was already tested in Barcelona.

I've spotted an air intake on the left side of the tube, close to the suspension arms on the first picture above. Are they now using this instead of the traditional intake at the front of the nose cone for cockpit cooling or is this a McLaren like snorkel?