Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[Shrieker]

Make no mistake gentleman, this car is effectively 1 full year behind the top teams' cars. The last time Red Bull and McLaren were doing basic exhaust layout comparisons was this time last year. The only way they might compete in the top 4 this season will be the tyres. And if they stabilize after a certain point in the season - like they did last year- Mercedes should not expect more than 5th in the WCC.

[NathanOlder]

Does the fact that Hamilton is approaching the corner affect the rake, I'm not sure how much f1 cars dive under braking?

I dont think it will be heavy braking at this point of the track, looks like between the 2 turns that make up the chicane at the end of the lap. The braking is done for the first part, its almost a roll through (no braking) for the second part.

[LilDEF1]

Does the fact that Hamilton is approaching the corner affect the rake, I'm not sure how much f1 cars dive under braking?

If it was a fast corner maybe, but looking at the back he seems like he is approaching the second part of a S corner. So he must be relatively slow for the car to dive forward.. Also by just looking at the car it just looks set up that way...

[LilDEF1]

Does the fact that Hamilton is approaching the corner affect the rake, I'm not sure how much f1 cars dive under braking?

I dont think it will be heavy braking at this point of the track, looks like between the 2 turns that make up the chicane at the end of the lap. The braking is done for the first part, its almost a roll through (no braking) for the second part.

Read my mind there...

[Shakeman]

Any idea what exhaust config Ham used when setting his fastest time?

I wonder if there maybe a performance increase with the non-coanda exhaust over the course of a tyre stint by virtue of it cooking the tyres less? With the deg rates so high this could be a consideration.

[Nando]

Does the fact that Hamilton is approaching the corner affect the rake, I'm not sure how much f1 cars dive under braking?

He´s turning so the right side is completely unloaded. Quite an abrupt change of direction as well.

[LilDEF1]

Any idea what exhaust config Ham used when setting his fastest time?

I wonder if there maybe a performance increase with the non-coanda exhaust over the course of a tyre stint by virtue of it cooking the tyres less? With the deg rates so high this could be a consideration.

They tested the non-coanda exhaust on the very first laps hamilton did from 3 to 9 if I remember well.. But the rest of the day was run on the new exhaust. I think they ran it just to verify that the new exhaust delivers or correlates as predicted.

[Anon123]

Make no mistake gentleman, this car is effectively 1 full year behind the top teams' cars. The last time Red Bull and McLaren were doing basic exhaust layout comparisons was this time last year. The only way they might compete in the top 4 this season will be the tyres. And if they stabilize after a certain point in the season - like they did last year- Mercedes should not expect more than 5th in the WCC.

I believe Toto said he would be very happy with 4th this season, lets just wait and see because trying different exhaust layouts doesn't necessarily mean it's over already. I'm going to make a bold prediction and say at least one of the Mercs will be within half a second of pole at Melbourne. [-o<

[Nando]

I think a random win or wins might be possible but no championship contender.

[Ferraripilot]

Any idea what exhaust config Ham used when setting his fastest time?

I wonder if there maybe a performance increase with the non-coanda exhaust over the course of a tyre stint by virtue of it cooking the tyres less? With the deg rates so high this could be a consideration.

They tested the non-coanda exhaust on the very first laps hamilton did from 3 to 9 if I remember well.. But the rest of the day was run on the new exhaust. I think they ran it just to verify that the new exhaust delivers or correlates as predicted.

Correct. It was barely run this morning.

[ringo]

Make no mistake gentleman, this car is effectively 1 full year behind the top teams' cars. The last time Red Bull and McLaren were doing basic exhaust layout comparisons was this time last year. The only way they might compete in the top 4 this season will be the tyres. And if they stabilize after a certain point in the season - like they did last year- Mercedes should not expect more than 5th in the WCC.

Well lotus was still highly competitive without the exhausts last year.
It possible the rest of the car may be really good that their exhaust doesn't have to be as effective as that of the top teams.
At this stage i think their car is basic enough and straight forward enough for them to have a really good first third of the season.
Mclaren on the other hand are obviously good but their car is not what you would call standard by any means. It may take them a while to get it in the sweet spot.

[Ferraripilot]

I think a random win or wins might be possible but no championship contender.

I agree with you. Top 4 is acceptable but I believe top 3 is possible.


By the look of the car thus far, it remains quite vanilla compared to the Ferrari and Mclaren who both employ seemingly every trick and vortex generator and bi-level gurney tab known to F1 already. This tells me that they are starting the season possibly very near their development ceiling whilst AMGW04 is beginning with a good amount of room to develop. A good question to wonder might be, if each of these cars were stripped to a very basic layout, which would fundamentally be the most capable?

[Hobbs04]

[quote="Forza"]http://img4.auto-motor-und-sport.de/Lew ... 662556.jpg

Why are we not talking about this exhaust?

It looks like prior to exhaust outlet there is a tunnel or am I seeing things?

[raymondu999]

A good question to wonder might be, if each of these cars were stripped to a very basic layout, which would fundamentally be the most capable?

I disagree. I'd say a better question would be - which car has more potential, when fully developed? Case in point - the 2011 Renault FEE, versus the 2011 RBR EBD. James Allison said that as a base, the FEE was a quicker package than the EBD, which decided their FEE route for them - but it had very little development potential. Having a faster "base package" doesn't mean you'd have a faster "full options" package.

[Coefficient]

http://img4.auto-motor-und-sport.de/Lew ... 662556.jpg

Why are we not talking about this exhaust?

It looks like prior to exhaust outlet there is a tunnel or am I seeing things?

Because this is not a genuine exhaust solution. This configuration merely features an additional panel over the Coanda Ramp to enable the team to fit the pre Coanda exhaust for back to back comparisons.