Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+

[turbof1]

If Ferrari protests and the stewards decide unfavorable for Mercedes, things will definitely go to the court of appeal, just like with HAAS (the issue with HAAS is much more black 'n white though). That will take atleast 2 months. I can very well understand Mercedes is not fancying that, although the stewards more likely would give a favorable decision for Mercedes I think.

Are Ferrari and Vettel willing to win it this way by taking away points of your rivals through court at the end of the season?

This is going way off topic because we are now debating team tactics instead of car parts. Honestly, I think it's more distrust and paranoia that is the case here. We don't know if Ferrari would actually have lodged protest. We should avoid a (off topic) discussion based on suspicion.

So again, the discussion is only relevant to the legality of those holes. Anything should be in function of said legality, not in function of morality, ethics are tactics. Let's stay on topic please.

EDIT: I think for next race the issue can be cleared up a bit easier. Mercedes can ask the stewards to inspect the wheel rims they brought before qualifying happens. If they deem it legal, I think there is little if any risk of an unfavorable ruling after the race.

[CriXus]

[Just_a_fan]

So they reverted to an earlier design rather than filling holes with gunk. That makes sense, at least.

[zac510]

Those holes on the left are the holes? They are tiny!

[BwajSF]

If Ferrari protests and the stewards decide unfavorable for Mercedes, things will definitely go to the court of appeal, just like with HAAS (the issue with HAAS is much more black 'n white though). That will take atleast 2 months. I can very well understand Mercedes is not fancying that, although the stewards more likely would give a favorable decision for Mercedes I think.

If you want to advocate on winning the Championship on the table/court and not on the track, then be my guest, but F1 would lose a lot of fans if that happens.

Are Ferrari and Vettel willing to win it this way by taking away points of your rivals through court at the end of the season?

Its not about winning the championship.. its about the championship winning car must be legal... thats all...

[dans79]

If Ferrari protests and the stewards decide unfavorable for Mercedes, things will definitely go to the court of appeal, just like with HAAS (the issue with HAAS is much more black 'n white though). That will take atleast 2 months. I can very well understand Mercedes is not fancying that, although the stewards more likely would give a favorable decision for Mercedes I think.

If you want to advocate on winning the Championship on the table/court and not on the track, then be my guest, but F1 would lose a lot of fans if that happens.

Are Ferrari and Vettel willing to win it this way by taking away points of your rivals through court at the end of the season?

Its not about winning the championship.. its about the championship winning car must be legal... thats all...

Sure it is......

[GPR-A]

Does the F1 technical delegates and FIA Stewards use different rule books? OR Is there a scope for technical delegate and Stewards to interpret the rules differently? If a team protesting goes to the court, who would validate the legality of the implementation? To protect the intellectual rights of inner workings of a design, the team protesting would be kept away from the investigations and most likely to be provided with the final hearing. The investigation authority would still be FIA! Or is my understanding wrong? If FIA technical delegates think the design is legal, how would international appeals court challenge FIA?

[gandharva]

So they reverted to an earlier design rather than filling holes with gunk. That makes sense, at least.

Look at the red arrow on the right side of the picture. If this isn't "gunk", what else? This is definitley a rushed solution to close the inside holes that are marked with red arrows on the left side of the picture. The rim on the left side was clearly designed to cool down temps in the tires. If the inner holes are tunneled towards the outside of the rim, this could easily be confirmed/protested as moving aerodynamic device, just like the RBR solution.

[Just_a_fan]

I've got an old F1 wheel in my garage that has wear markings that look just like that, although I do agree that it looks like a strange line of weld or something.

Presumably the dark region with small holes in it at the mating face with the hub is designed to limit heat transfer from hub to wheel. I wonder if they'll just design a wheel/hub spacer that limits thermal transfer to give the same reduced heating of the tyres. Lots of ways to achieve the end result.

[dans79]

Yea I'm going to call this fake news, a hoax, BS etc etc. The image is from this article.
http://f1i.auto-moto.com/magazine/magaz ... ricaine/7/


However in this other article (from the same site), the rims that are claimed to be a Mercedes "fix" are called RedBull rims. Not to mention you can tell they are different from the Mercedes ones pictured in the article, because both the new and old Mercedes rims have 11 spokes, while the RBR one only have 10.
http://f1i.auto-moto.com/magazine/magaz ... gique-3/3/

[hardingfv32]

As stated before, those are small holes. Could this be about controlling the temperature at the locknut interface?

Brian

[siskue2005]

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/24316/fi ... teams.html

The article saying Merc did change it, but it was their own choice not from FIA
and the FIA are still OK with it and completely legal

[dans79]

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/24316/fi ... teams.html

The article saying Merc did change it, but it was their own choice not from FIA
and the FIA are still OK with it and completely legal

This is interesting.

“A lot of people blow through the spokes anyway, so it’s not something that is totally new, but people tend to blow further outboard,” Renault CTO Nick Chester added.

[gandharva]

This is interesting.

“A lot of people blow through the spokes anyway, so it’s not something that is totally new, but people tend to blow further outboard,” Renault CTO Nick Chester added.

OT, but imho that's not interesting at all, as this season is done since weeks now. Merc is not going to be dsq suddenly... Imho relevant part is that one:

I think there will be a few interesting interpretations for next year. It is even more important with the 2019 rules because you are struggling to get the front wing to outwash the air as much as you would like.

So if you can do more in the wheel it becomes even more important.

[dans79]

OT, but imho that's not interesting at all, as this season is done since weeks now. Merc is not going to be dsq suddenly... Imho relevant part is that one:

I think there will be a few interesting interpretations for next year. It is even more important with the 2019 rules because you are struggling to get the front wing to outwash the air as much as you would like.

So if you can do more in the wheel it becomes even more important.

Mercedes isn't doing it to the front wheels, they are only doing it on the rear, so outwash has almost no benefit, it might even be detrimental.