Mercedes problem!
Discussion
You fix the bouncing problem by raising the ride height
You raise the ride height and you lose downforce (bigger gap to the tarmac, downforce bleeds out of the sides instead of energising the underfloor and the rear diffuser)
They can bring a B-spec car (like Aston are rumoured to) but they probably don't even know the full extent of their problems yet. They have only tested the car on a few circuits.
A set-up change may bring some laptime back to them and they may only discover that "fix" by stumbling on a configuration on a certain track.
You raise the ride height and you lose downforce (bigger gap to the tarmac, downforce bleeds out of the sides instead of energising the underfloor and the rear diffuser)
They can bring a B-spec car (like Aston are rumoured to) but they probably don't even know the full extent of their problems yet. They have only tested the car on a few circuits.
A set-up change may bring some laptime back to them and they may only discover that "fix" by stumbling on a configuration on a certain track.
deadslow said:
is it possible that the foundation laid by Ross Brawn up to 2013 flattered the present management, with a dominant car through those hybrid regs, but that they may have been found wanting in developing a new car under the new regs, under their own steam?
I think it's clear Merc had by far the best PU diring the hybrid era (maybe except 2019...) which maybe masked some samll car issues. They really don't have that luxury now.deadslow said:
is it possible that the foundation laid by Ross Brawn up to 2013 flattered the present management, with a dominant car through those hybrid regs, but that they may have been found wanting in developing a new car under the new regs, under their own steam?
Did you see how the other Merc powered cars performed while they were racking up championships?Mercs aero and chassis R&D is clearly exceptional even if not quite as good as Redbull's insanely consistent package, you can't go toe to toe with Ferrari and Redbull for a decade with one-third of a package.
Edited by The Vambo on Wednesday 30th March 14:19
The Vambo said:
deadslow said:
is it possible that the foundation laid by Ross Brawn up to 2013 flattered the present management, with a dominant car through those hybrid regs, but that they may have been found wanting in developing a new car under the new regs, under their own steam?
Did you see how the other Merc powered cars performed while they were racking up championships?Mercs aero and chassis R&D is clearly exceptional even if not quite as good Redbull's insanely consistently package, you can't go toe to toe with Ferrari and Redbull for a decade with one-third of a package.
It’s going to be quite fascinating to watch how a team, with clearly a lot of expertise and resources right up to the budget cap, manages to iterate the car quickly in response to a known issue.
They’ll definitely be hoping to avoid any accident damage that runs up a big repair bill in the meantime.
They’ll definitely be hoping to avoid any accident damage that runs up a big repair bill in the meantime.
deadslow said:
The Vambo said:
deadslow said:
is it possible that the foundation laid by Ross Brawn up to 2013 flattered the present management, with a dominant car through those hybrid regs, but that they may have been found wanting in developing a new car under the new regs, under their own steam?
Did you see how the other Merc powered cars performed while they were racking up championships?Mercs aero and chassis R&D is clearly exceptional even if not quite as good Redbull's insanely consistently package, you can't go toe to toe with Ferrari and Redbull for a decade with one-third of a package.
Muzzer79 said:
deadslow said:
The Vambo said:
deadslow said:
is it possible that the foundation laid by Ross Brawn up to 2013 flattered the present management, with a dominant car through those hybrid regs, but that they may have been found wanting in developing a new car under the new regs, under their own steam?
Did you see how the other Merc powered cars performed while they were racking up championships?Mercs aero and chassis R&D is clearly exceptional even if not quite as good Redbull's insanely consistently package, you can't go toe to toe with Ferrari and Redbull for a decade with one-third of a package.
This is not the first Mercedes Struggle. The wide-track 2017 car was the first time Mercedes described their car as a ‘Diva’, and it’s a term which they have repeated every season since. Hamilton described the 2021 car as a ‘monster diva’.
I think if Mercedes are guilty of anything, it is repeatedly coming up with a philosophy which has a very high ceiling in terms of performance but which takes a lot of graft to correlate and understand, and maybe has a rather narrow setup window. Until 2021 there was really nobody there to punish them for this in the V6T era- They had a long period of massive PU superiority, then Ferrari were slapped down, while Red Bull built some difficult cars of their own and had a constant revolving door of drivers.
I have no factual basis for this speculation but I would not be at all surprised if the Ferrari / Haas fat sidepod design proves to be a solid and easy to operate solution but one which doesn’t have a huge amount of development headroom. The competitive picture could be very different at the front by the end of this season.
I think if Mercedes are guilty of anything, it is repeatedly coming up with a philosophy which has a very high ceiling in terms of performance but which takes a lot of graft to correlate and understand, and maybe has a rather narrow setup window. Until 2021 there was really nobody there to punish them for this in the V6T era- They had a long period of massive PU superiority, then Ferrari were slapped down, while Red Bull built some difficult cars of their own and had a constant revolving door of drivers.
I have no factual basis for this speculation but I would not be at all surprised if the Ferrari / Haas fat sidepod design proves to be a solid and easy to operate solution but one which doesn’t have a huge amount of development headroom. The competitive picture could be very different at the front by the end of this season.
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