FORUMula1.com

[stonemonkey]

Mercedes split turbo design was 'bloody hard' to get right

...Mercedes started work on its turbo hybrid three years before it was introduced...

I wonder... are those the same three years when Schumi was there?

What on earth would it have to do with Schumacher?

[sagi58]

What on earth would it have to do with Schumacher?

Mine was a rhetorical question as it would seem those three years that Mercedes were developing their engine are the same three years that Schumi was working for them... testing... giving feedback... etc... etc... etc...

[darwin dali]

What on earth would it have to do with Schumacher?

Mine was a rhetorical question as it would seem those three years that Mercedes were developing their engine are the same three years that Schumi was working for them... testing... giving feedback... etc... etc... etc...

Problem is, he couldn't have given feedback as there was no testing the engine other than on the dyno.

[sagi58]

Just wanted to verify information and it was in 2014 that the turbo engine was used in F1.
Schumi left Mercedes in 2012.

That doesn't mean he didn't have input into the development of the engine.

[sagi58]

What on earth would it have to do with Schumacher?

Mine was a rhetorical question as it would seem those three years that Mercedes were developing their engine are the same three years that Schumi was working for them... testing... giving feedback... etc... etc... etc...

Problem is, he couldn't have given feedback as there was no testing the engine other than on the dyno.

There wasn't any in-season testing; but, that turbo engine would have been developed and tested in the lab in the time leading up to 2014, right?

[stonemonkey]

What on earth would it have to do with Schumacher?

Mine was a rhetorical question as it would seem those three years that Mercedes were developing their engine are the same three years that Schumi was working for them... testing... giving feedback... etc... etc... etc...

Problem is, he couldn't have given feedback as there was no testing the engine other than on the dyno.

There wasn't any in-season testing; but, that turbo engine would have been developed and tested in the lab in the time leading up to 2014, right?

I doubt he would have been aware of anything that was going on in the PU development at that time.

[sagi58]

...I doubt he would have been aware of anything that was going on in the PU development at that time.

You may have a point; but, considering his expertise, considering his knowledge,
considering who he is, he may very well have been consulted more than we know
and probably more than Mercedes will ever admit.

Schumacher: Mercedes form due to good base

[gdh]

Only a few more days to go until winter testing. Looking fwd to seeing the upgrades that Merc are bringing to this yrs battles.

[stonemonkey]

...I doubt he would have been aware of anything that was going on in the PU development at that time.

You may have a point; but, considering his expertise, considering his knowledge,
considering who he is, he may very well have been consulted more than we know
and probably more than Mercedes will ever admit.

Schumacher: Mercedes form due to good base

I have no idea what sort of input he could've given or what sort of expertise and knowledge you think he had, the engineers working on it went to other road going engine development departments for input from engineers with experience of designing turbo engines.

[sagi58]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!!

[sagi58]

Formula 1: A closer look at the drivers' cars for the 2016 season

Formula 1 constructors have revealed the designs of their new cars for the 2016 campaign.

But what should we be looking out for ahead of pre-season testing? BBC Sport highlights a selection of key features...

...Mercedes



Mercedes say that even though the car looks the same as last season's on the outside, it has a number of "mini revolutions" inside.

Expert view from Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe: "While the car may look very similar to its predecessor from the outside, underneath there are quite a lot of mini-revolutions that make up an overall evolution for the new season."



...

[sagi58]

The biggest issue facing each F1 team in 2016

Mercedes

Driver disharmony

Team boss Toto Wolff issued a stark warning for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the end of 2015 -- play nice, or one of you is out. Though it lacked the intensity of their 2014 title fight, in 2015 Hamilton and Rosberg had publicised rows on several occasions (notably China and the U.S.) and exchanged veiled (and some not-so-veiled) criticisms of each other in the final few races of the year. Wolff recently suggested "unleashing" both drivers by giving them free reign over strategy might be best for the team and F1, but with Ferrari likely to be even closer this year that does not seem to be a sensible or likely option for a team hoping to win both championships for a third consecutive year. Rosberg's strong finish to the 2015 season adds to the intriguing narrative going into the new campaign, though a reset championship fight and a new Mercedes car should level the playing field again. Either way, the likelihood of a Ferrari challenge this year means driver harmony (or the lack of) could be giving Wolff a headache for much of 2016. Mercedes' policy of giving the lead driver the optimum strategy looks likely to continue. With two men more determined than ever to beat the other to a world championship, there might be a diplomatic incident waiting to happen.

[sagi58]

Nico Rosberg warns Merc rivals: 'We haven't shown our cards yet'

Nico Rosberg has warned Mercedes' rivals that the world champions "are still holding back" after two days of winter testing.

Rosberg completed a mammoth 172 laps on Tuesday, taking Mercedes' tally over two days to 328. He finished fourth in the standings on a medium tyre lap, behind Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo's super-soft times and a lap from Sergio Perez on super-softs.

The German driver says it would be foolish to read into Mercedes' times at this stage.

"It was a great day," Rosberg said. "I was excited to get in the car again and go flat out. It was a real Formula One marathon today, lots and lots of laps and kilometres because we need to do that to push the car to its limits and find little problems with the car.

"At some point something will break but for now nothing is broken so we need to keep on going with laps and see where the weak points are. Lap time is not realistic to where we are so far and we haven't shown our cards yet as we are still holding back. For sure the car is quick and the opposition seems to be quick. How quick we are nobody knows for now but of course we are confident."

Rosberg, who took over from Lewis Hamilton, ran a Mercedes with a radical new bargeboard design. It came after Toto Wolff promised the team would be running some "unusual" parts in winter testing, with a new nose expected on the car tomorrow.

Rosberg has praised Mercedes for its innovative upgrades and thinks it could help Mercedes retain an edge on its rivals.

"We have a real innovation on the floor which looks quick futuristic and I am very excited about that. It is important for us to be innovative and be one step ahead of the others because it is easy to copy. When they see the things on our car they will take them and automatically go faster so we have to try and be one step ahead."

[sagi58]

Where there's smoke, there's fire!!

Mercedes to bring 'unusual' updates to W07 this week

Mercedes is planning to ramp up its performance in the coming days of testing with some "slightly unusual" updates set to feature on the new W07 before the end of the week.

Mercedes kicked off the pre-season with reliability testing, racking up an impressive 156 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya without any major issues on day one. Hamilton was over 0.4s off Sebastian Vettel's best time, but Ferrari's advantage might not last long as a new front wing and other updates are expected to come to the track in the coming days.

"I think we are having some bits which are maybe slightly unusual," team principal Toto Wolff said. "We're not sure if they will come on to the car tomorrow or after tomorrow, it depends on how the analysis of the data from today goes. But certainly some things to look at. Certainly the first time I saw it I was pretty surprised."

Wolff said the opening day was all about checking reliability before the performance testing starts on Tuesday.

"It's pretty true that you shift your expectations and what you're trying to achieve. When it went so well like last year there is still room for progress and our plan for today was to do lots of laps and lots of mileage to collect data and check various systems and correlation before we head in to the next phase and this is looking at performance which is going to happen starting tomorrow or after tomorrow."

[sagi58]

Mercedes debuts new nose at Barcelona

Mercedes ran a new nose featuring an S-duct at the final day of the first week of pre-season testing.

The W07 Hybrid was launched on Monday with last year's nose and front wing and completed the first three days at the Circuit de Catalunya with that configuration. New slatted barge boards and a raked leading edge of the floor were added on Tuesday -- referred to by the team as "Floor W" -- before the new nose emerged on Thursday.

The design features an S-duct, as seen on other cars in recent years, with a slot under the nose feeding air to the top of the car and an exit just after the driver's number. Mercedes first experimented with an S-duct at the Brazilian Grand Prix last year, but it did not race.