Seems they've stuck to their concept. It's developed little winglets too, not sure if they're legal...
[img] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fo7FxzIXsAAib8f?format=jpg&name=small [/img]
https://twitter.com/ScarbsTech/status/1625453977943810050/photo/1
TBH they didn't need that much more from the car last year - the title was lost thanks to unreliability, strategic errors and unforced mistakes from Leclerc.
Mercedes tomorrow then. Although I feel they turn up at the test with something completely different.
Then Apline - but not sure anyone cares about that. They'll promise the earth and underperform as normal.
Then Apline – but not sure anyone cares about that. They’ll promise the earth and underperform as normal.
Nooo - they fall into the special category of "teams that Alonso has just left" so are in line for a stonking turnaround this year 😀 Hopefully we'll see the real Merc on day 1 of testing - with only 3 days to play with they can't faff around too much.
[url= https://the-race.com/formula-1/everything-wrong-with-f1-2023-launch-season-so-far/ ]This piece on The Race[/url] echoes my thoughts around this year's pre-season too - all show and no go.
Looks good, hope it's quick.
Looking at the sidepods, it appears they've adopted a bit of the 'downwash' style rather than the uber-tight engine hugging previous one.
Comparison of last year and this
That does look good! Black is way better than the silver (purely aesthetically of course!) How much will it bounce though?
bigdaddy
Full MemberThat does look good! Black is way better than the silver (purely aesthetically of course!) How much will it bounce though?
You would hope that they well and truly understood what was causing it and how to fix it given last year!
They did mention on the stream that it had all new suspension.
Here's a top down shot showing the new sidepods better (but who knows if they'll make it to the first test 🙂 )
The Alpine was out on track yesterday too - with added rocket launchers!...
https://twitter.com/F1PToficial/status/1625537223402700808?cxt=HHwWkIC-ocDfiI8tAAAA
[img] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fo8RfDCXwAwV3Jm?format=jpg&name=large [/img]
Seems they’ve stuck to their concept. It’s developed little winglets too, not sure if they’re legal…
They appear to be according to this chap
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vA8xxmEyOqI
He seems to know his stuff and have good credentials to suggest he knows what he is talking about
That does look good! Black is way better than the silver (purely aesthetically of course!)
Can we call them the black arrows now? I love the sound of that!
"Mercedes plans to change its sidepod concept early in the new Formula 1 season, team boss Toto Wolff has revealed."
“On the sidepods, this is the first iteration and, when we're going through the first few races, that's going to change a little bit.”
Expect a complete volte-face to adopt Red Bull-a-like side pods then lol
That’s a lot of work for them to throw it away - some mad sidepod work going on here…
https://twitter.com/EngineMode11/status/1625862963675426816?cxt=HHwWgMCztYrwnJAtAAAA
[img] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpA5vlOWIAYlt_1?format=jpg&name=large [/img]
My reading of the Mercedes statement isn’t that it’s going to change radically. Quite the opposite.
What are those wheels on the Merc? I assume they're just for pushing it around?
Yep - they don't fit in the trucks with normal wheels fitted. And easier to roll a skinny tyre.
easier to roll a skinny tyre.
Oh, Christ, I thought mountain bikers had stopped believing that 15 years ago.
Oh, Christ, I thought mountain bikers had stopped believing that 15 years ago.
Go and compare your fattie to your road bike.
I suspect it makes next to no difference when you have a dozen guys to push a car weighing less than a ton but the principle stands
Don't know about rolling them but certainly (much) easier to turn the steering wheel compared to full size slicks
Kyle’s examination of the W14 has landed
lol pipped to the post!
So the Spanish driver Alonso was recently moaning about limited testing and now his team mate is missing testing after a bike crash in Spain. Coincidence???
https://the-race.com/formula-1/stroll-to-miss-f1s-bahrain-test-after-minor-accident/
Someone check the front of his car for a Lance shaped dent lol
Anyone know more details about Stoll's bike crash??
I know we all had a bit of a chunter about the Halo when it was introduced. But I don't think there could be a better illustration of just how good it is than this...
[img] 
[/img]
Anyone know more details about Stoll’s bike crash??
Alonso > stick > front wheel > ooops, that's a shame! 🙂
Yes, it's funny how it only took a few months for everyone to get used to how the halo looks. It's hard to believe that people used to think it was normal for the drivers to have their heads sticking out ready for decapitation.
Yes, they did improve a bit on that, but still certain death if you had a crash like Grojean's.
Not sure how much faith to put in Ted but it sounds like they're quite far along with alternative sidepods.
thols2
Full MemberYes, it’s funny how it only took a few months for everyone to get used to how the halo looks.
You get used to it, but when you watch old footage it quickly comes flooding back just how much better the cars used to look.
I'm not willing to watch drivers racing with their heads exposed any more though. It's a complete anachronism.
It still puzzles me how we don't have aeroscreens though, we've had so many near misses with debris now.
Before the action starts, can we all just remember "it's only testing".
Expectations - RBR & Ferrari to try to be quick. Merc happy to get the mileage rather than full pace. One team (usually Williams though depends on who needs more sponsorship) to go for hero runs on the last day. One team to suffer with reliability - for karma's sake I'm going for Aston Martin during the sessions where Nando's meant to be in the car.
And lots of 'oooh look at the new red bull, what have they done to those sidepods'.
Look fancy enough I suppose
Also didn’t take long:
“ That didn't take long! Drugovich comes to a halt on his first lap out of the pits in the Aston Martin and the session is stopped.”
Wrong driver though
Many teams seem to have done a lot of work from the Halo back. Nothing like this on the Ferrari...
[img] 
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Oh dear, heard porpoising on the Alpine and Ferrari onboards. Was hoping that would be gone this year.
Not heard any on the Merc yet.
Re. Lance Stroll - soounds like he broke either one of both his wrists, doubt he'll be in for the first race
The-Race reported that they’d seen some bouncing on the Merc, but absolutely nothing like last year
Oh dear, heard porpoising on the Alpine and Ferrari onboards. Was hoping that would be gone this year.
I think it's a case of finding how low they can run before they start to porpoise. Quite likely that the fastest setup will be with some mild porpoising at max speed.
The-Race reported that they’d seen some bouncing on the Merc, but absolutely nothing like last year
There was a comment on Twitter about that earlier - something to the effect of you'll never be rid of porpoising with ground effect but what little they had was not performance limiting like last year.
Makes sense. The comment was also regarding the main straight too, nothing like the high speed corner horror show from this time last year
Wonder how much of the general improvement in porpoising derives from a year of learning about it vs the changes in floor height mandated this year. For reference last year's first test day at Bahrain saw times from high 33s to mid 37s, this year it's high 32s to low 35s. But of course it's only testing so times don't mean a thing - after all Gasly was top of the sheets last year & Perez was 10th 😀
I guess without active aerodynamics to control the underfloor pressure, they have to dry and design something which changes behaviour when it encounters a specific pressure but that applies it’s behaviour gradually. That’s gotta be hard to do.
I’ve been simulating a heat exchanger core and on 200cpus it’s been running for a day and in that, the geometry and environment are fixed, only the flow is moving. Imagine trying to do it with transient geometry as well as transient flow! Nightmare!
drive to survive series 5 begins tomorrow
So they’ve kinda taken the 2022 Ferrari sidepod and plonked it on top of their tiny sidepod
OTOH delighted about the black now as it helps hide some of that ugly
Maybe its my eyes but I'm seeing a total lack of direct comparison in that pic....
Just showing the stark difference between Merc and Ferrari.
