So, this Red Bull/Mercedes thing has all got a bit tasty this morning, hasn’t it? But let’s step back a bit. Ross Brawn, F1’s managing director, has told F1 TV: “There are some very extreme interpretations of the regulations which could lead to a lot of debate. We did not anticipate the Mercedes concept.” Brawn has been at pains to say in the lead-up to the new regulations being introduced this season that F1 is trying to stay on top of all the designs and ensure they do not take the cars too far away from the intent of the regulations. Brawn has also been making a lot of the new voting structure around rule changes, which no longer out-laws changes within a season. So it’s possible that all this is the precursor of an attempt to get the Mercedes out-lawed. Red Bull have the option to protest at a race, which would leave it up to the stewards to decide. But if Brawn feels the car is a step too far, he could try to use the rules to torpedo it. Changes within a season need eight out of the 10 teams to agree as well as F1 and the FIA for them to be introduced. This is likely to run for a while. BBC Sport understands the FIA has looked at the Mercedes design and given it the all-clear. And it seems the FIA has also run it in CFD analysis and found it did not worsen the car’s wake - which is Brawn’s key concern with the regs, in terms of disrupting airflow for following cars. from bbc website on day 1 of test. Seems to me this has indeed been cleared by FIA from the point of view of the wake and it'll be up to teams on the firday of race 1 to protest and then the stewards will decide.
Guys, I am sorry, after studying the image in detail all I can now see is a labrador, nose and eyes, in the drivers seat.
why should the stewards be able to rule something illegal when the FIA, who introduced the regulations and have scrutinised the design, say it’s legal?
On a serious note, and not knowing whether this design is a performance game changer, we have long wanted innovation. Mid season rule change to squash innovation is not what the sport needs. With tight budgets, changing the rules mid season forcing redesign is unfair. It disadvantages a team because of F1/FIA incompetence. If this innovation works, and is legal, it will be costly for the other teams to redesign and with limited wind tunnel use would they be able to achieve a good redesign?
well given that merc ran a legal design 2 weeks ago it kind of kills the budget argument. they already have two designs and have gone and run both through all the required FIA tests. this is down to whether or not that extra wing is legal or not and it is an extra wing without question. the rule were designe dot eliminate all these linds of mid car elements and clean up the air. The FIA have ruled in simulations that this doesn't impact the wash effect that they were trying to focus on. That means if anyone is actually fast enough they can keep up with this car. The issue is if they are illegally gaining extra down force off of extra wings rather than anything else really. I don't think this is no sdie pods, ther eis still air being outwashes off the body of the car and there's still a protrusion. IMO if merc had simply mounted their wing mirrors off the boxy and not had this aero wing then i see no reason why it wouldn't be perfectly fine. I can see them coming to race 1 wwith that bit changed but the box kept narrow.
I read that Ross said that while the FIA have looked at the Merc and consider it legal it's possible a team may protest an aspect that had not been taken into consideration when the FIA declared it legal!!! The mirror mount wings I think are one interpretation of the rules. If Merc had the side pods a normal size then the mirror mounts would be the top surface of the pod and air intake, their shape could have been similar to these, it's just Merc have managed to remove a large section of the sidepod that would be underneath the mirror 'wing'. Horner being so quick to criticise and then back track makes me think Adrian thinks they can do it quickly if it looks good in CFD!!! As for mid season rules, these have to be agreed by 8 out of the 10 teams! So Merc would refuse and then they just need 2 from Aston, McL, Williams or even Renault/Alpine to object and they are in the clear. I can't see many teams siding with Red Bull other than their own. I am liking the fact that there are so many different designs that have come to the track.
I am a little more cynical about Red Bull intentions than you. Wait till the first race and then object, and if successful the car will be disqualified with no chance of amending it. With only a week to the second race the Merc would be in a scramble to make the second race too, with untested aero. Otherwise, object now and start development themselves in case it is legal. Design variations, yes, i like the multiple variations too, as long as they don't create 2 or 3 distinct performance groups that takes out the competitiveness.
I agree but Merc can go back to the Barcelona bodywork very quickly. I would guess they have it with them! It might not be great but it's probably completely legal without any arguments. Anyone with any sense would only protest after the race so their opponent loses any points.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merc ... y/8894802/ Mercedes F1 car borrows "a few tricks" from rocket technology Formula 1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds says that a "few little tricks" in cooling have allowed Mercedes to pursue its dramatic new aerodynamic package with its W13. By: Adam Cooper Mar 11, 2022, 9:42 AM Symonds said that technology derived from the aerospace industry has helped Mercedes to package an ultra-efficient cooling system that in turn has enabled it to create the narrow sidepod arrangement unveiled on the first day of the Bahrain test. Symonds admitted that when his team of engineers wrote the rules and created a full-size model of the 2022 car they anticipated a requirement for larger radiator inlets. "I guess it was just a little bit more radical than we thought," he said. "As we developed the aerodynamics of this set of regulations, obviously, we looked at lots of things, not just downforce producing, but we had to look at brake cooling, had to look at tyre heating. And particularly, we had to look at engine cooling. "And we were using a bigger inlet than that [on the W13] to get the cooling. I think on the Mercedes, they have a few little tricks in there that help them in this respect. "So for example the intercooler, is a very, very neat device, it's a water/air intercooler, which of course Mercedes have had for a little while, but I think this is a little bit different. "And that's why they can really shrink wrap this car a little bit more than most of the others can." Expanding on what Mercedes had done, he added: "The intercooler that I was talking about, I think, comes from Reaction Engines in Oxfordshire, the people who are doing this sort of air breathing rocket motor, and the sort of spin-off from that has been this really extremely efficient heat exchanger technology. "And I think that's part of the reason why they've been able to produce the car the way they have." Symonds stressed that all teams have honed their packaging to make sidepods as small as possible. "I think one of the trends we're seeing, and it's not particular to these new regulations, but we're seeing that it's very, very difficult to start to package everything into the side pods. "People think what's in the side pods, surely it's only the radiators, the heat exchangers? "But of course, there's a lot more, there's a lot of electronics in there. I think some people are moving that electronics into that keel area." The sidepods and cooling concept aside, Symonds suggested that nothing else on the W13 had caught his eye. "I think the rest of it looks dare I say reasonably conventional, if there's such a thing as conventional. The front wing treatment, very much what we expected to see. "Rear wing yes, a little bit of change in camber in that again, which a lot of people have adopted for this very, very clear sort of path to the lower rear wing, the sort of beam wing at the back, which a lot of people are trying to do now."
Horner is quoted in Autosport as saying that he accepts the Mercedes sidepods and mirrors are legal. He also denies ever having suggested they weren't, despite evidence to the contrary and it wouldn't surprise me if they change their minds again in the future when it suits them, or when they can't make the same concept work. So I'm not sure why I bothered mentioning it. The little weasel. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-bull-mercedes-f1-sidepods-are-extreme-but-legal/8899539/
Can’t we ju Ah , but but Autosport is owned by Totos twice removed 1/2 cousin who lives in a box under our stairs , so they could appeal !
Cool discussion but he looks really sick. But he also failed to hit the benefits of the design. However he dealt with continuity and also the rules about the planes are crap. So that's cool.
Do you think that the super slim sidepods mean the merc has less drag? I think it will be interesting to see speed trap times in quali. They still have lots of bouncing issues though!
I'm wondering if George will accumulate more points that Lewis once they understand the car! My reasoning is that Lewis and Max will be clashing and I don't think Lewis will give Max as much space as he has in the past - he needs to give Max the same treatment Max have him. So I think Lewis will have more DNFs.
Imo anyone that sticks their tyre down an inside this season will end up with an undrinkable car. All you really need to do is put a front tyre I to the side floor of any of these cars and I am assuming they will become undrivable. The funny thing is the wheel covers might protect the low profile side walls together back for a tyre change. Imo if verstappen tries those lunges this season he will end up dnf. There's no surviving floor damage I think
