Mercedes W03

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Stepped nose?

 

I think so. You can see a dip.

 

Well, it's certainly conveniently placed darkness! Judging by how flat the mercedes badge looks, and there is a definite height difference between there and the bulkhead, I reckon it'll be stepped. Whether the step includes something innovative or not on the other hand...

 

Yeah that is certainly stepped, they apparently have a borderline-legal design on their car.
The nose looks extremely thin though.

 

This.

Looks very streamlined around the sidepods and tight at the rear from the overhead view.

 

Definitely a step. No question. Otherwise why shroud it with a somewhat embarrassed looking darkness?

I also agree with EMSC that despite the convenient darkness, the nose appears very shallow. If this is the case, it leads one to question its safety: after all, just how 'shallow' can it get? I am aware of no present regulation which precludes the nose from being like a knife lying on its side. Perhaps this is what they are concerned about?

 

Doesn't it look sleek?! Those photos are such a big tease too. Looks very beautiful but are they hiding something special or just the ugly bits?

 

Agreed on the convenient lighting and thin nose.

 

I think either they have overdone the teaser pic, or the drivers are going to be in a cramped situation
Both ways it is another beautiful design from Mercedes.

 

It seems that very dark lighting is the F1 equivalent to...

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this

 

Thats most certainly a car
What can be made out from the images? The second air scoops behind the air box and a thin nose. That and its dark

 

this post is an ex-post. It has ceased to be. Etcetera.

 

It's thin in width (from a birds eye view) Mr.Dingbat

 

Just to wade in on this one. From some (very rough) calculations, I make the width of the nose where it joins the front wing to be just under 8cm on the W03, compared with 33cm on the Sauber C31. Thats under a quarter of the width.

 

If you look at my post, then you see nothing.

 

Ah this reminds me. I was playing F1 2011 the other, and i decided to race as Rosberg. When I turned the camera, I noticed that the car already had a slight step in the nose, pretty much where its supposed to be for this year. Heres the best photo i could find:

http://www.f1-site.com/wallpapers/2011/f1/presentation/mercedes/mercedes-mgp-w02-f1-wallpaper-2011-2.jpg

The 2010 Mercedes also had a dramatic drop in the nose, but the drop was further forward, and the end of the nose was more like the noses on the 2006/2007/2008 cars.

This made me wonder. There was a story going round that the step nose rule was meant to be applied last year, and Mclaren had purposefully designed their car to match the rule, even though it wasnt going to be governed. They've either done the right thing and got a big advantage, or completely the opposite.

From looking at the nose on the launch Mercedes GP, it looks like they did the same but the other approach. The step in the 2011 Mercedes isnt as obvious as say the Sauber or Ferrari for 2012, but I'm curious to see whether this will translate into an advantage for them to get them closer to the top 3

EDIT: I know the step isnt that great, but in game it looked like a car ready for 2012. Maybe it was something Mercedes developed later in the season, and that was what Codemasters used for the game

 

Thats surely the height of technical innovation? Building an F1 car from dark matter

 

Who cares about the competition? Merc just suck them all into the black hole.