🔍 ‘VISIBLE' Mercedes F1 car changes coming

Mercedes knows it has got things wrong with its 2023 F1 car, and it has promised 'visible' changes will be coming a few races from now. But the team is so far away from where it wants to be, it is now also looking at “bigger departures and more radical changes” from its current car concept

#mercedes #f1 #f12023 #formula1 #mercedesf1 #mercedesw14 #lewishamilton #georgerussell #totowolff #f1news #therace

[_bstr_ct]

I think saying the rest of the grid are using conventional side pods isn’t very useful, since Mercedes are faster than all but 3 teams, and all 3 of them are doing something unique…

[johnvaleanbaily]

I don't want 'visible' changes. I want effective changes.

[jules]

You win some, you lose some. Don't panic and get down to work. 'snot rocket science

[danharrraka]

It's like when everyone's dad builds an erupting volcano for the 8th grade science fair, but one kid made a beach diorama with their grandma.

[sooperman]

The problem that remains is that if they haven't already confirmed alternatives with data in the past, what makes them think that their evaluation now will prove otherwise. The problem isn't which concept to go with. The problem is that their interpretation of the data is flawed. Putting glasses on the blind aren't going to help them see. Even if they go with a Red Bull design there's no guarantee that the Mercedes engineers are going to understand why it's better OR worse.

[mohammadnashitsiddiqui]

I'm guessing the Barcelona test car from '22 is coming back, they had one with side pods back then

[HH]

Actually Andrew is the person who suggested the zero side pod concept cause he saw a huge potential with it

And tbh I kinda agree with the problem of Mercedes is not the side pod ( at leat for what we know ) the problem is with the floor design and because of that the team don't really know if they need to re design the side pod or work on the floor and maybe in general the concept is not a good idea to invest in

[audistik]

I’ve wondered if the larger sidepods were effective because the larger the cross section of the car is in the critical ground effects area the faster the air will tend to flow around it in general, thus contributing to a low pressure area to seal the flow. This is oversimplified of course, but perhaps in search of lower drag Mercedes actually reduced downforce.

[AccordGTR]

Hate to admit it but Lewis was right? Mercedes engineers thought winning the last race last year meant anything. Listen to your drivers!

[SilverScarletSpider]

toto wolff claims that there is nothing wrong with the sidepods, yet mercedes is changing it.

[FShorts_]

W14 isn't flawed, it's a stable car with not enough downforce to compete with RB AND FERRARI. With enough updates, it should be able to challenge for the wins but saying it is flawed is just absurd.

[aviralchauhan]

Their issue is still the bouncing, they didn’t “fix” it like Aston did, Aston is running their floor at the same height at red bull without compromising the suspension. mercedes looks so stiff cause it’s running such stiff suspension settings and that’s the main issue

[pranjayk]

I think one of the more radical changes should be the change in driver seat. Cause Merc's main driver, Hamilton, isn't happy with current placement.

[barrydavies]

Will they have to publish the changes for the other teams and FIA as the other teams have to?

[blueshell]

I’m still relatively new to F1 (my second season closely following and watching races) what are the rules regarding mid season adjustments?

[svenbaijense]

Is it allowed to make a drastic change to a car's design like adding complete sidepods in between races? I think the main reason teams aren't doing it is because of the risk? They need windtunnel time to be sure it is effective.

[mclarenscca]

Let's hope they come up with a solution!!!

[yeahright]

I hope they change the car just enough to be 2nd or 3rd, for at least another 6-7 years!!!

[stevenmoran]

Let me guess, it will be silver. The weight of the the paint ain’t going to make a difference to its performance

[hectorherbert]

well they still have last year"s W13 'A" they ran for the first 3 days of testing in Spain...but they can't just bring a new car..!!..too late..!!