Caporegime
They did not look good on track at all. Still time to dial that in; but I think they're currently the weakest of the four Merc-powered teams.
Poll: F1 2022 - Pre-season testing and discussion
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They did not look good on track at all. Still time to dial that in; but I think they're currently the weakest of the four Merc-powered teams.
Man of Honour
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We won’t know until Q3. After whatever they tweaked this morning the car looked far better.
Caporegime
Of course, we all know not to take testing too seriously. I suspect quali is where we will see the biggest porpoising problems though, so it may be that the strongest in Quali isn't the strongest in the race.
It did; but I still think it didn't look great.
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Rumours coming out that their simulator shown massive gains from this design. I can already hear Horner crying to the FIA if Merc win the first race
Rumours coming out that their simulator shown massive gains from this design. I can already hear Horner crying to the FIA if Merc win the first race
Source? I expect cooling will be on the extreme limit with the mini side pods so it will remain to be seen. Nothing wrong with trying these things though. Horner will be all over it like a rash saying it's compromising the safety cell on the side impact, the wings are too flexy, the floors too stiff and the wheels are too round.
Soldato
Cooling had a good test today, didn't seem to have any issues.
Caporegime
I don't think so. The actual intake is similar in size to the others, it's just positioned differently, and all those louvres will ensure good airflow.
Soldato
Rumours coming out that their simulator shown massive gains from this design. I can already hear Horner crying to the FIA if Merc win the first race
Nah Horner was interviewed about it. Didn't seem in the least bit interested really. He said it's strange there are apparently quotes from him going around about it because he hasn't said anything.
Cooling doesn't seem to be an issue most cars had cooling ducts and vents covered. Even the Merc had the gills masked off.
Soldato
The air inlets aren't that much smaller than others. It's just that they've turned the design on it's head. They're wider lower down. So I expect they'll have enough airflow.
Only question over cooling, is no one really spent a long time following a group of others in disrupted air, so really no one knows whether there may or may not be issues.
Same thing relating to how close they can run when all going flat out, that is still to be seen, and if the rule changes actually do what they are supposed to.
Same thing relating to how close they can run when all going flat out, that is still to be seen, and if the rule changes actually do what they are supposed to.
Soldato
Yeah I thought that, I don't think ground effect is the answer but there you go.
Soldato
It will always be an issue, you don't design an f1 car for the worst case scenario, you design it to be fast.
This is only "pretend" ground effect.
It is not really full ground effect as the suspension cannot cope, the floor is not dead flat, there are no skirts or other proper seals.
It is a bit of a halfway house, not really one or the other.
Hence a lot of varying handling issues in cross winds, tail winds, lockups, sliding and drifting.
Some will get dialled out, but a lot will remain while these rules remain.
The days of cars going round on rails, are now long gone, which can only be a good thing.
No point in being fast if you cannot follow others because you overheat, and have to back off.
Soldato
If you're not fast you won't be following others anyway
How many times over the last few years have we seen the Mercs having to back off because of cooling issues?
And they were almost always the fastest out there.
Soldato
Yes and no, they should be enforcing the ride height, the rear floor edges were rubbing on the track and presumably forming some sort of seal. The instability is causing the issues. One of the risks of introducing such a radical change.
Soldato
Well yes but how many times have the mercs won races?
Soldato
Assuming they get through Q1 and Q2 if it doesn't work as well as they think it will
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