F1 2022 Season

hobbers

Full Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
30,089
There's no way Merc will be able to argue against that being dubbed an extra wing, and that the whole thing is turning the wing mirrors into an aero component.
 

sun_tzu

The Art of Bore
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
19,536
Location
Still waiting for the Youthquake
There's no way Merc will be able to argue against that being dubbed an extra wing, and that the whole thing is turning the wing mirrors into an aero component.
SHARED'We did not anticipate the Mercedes concept'
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer


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.
The wing mirrors on a Formula 1 car are used to check the position of a drivers’ rivals, but can also be used by the driver to keep an eye on rear tyre wear. Formula 1 cars must have two mirrors each with a reflective surface 150mm wide maintained over a height of 50mm high.

The wing mirrors, including housings and mountings, must be situated between 250mm and 500mm from the car centre line and between 550mm and 750mm from the rear edge of the cockpit entry template. To ensure the mirrors offer good vision, drivers must be able to read letters on a board positioned 10m behind the car, and 4m either side of the centre line.
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/f1-playbook/wing-mirror/#:~:text=Formula 1 cars must have,of the cockpit entry template.
I mean I think mercs argument wil probably be the FIA were aware and have given it the all clear after CFD analysis showed it did not worsen the wake from the car and the wing mirrors were mounted as per the regs?

Other teams may well mount a challenge but if the FIA were aware and cleared it (and one suspects they must have been for the crash tests etc) then I guess the starting pount would be if they have cleared it its down to the teams to show the FIA did not understand the rules they wrote but hey its f1 so who knows

Aston have copied a few others with a modified wing mirror that also has an aero element

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-reveals-f1-mirror-upgrade-for-bahrain-test/8848571/
 
Last edited:

ChaddyP

Full Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
13,854
Location
Jamaica
Thank you Chaddy
No worries. At one point I thought every f1 car looked exactly the same no matter the era :lol:

Sidepods are the biggest visual aspect difference this year. That's why they are being spoken about so much
 

sun_tzu

The Art of Bore
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
19,536
Location
Still waiting for the Youthquake
https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-explains-mercedes-radical-f1-sidepods/


.
The first question is, does the Mercedes design comply with the regulations? And even more importantly, given this is what the teams will be asking the FIA, does it comply with the ‘intention of the regulations’?

The regulations demand that teams have to supply CAD data to the FIA to allow it to give an opinion on it before it hits the track, so from that I would say that, yes, it does all comply.
 

Fluctuation0161

Full Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
8,205
Location
Manchester
They all do challenges all the times but no one does it quite like RB/Horner. Take that new Merc's sidepot as example, he cant shut his mouth before every news outlet run his story. I get that part of the job, but log a formal complaint to FIA and get on with your own car. Its not even FP1 yet.
His inability not know when to silent really iritating me. I quite like him in Seb era, but this one really tiresome.
Well, his team managed to win (cheat) the drivers championship last year by pressuring the FIA. Why would he not continue trying to do so?
 

Fluctuation0161

Full Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
8,205
Location
Manchester
I really, really hope Ferrari sort their shit out this season. I'm a fan of both their drivers and think they're really good racers. You put them in the right car and I think they could compete for the title. I think Ferrari actually did alright last season finishing 3rd, I just hope they can kick on from there.

Quite frankly, ANYTHING that doesn't involve Mercedes is fine by me.
Would be great if Ferrari are competing. The car looks amazing.

Anything that doesn't involve Red Bull or Max is OK with me. :lol:
 

pauldyson1uk

Full Member
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
55,620
Location
Wythenshawe watching Crappy Fims
The Mercedes today was not expected, I dismissed the no sidepods as just wild rumour, If it works the other teams will be fuming.
I have no doubt that Mercedes have had the FIA in on all the development.
Horner not likening it , is a bonus , its his job to question what the other teams are doing, his job to ask the FIA if any/all parts are legal.
2 more days of testing, lets see how it actually works.
 

ZIDANE

Full Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
7,555
Location
Manchester
Supports
The Philosophy.
Ferrari had a moan about the Mercedes wing mirrors - so random.

I was worried Mercedes would create a new engine with the level of performance in Brazil but more consistency without degradation. They seem to have been able to repackage it into a mini fridge.

We saw some of this from Williams and McLaren so expected a revised package but this looks different to everything else. No idea what Aston Martin are doing with big sidepods, they must just have a blank space with air flowing around.

I really hope that it isn't just Red Bull vs Mercedes - it's become like Jose vs Pep/Wenger.
 

Zarlak

my face causes global warming
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
45,409
Location
Truth like rain don't give a feck who it falls on.
Running with no sidepods, just made the Bahrain Test a whole lot more interesting.
Just picturing Horner's face if they do run without side pods and this " According to Corriere dello Sport, the sidepods are ‘gone’ after Mercedes’ tests in the simulator showed a ‘monstrous’ upturn in the performance. " is true.
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500
Interesting design from Mercedes. Will be interesting to see how they tackle the issue of cooling as those side pods are very slim. I really doubt they have any concerns over the rule interpretations of the legally box for the sidepods. As others mentioned, they submitted their designs to FIA for approval which they got and there is no increase in wake off the back of the car (the whole reason for the rule changes in the first place this season).

Going to be interesting season with such variation in designs...
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500

So now after watching the video, i would expect there to be protests about this design from Ferrari and RedBull, if Mercedes can actually make it work on track. Mainly because it would be very difficult to copy, not the bodywork design, but the fact that alot of work has to go into the cooling system for the engine and how its all packaged together. Mercedes must have had this idea for awhile now, because the video mentioned that Mercedes have put alot of work into the cooling design of this years car/engine. That work would have started over a year ago for sure. Therefore difficult for rivals to copy it quickly if it does show massive performance gains and Mercedes can get it to work on track.
 

hp88

Full Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
17,461
Location
W3103
The new Merc didn't fair so well in testing today. Perhaps it will struggle this year.
Hard to say really during testing as no one knows what simulation they’re running, they have done over a 100 laps today so must have gathered a lot of data. They won’t show their true speed until Bahrain, if there’s huge gap in qualifying expect a load of complaints.
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500
The new Merc didn't fair so well in testing today. Perhaps it will struggle this year.
I thought that and a write up on The Race website said....."The Mercedes, by contrast, appeared to be virtually undriveable at parts of the track – particularly the approach to Turn 1 – when the ride height was set low. When running with a less aggressive ride height, its understeer through the slower corners was excessive...."

However Totto Wolff said...."he was “really proud” of what Mercedes had done with its sidepod design and said it’s now about “tuning the car, so we’re experimenting a lot and we’ll approach it with curiosity....”

So go figure, either its undrivable with the worse porposing on the grid at present or Mercedes really are experimenting or deflecting from the problems. Pre-season testing is never a good indicator of performance in F1.
 

ZIDANE

Full Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
7,555
Location
Manchester
Supports
The Philosophy.
Merc used to call their previous car a diva. Last year they stopped developing the parts but focused on the setup and by the second half of the year they were getting better and better.

I think we will see a lot of teams still unlocking potential during the first few races then an upgrade introduced at the European races to settle the order.

There might be budget caps but the big teams have the best facilities and talent.
 

Dargonk

Ninja Scout
Scout
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
18,793
Location
Australia
Looks like major design differences, which will make that first qualifying and race really interesting.
 

SilentWitness

ShoelessWitness
Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
31,992
Location
London
Supports
Everton
Have people seen the video of Gasly on the straight and his head bouncing? Surely they have to sort out the porpoising stuff soon as that’s not healthy for a drivers brain.
 

rimaldo

All about the essence
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
41,683
Supports
arse
Have people seen the video of Gasly on the straight and his head bouncing? Surely they have to sort out the porpoising stuff soon as that’s not healthy for a drivers brain.
luckily for him there’s not much of a brain left after having it scrambled for a season. being used as the sacrificial red bull second driver cum rag by horner and helmet will do that to a man.
 

sun_tzu

The Art of Bore
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
19,536
Location
Still waiting for the Youthquake
Have people seen the video of Gasly on the straight and his head bouncing? Surely they have to sort out the porpoising stuff soon as that’s not healthy for a drivers brain.

imagine 2 or 3 cars all experiencing that as they head into the first corner and trying to avoid wheel contact by fine margins ... safety car is going to be busy (so put your money on max winning being gifted every GP)
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500
The new voting system where you need agreement from 8 out of 10 teams rather than unilateral agreement across all, could see any runaway leaders pegged back. Though i expect this season to be quite political as teams complain about design advantages that rivals have that they didnt think of.
 

ArjenIsM3

Full Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
5,675
Location
Netherlands

imagine 2 or 3 cars all experiencing that as they head into the first corner and trying to avoid wheel contact by fine margins ... safety car is going to be busy (so put your money on max winning being gifted every GP)
That music is perfect :lol:
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500

imagine 2 or 3 cars all experiencing that as they head into the first corner and trying to avoid wheel contact by fine margins ... safety car is going to be busy (so put your money on max winning being gifted every GP)
I expect FIA will raise the minimum ride height for opening race, to counteract the porposing on saftey grounds.
 

sun_tzu

The Art of Bore
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
19,536
Location
Still waiting for the Youthquake
The new voting system where you need agreement from 8 out of 10 teams rather than unilateral agreement across all, could see any runaway leaders pegged back. Though i expect this season to be quite political as teams complain about design advantages that rivals have that they didnt think of.
Im guessing if there is a huge advantage in the merc layout then williams and mclaren will have an engine that they can relatively (compared to the other teams) easily repackage and therefore make a step forward quickly in comparison... therefore in their position I suspect they would be unlikely to vote against their own interests and as such you may struggle to get 8 teams to agree to something on the sidepods / wing mirror supports
 

dinostar77

Full Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
7,500
Im guessing if there is a huge advantage in the merc layout then williams and mclaren will have an engine that they can relatively (compared to the other teams) easily repackage and therefore make a step forward quickly in comparison... therefore in their position I suspect they would be unlikely to vote against their own interests and as such you may struggle to get 8 teams to agree to something on the sidepods / wing mirror supports
Yes i agree, if Mercedes get huge gains from the slimline sidepods, Williams, Aston Martin and Mclaren should be able in theory to copy Mercedes more quickly as they have the same powertrain. Whether all the cooling for the powertrain is the same across those teams or packaged differently i have no idea.

Going back to the voting, you would think that customer teams would vote in line with the manufacturer team therefore still making it difficult to push a change though, though FIA as Ross Brawn has said could intervene directly to enforce a change to go through. You would hope the latter doesnt come to pass unless absolutely necessary as it goes against the ethos of innvoation and design, within the permitted rulesets.
 

sun_tzu

The Art of Bore
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
19,536
Location
Still waiting for the Youthquake
Yes i agree, if Mercedes get huge gains from the slimline sidepods, Williams, Aston Martin and Mclaren should be able in theory to copy Mercedes more quickly as they have the same powertrain. Whether all the cooling for the powertrain is the same across those teams or packaged differently i have no idea.

Going back to the voting, you would think that customer teams would vote in line with the manufacturer team therefore still making it difficult to push a change though, though FIA as Ross Brawn has said could intervene directly to enforce a change to go through. You would hope the latter doesnt come to pass unless absolutely necessary as it goes against the ethos of innvoation and design, within the permitted rulesets.
That would be somewhat ironic thinking back to the Double Diffuser
 

flameinthesun

Full Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
2,124
Location
London
Whilst I don't think the no-sidepod sidepop Merc is a beauty like the ferrari, it does look dangerous. Remindse of a shark, especially with those gills on the side.