Mercedes seems to have forgotten the magic moment of the summer: the W15 can’t find its pace again and in qualifying George Russell and Lewis Hamilton can’t go beyond the fifth and seventh times, returning to a role of fourth force that is too tight for the Brackley team.
In the Q3 analysis, the engineers had to deal with the lack of temperature on the tyres due to Alexander Albon’s Williams stopping at the exit of the pit lane with a fan still mounted in the airbox which forced a yellow flag, preventing the drivers from preparing for the flying lap as would have been necessary to bring the tyres into the right operating window.
The latest version of the floor brought to Spa, used at Zandvoort but then rejected at Monza and Baku, was not proposed on the black-silver arrows. The evolution, in addition to ensuring a weight gain, should ensure greater aerodynamic load, but Mercedes chose to take a step back because with the new solution it is more complicated to find the right balance of the single-seater.
In the FIA list, therefore, the Star has not declared any novelties, while even the less expert eyes have not missed the modification to the cockpit useful for changing the trend of the flows that hit the driver’s helmet.
Mercedes W15: the rounded cockpit seen up to Monza
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Up until Monza, the design of the front part of the cockpit was rounded (red arrow), while now it has taken on a more angular shape with a slight rise where the Halo attaches to the chassis. The aerodynamicists are dedicating a lot of attention to outlining the flow path towards the airbox and more generally towards the rear in search of the efficiency of the rear wing and the beam wing, in the hope of also reducing turbulence on the driver’s head.
Mercedes also tested various plexiglass windscreens specifically designed to limit turbulence: Nico Rosberg had developed similar serrated solutions in the past and previously Ayrton Senna also paid a lot of attention to this setup, carefully studying the posture in the cockpit to reduce the strain on the neck during a GP.
#Mercedes #cockpit #lift #reduce #turbulence
