Mercedes in the Monaco GP turned out to be the fourth force. Even with the introduction of the new W14 featuring new front suspension and sloping bellies, the black arrow didn’t wow. The Brackley simulations gave more optimistic data and the 360 thousandths remedied by Lewis Hamilton in qualifying testify that the Star is starting a new development journey with a car which, perhaps, will only be able to better show its potential next week in Barcelona.
George Russell with the Mercedes W14 fitted with bellies and a new front suspension
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
On a short track like that of the Principality, the gap from Red Bull is more or less the usual one: the seven-times world champion, however, found the car more drivable at the front, allowing him to put on a show in the two chicanes of the Piscine, for prove to everyone that he is a driver who is far from dying out and who, on the contrary, still enjoys driving an F1.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W14, puts on a show brushing the guardrails
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
The W14 is in need of fine-tuning because, while retaining the previous layout with the driver very forward in the cockpit, it is fundamentally such a different car that it has attracted a lot of attention, representing a good basis for what should be next year’s Mercedes , when the cockpit will return to a more conventional position.
The Mercedes W14 hangs at the rear when hanging on the crane cable…
Photo by: Motorsport Images
When Lewis’ Black Arrow was lifted with a crane at the Mirabeau after crashing in Saturday morning free practice, it became clear to the world that the roll-hoop is further forward than the Red Bull for a rear end equipped with a longer gearbox. so the W14 was inclined towards the rear.
The weight distribution is not different between the two single-seaters (it is fixed by the regulation with small tolerances), but the way the teams arrive at that result is extremely different: Sergio Perez’s RB19, lifted in Q1 at Saint Devote, seemed balanced to the hooking of the roll-hoop, but it is wrong to take the roll-bar as the reference for measuring the center of gravity of an F1.
Mercedes W14: the cascade of the front suspension arms enhances the down wash aerodynamic effect
Photo by: George Piola
Mercedes has converted to more traditional bellies, but what was most striking was the new front suspension with the upward movement of the front arm of the upper triangle which was anchored above the body. Some observers had questioned the modification, arguing that the frame was designed to support the greater structural efforts further down, where the triangle element was originally attached.
Our George Piolaon the other hand, immediately found the right answer with a photo of the front of the W14 which shows the presence of a sort of metal frame that links the two elements of the suspension, giving the body the necessary stiffness also in the upper part.
Mercedes W14: on the left the old suspension and on the right the new one
Photo by: George Piola
The modification allows for two important advantages: first, the black arrow can develop an aerodynamic map which should allow it to travel more closely to the asphalt. It is clear that Monte Carlo is certainly not the ideal track to discover this aspect of the setup, but having made the car debut in Monaco has allowed James Allison’s technicians to collect useful data in view of the Spanish GP which will be held in next weekend in Barcelona, where the news should give greater results.
Mercedes W14: the new front suspension with cascade of arms useful for anti dive and down wash
Photo by: George Piola
The second theme is aerodynamics: the three elements of the suspension (the two arms of the triangle and also the push rod strut) have carbon covers which have been designed in such a way as to convey the air towards the Venturi channels with a down effect. much more pronounced wash.
Hamilton immediately found a more driveable Mercedes and we shouldn’t be surprised to discover a W14 that is more comfortable in the race: if it’s not too linear a GP, the black arrow can play an outsider role with the seven-time world champion who can start fifth thanks to the penalty by Charles Leclerc who demoted the Ferrari driver from third to sixth.
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