In Mercedes they try to minimize the changes to the floor that were brought to Austin, while Lewis Hamilton, after taking third place on the starting grid of Sunday’s GP, sang its praises: the seven-time world champion is keen to underline that the longitudinal wing that appeared to overhang the pavement certainly improved the behavior of the W14.
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Mercedes W14, detail of the new fund introduced in Austin
“I really can’t say whether the new fund is useful in giving indications for next year’s car, while we continue to carry out experiments, acquiring more and more knowledge about where we are going and where we will have to direct the flows on the single-seater – explained Lewis – the pavement isn’t much different. There’s always a lot of attention when an update comes, but the rest of the car is exactly the same. And there are so many other areas where we can grow.”
“But this time I felt an improvement. It’s one of the first I’ve noticed in the last two years. So this is a positive thing, we still have to climb two or three steps to find ourselves in a super competitive condition, and I think the guys on the team can do it.”
According to Hamilton, the changes have “raised the performance level of the car”, rather than changing its behaviour. The result is that the black arrow is close to Ferrari and McLaren, the time that Red Bull was penalized for a small error by Max Verstappen in the track limits.
“I’m really grateful for the improvements that the team has made to the car: everyone in the factory has worked hard to bring us closer to our rivals. I don’t know if it will be enough to win on Sunday: no one has done long runs so it’s difficult to make any predictions.”
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Mercedes W14: detail of the wool threads appearing on the bottom
Mercedes, just like Alpine did in Monza, did not hesitate to use wool threads to “read” the trend of the flows coming out of the new lobes of the previously rounded bottom, while in the latest update they are decidedly more squared. The technicians of the Brackley team used both the most traditional of investigation methods, then combined with the more modern flow viz paint.
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Mercedes W14: the new flow conveyors at the entrance to the Venturi channels
In the package of innovations there are also the new flow diverters that separate the different Venturi channels: beyond the large external bargeboard, redesigned to better contain the turbulence generated by the front wheel, greater protrusions are observed, especially at the top which demonstrate how the trend of the flows has changed in this latest aerodynamic package which the director, James Allison, needs to know in which direction to push the development of the W15 which is being defined in Brackley.
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