We have only reached the second pre-season test session, but the Mercedes seen on the track in Bahrain is already a car that has profoundly evolved in aerodynamics compared to the single-seater protagonist in Barcelona. The backbone of the W13 has remained intact, from the chassis to the architecture of the power unit, passing through the suspension schemes and internal mechanics. What changed was instead the arrangement of the auxiliary components inside the bonnet, starting from the radiators of the cooling system, allowing you to design the slimmer sides seen in Formula 1 in modern times, effectively taking the design philosophy with which it was set to an extreme. the single-seater, the starting version of which had hit the track in Spain. In this regard, even before entering into the merits of the technical choices, the working approach of the Brackley team also becomes eloquent, which transpires from the statements of the team’s top management.
In contrast to the method pursued by Mercedes, in fact, Ferrari faced the challenge of the new regulations by exploring every possible way, not necessarily bound to the winning concepts of the latest technical cycle. “Looking at aerodynamics, we wanted to conceive it with an innovative approach “, Binotto had explained about the F1-75. “Going to the tunnel at the beginning of the project we tried various solutions also in opposite directions and then chose the most promising ones, without being forced by our habits and by our past experiences “. One of the main innovations of the 2022 regulations is in fact the abolition of bargeboards, boomerangs and other aerodynamic appendages in front of the side air intakes, used in the past to better direct the flows towards the rear, helping to move away from the center-car and from the bottom the noxious turbulence generated by the front wheels. In 2022, therefore, various teams, Ferrari above all, went against the trend with what was seen in the last technical cycle, deliberately designing generous sides so as to exploit the body-car itself to laterally remove the turbulence coming from the front, as well as to accelerate the flows along the outer edge of the Venturi channels to accentuate the lateral extraction of air from the underbody for load generation.
On the other hand, Mercedes has remained faithful to the winning aerodynamic approach with the previous generation of single-seaters, based on the maximum streamlining of the bellies to increase the air flow channeled to the rear end towards the diffuser. Thus spoke the Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott during the presentation of the W13: “In reality, the main change concerned the aerodynamic regulation. It was a question of understanding what this meant for us, what changed in the structure of the flowshow we could recover from this and create the best possible car ”. The use of terms such as “what changed” and “how could we recover” implies a subtle link with the past, an attempt to replicate the aerodynamic concepts dominant from 2017 to 2021 by re-adapting them to a new generation car. The result is therefore a car opposed, for example, to Ferrari, re-proposing the narrow sides common during the last technical cycle and subsequently taken to extremes on the second version of the W13.
The Mercedes seen in Bahrain therefore does not represent an alternative version of the original single-seater, but its natural evolution designed to enhance its basic aerodynamic philosophy based on maximum compactness. This also recognizes a typical working methodology of the Brackley stable. In recent years it has been seen how the evolution of the Star’s single-seaters during the current season did not occur through individual updates made progressively from race to race, but through a few but extensive development packages suddenly introduced in well-selected Grand Prix. Mercedes has shown that it prefers an organic development of the updates, by designing your packages as a whole rather than as a progressive sum of individually designed changes. This is what was observed, for example, with the evolution package introduced in the second test session of 2018, at Spa in 2020 or at Silverstone in 2021, which often led insiders to rename the evolutions as “B cars”. The W13 that took to the track in Bahrain therefore follows the lines of what has been seen in recent years, as a vast set of updates developed as a whole which constitutes the first stage of the evolutionary path of the starting car.
New aerodynamics, but watch out for the masses
From the front view you can appreciate how much the arrangement of the internal radiators has changed. The side air intakes are no longer square like those seen in Barcelona, but adherent to the central body and with a significant extension in height, as opposed to the raised and more heightened mouths of Ferrari and Red Bull. It follows that the sides of the W12 are the narrowest ever, with a large free surface above the Venturi channels in the bottom, thus freeing up an enormous volume for the passage of flows channeled towards the rear. Ferrari, as mentioned, has instead aimed to widen the bodywork to externally deflect the harmful turbulence coming from the front wheels, while Red Bull has opted for an intermediate solution, designing bulky bellies in the front section, and then gradually lowering and narrowing towards the rear. so as to improve the channeling of air towards the diffuser. This is how Mercedes presents itself as the car which, due to the amount of volumes released on the bottom, is able to convey the greater air flow to the rear, at such a level that the benefits in terms of better extraction from the rear diffuser and therefore greater load released from the bottom could compensate for the negative impact of the turbulence that remains closer to the car body.
Laterally we note how the fund has also been updated, eliminating the undulations along the outer edge present on the initial version of Barcelona. The entrance section of the Venturi channels also has a side strip that extends in height up to dominate the top of the channel, a solution also seen on other cars that aims to partially replicate the bargeboards used in the last technical cycle.
The most significant change, however, is the retraction of the side air intakes, which take greater distance from the front axle. It follows that the upper cone of lateral anti-intrusion for the first time is not enclosed within the side panela, but is placed in front of it and is faired with a downwash airfoil that helps to divert the flows downwards, further increasing the flow of air channeled above the Venturi channels that flows into the rear.
In addition to the considerations on pure external aerodynamics, it is also appropriate to focus on the extensive work carried out on the arrangement of the internal radiators. To allow for the extreme streamlining of the sides, the lateral radiant masses are no longer arranged longitudinally behind the radiator outlets and inclined from top to bottom towards the rear, but are oriented vertically and adhering to the central body, almost ” tile ”the frame and the power-unit. Therefore, the approach of the masses to the central axis of the car should not be overlooked, which reduces the yaw moment of inertia, undermining dynamic stability, but also improves response and reactivity when changing direction. Similarly, the centralization of the radiators with part of them located in the upper part of the bonnet above the engine, also varies the height of the center of gravity. The discreet variation in the distribution of masses on the W13 thus forces the Mercedes technicians to check the car’s dynamic behavior again and to study the optimal suspension setting. The Brackley team must therefore manage a change in the variables with respect to the set-up work carried out in Barcelona, as opposed to, for example, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren whose choice was to postpone the first updates, so as to continue and improve even more. understanding of their cars started in Barcelona. Mercedes therefore now has a longer road ahead to exploit the full potential of the renewed W13, an investment of time that could pay off in the long run.
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