 |
Review of fourth day of unveilings’ morning sessionComments Off The rain that affected the programs of the teams on Friday was still pouring down at the beginning of the session. However, dry conditions as of mid-morning allowed the single-seaters to roll out with more confidence on this test day at Jerez (this week), where Rubens Barrichello, did best time with 1:22.319. Robert Kubica was the first to start out to a wet racetrack, with Sebastien Vettel in the Red Bull and Barrichello behind the wheel of the Williams FW32 following his trail. Nonetheless, it was Felipe Massa, who did the first timed lap of the day with the Ferrari F10. In his first attempt, the Brazilian made a time of 1:29.534, but little by little he found the rhythm until his car stopped on the grass of the pit-lane entrance. It seems as though the team is pretending to go the limit. There was the rumor that the car was deliberately left without fuel to confirm the tank’s capacity. Michael Schumacher, Massa’s ex-team mate was slightly shaky during the first moments, achieving the best lap with 1:29.768 before taking his Mercedes GP W01 to boxes, where it remained the rest of the morning. The spectators were surprised. The changing weather conditions forced the teams to the difficult task of choosing tires. Even though the pools of water in different parts of the racetrack were drying, the teams decided to play it safe and made pauses, waiting for the track to dry. Barrichello informed through the radio that the driving and visibility conditions were quite good and hoped that the team could realize an evening session “to its fullest.” Lewis Hamilton was glad with these news, who seemed distraught after he began his work with Jenson Button’s McLaren MP4-25, on Friday. He declared that the day had been a waste of time, since neither him nor McLaren had been able to make a remarkable progress on their test program due to the wet racetrack. On the contrary, Nico Rosberg, was filled with confidence after his second day with the Mercedes W01 GP, despite the fact that he was not allowed to drive in dry during two sessions. He announced feeling comfortable with the car and to be sure that the Silver Arrow “will be near the racing pole positions when the competition begins in Bahrain, on March 14th.” “We have some valuable data, like all the procedures. It’s difficult when you change teams; there is so much to learn. It’s like airspace science, you know? Two days ago I did four dry laps, and a one and a half today. I felt extremely comfortable with the car, as if I could really up. That gives me a lot of confidence, so I’m not worried with the fact that there was not much time to roll in dry” Nico assured. The first appearance of the red flags came when Vettel skidded out of the racetrack and left the Red Bull trapped at the circuit end. Yet, the delayed caused by this incident was minimal, thanks to the quick response of Jerez circuit recovery team. In 15 minutes, the RB6 was back in the boxes. At the end of the morning session began to improve quickly. Barrichello did 1:22.319 after 39 laps and Massa stopped the chronometer at 1:22.697 after 94 laps. The red flag indicated that Barrichello reached midday as time leader, three tenths faster than Massa.
|
 |
Mercedes W01 AnalysisComments Off In its striking silver and black, the new nose of the single-seater does remind us of Brawn’s BGP01, but if we look closely it’s very different. The middle part of the nose is much higher, reaching above the front wing, together with the typical V shape of the Red Bull RB5 V. The car has its nose edge higher at both sides right up to the cockpit opening. (look at the detailed picture below.) The underside of the nose is rounded off, also as the RB5, but with less height in the front suspension mounts which are joined to the chassis by a small keel. Around the driver, the sidepod entries have changed less, maintaining the air inlets that are now bulky in comparison to what McLaren and Ferrari have presented in 2010. The wing mirrors have been kept very simple.
Front detail of the Mercedes W01 This racing car may be one of the most innovative, not having anything to do with the adjustments made for his official presentation in Germany. The airbox, apart from being an air inlet, its main objective is to be a roll hoop for the pilot in case of a crash. Due to this, the teams usually reinforce the airbox walls with carbon fiber so that it matches the required strength. Up to here there’s nothing we don’t know, but Mercedes has gone a little farther applying a completely different concept. W01 Airbox Here, the team has chosen to build the roll hoop as a vertical column providing a thick support on the centerline of the car. So an air inlet must also be provided. If you watch closely, the airbox is divided in two, with an air opening much larger than we are used to. A little more to the back, there is a small opening on each side of the airbox, providing cooling air for some components that sit more rearward in the car. It is understood that Mercedes and several other teams have chosen to move some components to sit in the low rear to make place for the larger fuel tank. Despite the fairly bulky shape of the sidepods with a remarkable lack of undercut, the rear end of the car is extremely mince, leaving most of the suspension components open to free airflow. The team have made the bodywork so narrow that many of the components protrude. Specifications
Dimensions
Motor
|
Contacts and information
|
Social networks |
Most popular categories |
