Having failed to make its design work as expected due to massive porpoising issues, this week’s Spanish GP is key to the future of the Mercedes W13.
As Mercedes has a wealth of data gathered from pre-season testing with its original sidepods, direct performance comparisons will give decisive clues as to which direction the team should take with its car.
The more the team has delved into the problems of the W13, the more it suspects that the root is that the idea of ‘no pontoons’ has exposed much more of the floor area, which is especially sensitive in Formula 1 in 2022.
As Mercedes director Toto Wolff , at the recent Miami GP: “If you take a walk around the grid, you can see that the edges of our floor stick out a lot more than any other car. That gives it a different shape, or much more range, of possible instability”.
“I think that’s where our concept varies. Clearly the car we ran in Barcelona testing is much slower on paper, but we need to figure out how we can make the current car work in a predictable way for the drivers.”
Comparison of the floor and sidepods of the Mercedes W13 and the Red Bull RB18
In fact, the Mercedes concept exposes more of the floor, which in turn gives more freedom to the flow of air around the car, distributing the load that is created over a much wider section of the floor.
For Mercedes, that seems to create porpoising at lower speeds than rivals suffer from. So the deleterious effects generated by that phenomenon start earlier than those of other teams and then last longer as well, and stability isn’t restored until Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are much closer to the braking zone.
Since all the teams have been suffering from porpoising to one extent or another, after pre-season testing the FIA allowed a single bracket to be installed on each side of the car, ahead of the rear wheels, for the start of the World Championship.
In Mercedes’ case, this metal bracket appears to be significantly longer than other teams’, as it doesn’t go through any part of the bodywork (inset, red arrow above).
The introduction of these mounts has also helped some teams in their weight loss plans as they are able to trade some of the embedded weight in the ground, which had been helping to reduce flex, for a mount.
However, where Mercedes seems to be handicapped by its concept, compared to the rest of the grid, is in the inability to fit ‘hidden brackets’.
Ferrari F1-75 inner floor brace
These supports or braces, as we can see in the images of Red Bull Racing (below) and Ferrari (above), are housed within the body of the pontoon and help support the ground at a midpoint, closer to the center line of the pontoon. car.
Red Bull RB18 inner floor brace
As they are not exposed to outside air currents, they are not subject to the same criteria as the pair of seat stays allowed at the rear of the car.
Some teams have multiple supports or, as is the case with Red Bull, a more complex arrangement to help spread the load across the ground surface.
Mercedes has frequently answered questions about its sidepods and the possibility of going back to the design used during the first pre-season test, given that it is so different from everyone else.
However, much like the questions raised about the “diva” behavior generated by its long-wheelbase, low-rake philosophy in 2017, also at the start of another major rule change, the issue is a bit more complex than just a specific design feature.
Let’s not forget that porpoising was also a problem for Mercedes during the Barcelona test. And while the above solution would certainly alter the aerodynamic characteristics of the front side of the pontoon, the rear section is just as thin and exposes the ground to the airflow just as much (as seen in the article’s lead image).
And there is also the dilemma of how to go back to that concept and in turn install the updates that Mercedes has introduced in these first few races.
However, it seems that the team aims to understand not only how to recover and improve during this season, but also what direction to take in the development of next year’s car, a project that will already be underway.
