It has become a Verstappen show in this 2021 FIA F1 World Championship. At the 2020 'copy-paste' season we never really believed it because of the regulatory changes, once analyzed in detail, were much more important and radical than initially expected.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport
Being then tied to the 2020 cars, it is clear that those who carried a car with some endemic defects such as Ferrari, could not expect to fight to win the world championship this year; however, there was also the risk that those starting from a very competitive car could lose performance due to a bad adaptation to the regulatory changes. So it was, in the case of Mercedes and Racing Point, now Aston Martin.
In the case of Mercedes, that perfect combination of aerodynamics and mechanics found with the W11 has been broken also thanks to a forward movement of the engine and the pressure center. With further advancement of the latter (the greater aerodynamic load value generated by the single-seater), due to the 2021 regulatory changes, the rear has remained 'decompensated': the W12 thus works in a very small operating window. The setup changes have become rather limited to avoid problems on one or the other axle.
After a third of the world championship, we find ourselves with Verstappen and Red Bull at the top of the world championship. In the last five Grand Prix, the Dutchman recovered an impressive 46 points over Lewis Hamilton, 73 even Red Bull in a Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion entered the second Austrian weekend with good impressions. Unlike the RB16B, the W12 of the Austrian GP was in the same specification as the previous weekend and the improvements could only be found through an optimization of the setup.
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| The sectors of the Spielberg track: comparing the best sectors of the qualifying in the Styrian GP with those of the Q2 of the Austrian GP. GRAPHICS CREDIT: Formu1a.uno |
The low temperatures on Friday helped Mercedes get closer to Max Verstappen's RB16B but when the tarmac exceeded 50°C, both W12s failed to extract the maximum from the C5 compound, also paying duty from Lando Norris’ McLaren. They weren't expecting it at Mercedes.
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| Third front wing in five GPs for Red Bull. New tweaks in the mainplane area, which connects to the 'neutral' part, and to the internal part of the flaps where the important Y250 vortex comes off. Illustration By - Rosario Giuliana |
Max Verstappen instead took to the track with a further updated RB16B: new front wing specification, the third in five races, new bargeboards, and the confirmation of the shark tooth diffuser, also available to Sergio Perez this weekend.
The Dutchman, together with his staff of technicians, opted for a slightly heavier set-up than the one used the previous week to get the C5 compound working at its best in qualifying.
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| The speeds scored by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the points monitored by the FIA in the Styria and Austrian GPs. GRAPHICS CREDIT: Formu1a.uno |
There is no doubt that the car of the world championship team is the one, together with Aston Martin, to have suffered the most from the regulatory changes. In addition to no longer having that perfect combination of aerodynamics and mechanics found with the W11, its important aerodynamic efficiency has also been canceled.
An engineer from a competing team told Formu1a.uno that Mercedes has taken a two-year step back from that point of view, returning to the values of the much 'resistant' (to progress) W10.
We tried to verify this with the imagery available, comparing the rear wings used in the last three seasons in Austria by Mercedes, given that that macro aerodynamic component is one of the heaviest in terms of drag.
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| Differences in rear wings between the Mercedes of the last three seasons. PHOTO COMPARISON: Formu1a.uno |
It is therefore not a question of engine and horsepower as Hamilton would like to believe. An advantage that until the French Grand was in favor of Mercedes, due to the problems manifested by the Japanese PU (Honda) in Bahrain, now solved thanks to the second Honda power unit brought to the Paul Ricard track. According to what has been gathered, the PUs are now very close both in qualifying and in race conditions with a gap quantified by the competitors in the order of 5 HP. According to Ferrari, the advantage is with Mercedes, however, according to Renault, the advantage is with Honda. But little changes given in the very small gap.
Rear aerodynamic downforce further lost by Lewis Hamilton during the Austrian GP: for over half the race there were no less than 30 points missing (the teams measure the aerodynamic load in points), which in Austria are equivalent to 6 tenths per lap initially, to climb then gradually the tyres wear out prematurely. This problem destroyed the aerodynamic balance of his W12, which started to slip and put too much stress on the rear tyres.
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| The Low Rake setup used by Mercedes and Aston Martin were penalized more by the 2021 regulatory changes. Illustration By - Rosario Giuliana |
"I think it was around lap 30, at the exit of turn 10 [the last corner]," Toto Wolff said. "There is a rather aggressive curb there. We saw that it was not a driving error but a problem with the component that failed ”.
So Hamilton was not only slower, but he also had more tyre wear; this forced Mercedes to make a second pit stop where the mechanics, in addition to the tyre change, also removed 1 degree of front wing to balance the car as the pressure center had moved 'too far forward'.
However, even without this major problem, Verstappen's Red Bull was unstoppable for the seven-time world champion. “I think we would have been satisfied with a second and third place, which was realistically the best we could have gotten; Max's pace was in fact too strong for us." Shovlin said.
The Mercedes W12, as already labeled last week, as a car that is now at the end of its development in its performance and understanding. "We haven't been particularly strong here in general," said the British engineer. “It doesn't show that much towards Red Bull, but from how we were put under pressure by McLaren in the second round. We have not made any real progress here in either race ”.
This is why the upgrade package for Silverstone is highly anticipated as it should help unlock further potential, directly and indirectly, from a car at its peak of understanding and performance. Will it be enough? "We have some new updates for Silverstone, but I don't think they will help us bridge the gap," said a grim Lewis Hamilton in the post-Austria interviews.
At Mercedes, however, they do not give up on defeat, hoping that even the characteristics of the latest tracks on which they raced have shifted the balance of power in the world championships. This is why Silverstone, which has always been a great Mercedes stronghold, does not become an exam only for Ferrari but also and above all for the world champions.
Written By: Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Illustration By: Rosario Giuliana
Original Story: https://www.formu1a.uno/analisi-mercedes-w12-non-manca-potenza-ma-efficienza-aerodinamica/
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