Mercedes' Secret Weapons REVEALED | F1 TV Tech Talk | Crypto.com

Summary

The script provides an in-depth look at the 2024 Mercedes F1 car, analyzing key design elements like the unusual narrow front wing flap, adjustable front suspension, and switch to a push rod rear suspension. It compares the new car to last year's model and explains the focus on improving rear end stability. Mercedes' innovative solutions to maneuver within the F1 rules are also highlighted, demonstrating the team's creativity despite restrictions. The summary sparks interest in hearing expert James Allison explain the thoughtful engineering changes to make the car faster and more drivable.

Takeaways

• 😲 Mercedes has adopted a very different front wing design this year, with a narrowed fourth element
• 🤔 Mercedes tested two different front suspension layouts in preseason, with adjustable pickup points
• 🔍 The new Mercedes has a fundamentally different nose shape and suspension mounting strategy
• 👀 Red Bull has copied Mercedes' 'great wall' sidepod concept from last year
• 🚗 Mercedes focused on improving rear end stability and predictability with the new car
• ⚙️ The team switched to a push rod rear suspension for packaging and performance reasons
• 🎯 Key focus was keeping the rear axle pointed in the right direction under all conditions
• 😎 Mercedes moved the driver's seating position rearwards compared to last year
• 💪 The roll hoop and structure around the cockpit had to be redesigned to meet new regulations
• ⏳ It remains to be seen whether the Mercedes W13 concept or W14 will prove more successful

Q & A

What is the main focus of the Mercedes W14 car design?

The main focus is improving rear end stability and drivability, to address complaints from drivers that they don't trust the rear end.

What is the purpose of the very thin 4th front wing element on the W14?

It allows Mercedes to have a broader chord on the outer section of the wing where they want downforce, while satisfying rules that wing elements must span the full width of the wing.

Why did Mercedes add an adjustable front suspension design?

They were unsure about the optimal anti-dive level, so designed two suspension pickup points to allow quick changes between test sessions.

How has the driver's seating position changed compared to the W13?

The seating position has been moved rearwards compared to the front axle, something Lewis Hamilton complained about last year.

What changes were made to the roll hoop structure and why?

New FIA crash tests require a stronger roll hoop design. Teams have had to redesign and likely add some weight, but optimize center of gravity height.

What rear suspension layout does the W14 use and why?

Mercedes switched to a push rod rear suspension to improve packaging and access to suspension components compared to the previous pull rod.

What aspects of the rear end were focused on for improvements?

Wishbone layouts and track rods were optimized to better maintain rear tire contact patches and respond to load changes.

How extreme is the W14's vented rear bodywork design compared to other teams?

The rear gullies are more pronounced than last year, but not as extreme as designs from Aston Martin and Alpine.

Why did Mercedes drop their sidepod and floor design from early 2022?

That 'zero pod' concept was initially disliked and others have now copied Red Bull's high sidepod style instead.

What is the legacy of the unusual W13 concept?

It remains to be seen if Red Bull can make their high sidepod copy work. If so, it may prove the W13 was an influential concept.

Outlines

00:00

🏎️ Analyzing the 2023 Mercedes F1 Car

This paragraph provides an overview of the 2023 Mercedes F1 car (W14), pointing out some key visible design aspects like the nose shape and 'Great Wall' sidepod concept. It mentions how Red Bull has adopted Mercedes' 'Great Wall' design in 2024, while Mercedes has gone in a different direction for 2024.

05:00

👀 Mercedes' Tricky Front Suspension Design

This paragraph analyses Mercedes' innovative front suspension design which allows quick adjustments between two configurations. It explains how Mercedes managed this using a movable carbon fiber plate, without needing heavy chassis inserts. Mercedes is still unsure which configuration is better, so has added weight to enable flexibility.

10:01

🛠️ Focusing on Rear Stability Improvements

This final paragraph explains Mercedes' focus on fixing rear instability issues for 2024. Changes include tweaks to rear suspension geometry and a switch from pull rod to push rod suspension. This required gearbox casing changes to accommodate the new layout. The paragraph ends noting it remains to be seen if these changes will make the 2022 'zero pod' sidepod concept finally work well.

Keywords

💡front wing

The front wing is an important aerodynamic component at the front of the F1 car. Mercedes has introduced an unusual narrow fourth element on their front wing this year. This allows them to reduce the wing load towards the car's centerline.

💡nose cone

The nose cone is the front-most part of the F1 car. Mercedes has changed the shape and mounting of their nose cone this year, connecting it only to the second element of the front wing instead of the first.

💡sidepods

The sidepods house radiators and other components. Mercedes tested but dropped the 'great wall' high sidepod concept. Red Bull has adopted that same concept for this season.

💡rear suspension

The rear suspension plays a key role in tire grip and stability. Mercedes has switched to a push rod rear suspension this year to improve rear end stability and unpredictability issues.

💡roll hoop

The roll hoop sits above the driver's head and has to meet strict strength requirements for safety this year. Mercedes may have had to add weight to redesign it to the new standards.

💡driver position

Lewis Hamilton complained about sitting too far forward last year. Mercedes has moved his seating position and the cockpit further back relative to the front axle this season.

💡floor shape

The shape of the floor towards the diffuser influences rear downforce. Mercedes has retained the scooped out 'gull wing' shape from last year with some evolution.

💡rear wing

The large rear wing generates downforce but also drag. Mercedes tested different versions in preseason and will keep evolving wing size/shape to optimize race performance.

💡transmission

The transmission had to be redesigned to switch to a pull rod rear. This gave Mercedes more options for positioning springs and dampers above it.

💡wishbones

The wishbones guide wheel movement and orientation. Mercedes has moveable front wishbone mounts allowing quick switches of the anti-dive suspension level.

Highlights

Mercedes has an extremely interesting front wing design with a very thin fourth element

Mercedes is using a 'Great Wall' design with a high engine cover, copied from Red Bull's 2023 car

The Mercedes W14 has a fundamentally different nose design compared to the W13

The nose only connects to the second front wing element, a trend copied from Red Bull

The fourth front wing element tapers to almost nothing at the central section

Mercedes used a 3D rendering to tease an innovative dual-position front suspension design

The suspension pickup points are molded into the chassis allowing quick changes between positions

Mercedes added weight to allow switching of the front suspension between two positions

The driver's seating position has been moved rearwards compared to the 2023 car

The roll hoop and structure has been strengthened to meet new regulations

Mercedes switched to a push-rod rear suspension for packaging and performance reasons

The gearbox was redesigned to allow the switch to a push-rod rear suspension

The rear suspension changes improve rear stability and tire load management

The zero-pod sidepods introduced in 2022 were initially disliked but later copied

Mercedes focused changes on rear stability and addressing driver complaints

Transcripts

preseason testing is done and dusted and

that means just one thing it's time for

the 2024 Formula 1 season to get

underway and for Tech talk where should

we start to look other than one of the

most interesting and important cars that

we've seen for a while let's take a look

it is of course the

Mercedes I'm not looking at the wrong

car by the way this is of course last

year's Mercedes the 2023 Mercedes W4 and

I just want to draw your attention to a

couple of points on this car which will

be coming up in this video take a look

at the design of the tip of the nose of

this all black car this is early in the

season last year and then as I play this

clip forwards we can take a look at

another interesting feature on the car

have a look at what is nicknamed The

Great Wall concept this big swooping

down section with a really high side of

the engine cover now that's not

something we're going to see on the

Mercedes this season at all but you are

going to to see it during the 2024 F1

season where are you going to see it

well where else than at Red Bull of

course Red Bull have adopted that exact

same Great Wall philosophy that Mercedes

trialed and ultimately dropped so let's

go and have a look at the brand new

Mercedes because that car in itself is

just absolutely fascinating here it is

in pre-season testing and I just want to

draw your attention again to the tip of

the nose of the car and you can see just

how different it truly is the shape of

the nose is fundamentally different on

the new car than it is to the old but

also from a structural point of view

it's worth noting that the nose only

connects to the second element of the

front wing and not the leading element

of the front Wing like it used to that's

something that's become a bit of a trend

amongst the teams up and down the grids

and it's something they all seem to have

copied from last year's Red Bull Red

Bull though have gone a completely

different direction and copied last

year's Mercedes well Mercedes have

decided to do their own thing well the

front wing of the Mercedes as well is

interesting for other reasons because

quite a lot of teams have noticed and

we've all noticed and commented on this

section of their front Wing the fourth

element of the wing such as it is F1

teams are allowed to have up to four

elements in their front Wing one two

three four but look at the outer element

of the front Wing it's pretty standard

in its shape all the way up to that

Central section where it's almost the

width of my little finger it barely

exists at all and to understand exactly

what's going on with that section of the

wing who better to talk to than the man

who created the car in the first place

James Allison the rules require that

that um that that any given flap so you

you can have four flaps that any given

flap element has to sort of go from the

tip of the wing to the to the to the

root of the wing and it can't stop

halfway so if you want if if you want a

flap say outboard on the wing but you

don't you don't really want it inboard

cuz you don't want the load that it's

going to provide inboard on the wing

then one way to cope with that is to

make that Wing much small that flap much

smaller in the place where you don't

really want it to be doing its thing and

the rules allow you to shrink the flap

down uh so we've just done that in quite

an extreme fashion so our flap is Broad

cord where we want it to be but then it

tapers away to a just sort little pencil

thick

uh in board moving backwards from that

Oho interesting front Wing the car

doesn't get any less boring the secret

weapons of Mercedes were teased were

trolled by the F1 team coming into its

launch they the Mercedes team issued

this 3D rendering of their new car and

usually when you see these 3D renderings

they're absolute nonsense they bear very

little similarity to the real F1 car at

all but have a look here at the front

suspension

we thought this was a rendering error we

thought it was a mistake by the team

they'd added in two rear legs of the

upper Wishbone and that's just silly

nobody's actually going to do that are

they well when we got to preseason

testing the third day of testing gave us

all a little bit of a surprise check

this out now we've talked a bit about

this already but I think it's worth

going a bit deeper into this so have a

look this is the top element of the

front Wishbone Arrangement that's the

leading element there but have a look at

the lower element of the front Wishbone

comes in and picks up on the bit of the

chassis just further rearwards and you

can see the angle between these two

parts here that's pretty clear pretty

standard nothing to write home about but

on the third day of testing Mercedes

turned up with something looking a

little bit different and it took a while

for anybody to notice that the car had a

fundamentally different front suspension

layout there's that same top element the

lead the forward arm of the upper

Wishbone no change in that but look at

the rear leg of the lower Wishbone the

angle is completely different it's

mounted much lower down now some people

thought oh well you can just adjust

these things you can mount things

differently make an adjustment

suspension on racing cars is always

adjustable but a change like that is

fundamental to the design of the monoco

the design of the chassis of the car to

change a part like that you'd normally

have to introduce a completely new

chassis or you'd have to have a big

insert into the side of the car that you

had to remove and put back in that would

add a huge amount of weight and in a era

where weight is all important that's

really confusing but when we took a

closer look at the car coming into the

bar Ranger on pre weekend a few Secrets

did get revealed and I have to pay

credit to Craig scarber for picking up a

little bit of this because if you have a

look at this plate that sits on the

inner edge of the chassis you can see

where that Wishbone pickup point is now

this is in the high position which

Mercedes opted to go with for this

weekend but underneath this single I

think it's pretty thin sheet of carbon

fiber there is actually a second pickup

Point molded into the side of the

chassis now this means it's a really

conscious decision from the Mercedes

team to be able to switch from this

upper position of the suspension to the

lower position just like that pre-season

rendering stated but to do that it's

undoubtedly going to add weight to the

structure of the monoco itself because

you can't just make a choice like this

and then just give up on it it is adding

weight to the car so they clearly were

unsure about the best position of the

suspension and will they switch between

it during the season well to explain a

little bit more about what they were

doing with this layout James Allison was

on hand in preseason testing to explain

to Lawrence beretto yeah we saw I think

today um our Tech analyst saw the front

suspension you were playing around with

like different positions of that I guess

that's what testing's for isn't it to

just try and see what what works and

what doesn't work so yeah I think

specifically you guys will have seen

that we were changing the anti-dive

level on the front suspension and uh

that's exactly the sort of change that

you really can't do between runs in free

practice sessions so um yeah useful to

get that done and get a get a bunch of

runs on it today compar to yesterday and

make our decisions fascinating stuff

there from James but let's hear what

formula 1's Chief technical officer pat

Simmons had to say about this concept

because I think when he looked at this

design in preseason testing his thoughts

were really really interesting yeah

intriguing that one isn't it because at

the launch it was sort of notice people

commented on it uh people thought it was

a rendering error or something like that

and uh yeah it's real life so uh I

haven't actually really had a a good

look at that yet um I guess my eye was

taken off the ball by the front Wing

hell of an innovation if it's what we

think it is yeah yeah absolutely but you

know I guess that they've done this

before with their steering system and

things so um you have to find all these

little nuances and when people say oh

the rules are so restrictive you know we

we can't be creative anymore rubbish you

can be and they are now continuing our

rearward tour through this brand new

Mercedes I thought we'd just stop off

quickly and have a look at the roll hoop

this is something I like to do because

the roll hoop is a big old piece of

engineering it's the highest point of

the car it's also has a big effect on

the center of gravity height and it can

have an impact on the weight

distribution of the car for Wards to

rear one of the points everybody's

talking about is the driver's head now

this isn't Lewis Hamilton's head here

it's one of the mechanics but the

cockpit and driver's head position is

further rearwards relative to the front

axle something Lewis Hamilton hated last

year was being sat far too close to the

front wheels that's been moved rearward

this year and that's something the team

have had to change now the roll hoop

itself is something that does look

pretty similar conceptually to all

recent Mercedes you've got this oval

airbox and this A-frame for the rollover

structure itself and then you've got

these kinked forward remote supports

there'll be some more supports

underneath the Bodywork back here

however this is something that all teams

have had to have modified coming into

this season because the regulations have

meant this structure needs to be a lot

stronger with new low tests coming in

from the top and the side and they have

to meet those new more stringent tests

so this has been redesigned

re-engineered and that I can't really

see how teams have been able to not make

these designs a bit heavier but they're

gonna have to make that trade-off

Elsewhere on the car now moving to the

rear of the car it's always good to take

a look at the car from behind and you

can see a few little details here of the

car that just a worth looking at but a

not you know groundbreaking stuff you've

got a double lower beam Wing that's

fairly standard that's something the

team will play around with the during

the season undoubtedly you got a

slightly dished rear wing but again it's

quite a big Wing again you're going to

see a lot of changes of that through the

season single rear pylon support little

bit of the cooling rear cooling you can

can see some of the outlets and you can

also see this very distinctive Ferrari

inspired gullied rear section that's

something Mercedes adopted partway

through last year and I've gone a bit

further with this year but they're still

not as Extreme as say Aston Martin or

Alpine in that concept of the car so

could they go a bit further looking

under the Bodywork there is a bit of

space to play with but looking at the

car from the rear is important because

the rear end of this Mercedes was the

real focus of James Allison and the

design team going year on year and to

EXP explain exactly what they were

focusing on well we asked the man

himself there are some specific things

that we wanted to make sure we got right

on this car we wanted to make sure that

the thing that both drivers have

complained about for a couple of years

which is that they don't trust the rear

end that and they turn in they're not

sure whether it's going to snap round on

them we wanted to cure that and that's

not an aerodynamic thing that's more of

a mechanical a mechanical thing making

sure that the rear suspension presents

the tires to the road in a predictable

way uh that doesn't get Disturbed as the

load changes on the rear now with all of

that focus on the rear end Mercedes did

opt to make a pretty fundamental choice

at the rear of the car switching from a

pull Rod rear suspension to a push rod

rear suspension design that's a really

big choice for the team and in order to

achieve that they had to make some

fundamental changes to the transmission

casing to explain exactly what they did

it's that man again it's James Ellison

well went to a push rod because uh we

were finding it quite constraining

having all of our inboard suspension the

springs and the dampers and the roll

bars packaging them inside the gearbox

casing which is where they have to

reside if you're using a pool Rod

because the pool Rod comes down and then

it joins up with all the Rockers and the

Springs low down in the car where it's

inside the gearbox switch to a push rod

you can get it on top of the box where

it's more accessible therefore brings

more opportunities to you in terms of

spring layouts and stuff so that's one

aspect of the change the more important

changes were uh just organizing the

wishbones and the track rod in such a

way as the uh suspension is much more uh

capable of keeping the rear axle pointed

in a good direction presenting the

contact patch to the road in an

effective way as the load comes on and

off the tires with speed changes and

with low changes as you go around

corners so all of those little changes

made to the Mercedes will add up and

make a big difference and it's amazing

how far the team have come since they

introduced this so-called zero pod side

pod concept all the way back at the

beginning of 2022 nobody really liked it

and it was introduced at Bahrain a few

teams have taken a look at it as we've

seen with Red Bull will they be able to

make it work later in the season if they

do I think it will be quite interesting

to see if the legacy of this car the

Mercedes w14 or it's this car the

Mercedes W5 concept it works out to be

the real winner when it gets out on

track