[VIDEO]: Why Mercedes was so dominant in 2014 | FerrariChat

[VIDEO]: Why Mercedes was so dominant in 2014

Discussion in 'F1' started by freshmeat, Dec 23, 2014.

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  1. freshmeat

    freshmeat F1 Veteran

    Aug 30, 2011
    7,257
    Super-detailed cgi & illustrations pointing out the unique strengths of the F1 W05 Hybrid.

    enjoy:

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd9_PxfhmAk[/ame]
     
  2. George Vosburgh

    George Vosburgh F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Very nice, thanks for posting it!
     
  3. asjoseph

    asjoseph Karting
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    Jan 16, 2010
    184
    Southern California
    #3 asjoseph, Dec 23, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2014
    ... we will never know just how fast the WO5 really was. But, indirect speculation narrows it down, to a gnat's ass.

    Not just early in the season, from Australia, but all the way through, to Abu Dhabi, it became painfully apparent, Lauda had been sandbagging all season long, dialing down his power units to a half second buffer, to Massa and Bottas. After Austria, Lauda's bogey had shifted, from Red Bull to Williams.

    At best, a mediocre to average chassis, only somewhat better than the FW36, the hows and whys Daimler-Mercedes' WO5 dominated boiled down solely attributable to, power unit. Newey's underpowered RB10 a superior aerodynamic design, comparatively, Daimler-Mercedes' WO5 aero merely proved good enough for the task at hand (e.g., Hamilton complaining all season long, "dial in more front wing;" never did he complain about acceleration).

    2014 in a nutshell, Lauda had enough engine advantage in hand, to compensate for his chassis shortcomings. Shades of 2013 (e.g., the Vettel V. Webber disparity), that Hamilton won regularly, in tandem with his teammate's lack thereof, we are free to infer the WO5 chassis was somehow suboptimal. Exactly the opposite, though aerodynamically fast, but saddled a slower power unit, Newey's RB9 proved so difficult a car to drive, an aging Webber couldn't drive the thing. Similar phenomena, inverted, armed an 80 HP advantage, laden a cumbersome areo, with two drivers relatively close in age, had the 2014 WO5 been an easy chassis to drive, we might expect Rosberg's win tally would have been more indicative of the Prost-Senna pairing, of 1988.

    Final analysis, the WO5 wasn't that great a chassis. By definition, the WO5 was difficult to drive. Whereas 2013 bared out the age disparity between drivers of the dominant, underpowered vehicle, 2014 bared out a talent discrepancy between drivers of a dominant, over-powered vehicle. Rosberg could out-lap Hamilton. But, not for long...

    Put Daimler-Mercedes' PU106A-Hybrid in Newey's RB10, not likely Rosberg or Hamilton would have scored a single GP win - asj.
     
  4. maulaf

    maulaf Formula 3

    Feb 24, 2011
    1,422
    Cape Town
    I sort of agree. I think when watching the video one can note how the commentator doesn't really attempt to be specific and more talks his way through some visible updates. How much they have sandbagged will possibly come to light some day in a decade or so ;) I'll remain curious : )
     
  5. tervuren

    tervuren Formula 3

    Apr 30, 2006
    2,469
    The Mercedes engine wouldn't fit in the RB at all. The aero of the red bull would be fouled to try and get it in.

    Mercedes made a compromise on chassis aerodynamics, in exchange for cooling, cold air = more power.
     
  6. Ferraripilot

    Ferraripilot F1 World Champ
    Owner Project Master

    May 10, 2006
    17,171
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    John!
    W05 hybrid was superior in every way it could be superior. If it were just the power unit then all MB cars would be more competitive. If the chassi weren't amazing then the car wouldn't have been quick at Monaco or Suzuka, where it utterly dominated everything. There was no magic fairy dust to W05, it was just extremely well engineered, well built, and developed very well through the season. They could run W05 during all of 2015 and probably still win the WCC.
     
  7. asjoseph

    asjoseph Karting
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    Jan 16, 2010
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    ... in 2014, ex post Daimler-Mercedes accident in Austria (e.g., Felipe on pole), Lauda's bogey shifted, from Red Bull to Williams. Each GP thereafter, Lauda's engineers dialed down their engines, to roughly a half second gap in qualifying, to Simmond's FW36s.

    Measuring Daimler-Mercedes' WO5 axiom, the 64 thousand dollar question becomes: just how bad was the FW36, relative to the WO5, versus Newey's RB10?

    That, on technical circuits, Newey's RB10 oftentimes out-qualified and outperformed Bottas and Massa in their FW36, environmental reasoning would imply Ricciardo had a much easier time of 2014, than either Bottas and Massa. Henceforth, Newey's RB10 must have been significantly better. Though significantly underpowered, 3 GP wins for the RB10, none for the FW36, we are not incorrect to infer Newey's RB10 had to been significantly a easier car to drive.

    Correct, by definition, in our assumption both the RB10 and WO5 were significantly better than the FW36, that Ricciardo broke through no less than 3 times for a GP win with an 80 horsepower deficit, yet no other Mercedes engined vehicle ever came close to victory, confirms the FW36, indeed, had to have been awful. Force India's VJM07, worse.

    However, not only did Ricciardo have a much easier time of 2014, than either Bottas and Massa? He had an easier time of it, than Nico Rosberg. To nail down three GP wins overcoming an 80 HP deficit, arguably so, Newey's RB10 had to have been a lightning fast chassis. That the best Nico Rosberg could muster, just two GP wins over the latter half of the 2014 season, armed an 80 HP advantage over Ricciardo implies, (1) Newey's RB10 had to have been significantly better than Daimler-Mercedes' WO5, and (2) driving the WO5 was anything but a cakewalk; not an easy car to drive.

    Combination affected, whereas Ricciardo scored 3 GP on the basis of superior tyre ware, that Hamilton won the 2014 championship conceding qualifying, for which to run teammate Rosberg out of tyre come race day, likelihood looms ever larger Lauda hadn't much choice but dial down his engines, or risk running out of tyres. We would not be incorrect inferring Daimler-Mercedes' WO5, though adequate, was not nearly as good as it appeared to be.

    All other things being equal, we are not incorrect inferring Newey's RB10 was, indeed, the fastest chassis of 2014. Pat Simmonds imperceptibly closing the gap, Daimler-Mercedes may not be as far ahead as they appear to be - asj.
     

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