Mercedes W13: data correlation problems between track and simulator
By Diego Catalano 15 April 2022
F1 - Discomfort. This is the feeling they are feeling in Mercedes after eight years of uninterrupted triumphs. A record streak whose seeds had been planted two seasons earlier. Exactly ten years ago. It was on 15 April 2012 that Nico Rosberg, in the W03, scored his first F1 victory and, above all, brought a Three-pointed Star car to victory after a gap that had lasted since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
To speak of a world title after observing the performance of the W13 seems like blasphemy in a place of worship. Two podiums, one with Hamilton in Sakhir and the other with Russell in Australia, which do not reflect the real technical value of a car kept afloat by its great reliability.
This is a value that Red Bull cannot count on and which is continuing to give away points to the competition. But sooner or later the kind offers from Milton Keynes will come to an end and those second places in both classifications could turn into something the Brackley exponents are not used to.
F1 Photograph of the moment: Mercedes chasing Ferrari on the track and on the technical front Precisely because there is no longer the addiction to the less noble parts of the ranking, "the greys" are not losing their rainbow hopes. Illusion? Perhaps. The fact is that, at least in words, the battle cry is beginning to resound loudly. In spite of a jumping car, in spite of a Ferrari that seems to be running in hyperspace, displaying performances that outline an overwhelming superiority (read here). Charles Leclerc's show of strength at Albert Park is a very strong signal to the championship.
But what are Mercedes' chances of winning the championship? Realistically, very few. This was admitted by Toto Wolff himself who, all of a sudden, turned on the light bulb of hope, calling everything into question and shaking up certainties that were settling after the first three races of the season.
F1 Toto Wolff (Mercedes AMG F1) The Viennese team principal has admitted that the team he heads is going through a difficult time in which the technical backlog is obvious. So much so that he believes that, at the moment, the chances of running for the title are below 20%. But F1 knows how to surprise, and what is valuable today could be lost tomorrow. "Anything can happen in motor racing. Teams can fail to score points (any reference to Red Bull is clearly intended) and if we unlock the potential of the car we are right back in the game."
Do words conceal the existence of an operational plan for a return to racing? Simple hope? Daydreams? Nothing we can know. The truth is that Wolff still believes. Maybe it's recent history that dictates it, maybe it's not wanting to get used to the idea of giving up when there are 20 races left. Who knows? Toto believes, as a former driver, that the chances of tasting the sweet taste of glory again are substantially 40-60. The deficit paid in the first three races of the season, which the manager puts at an average of seven tenths of a second, would only be a snapshot of the current situation.
F1 Work on the suspension settings of the Mercedes W13 The current problems with the F1 car designed by Mike Elliott's staff are well known. Porpoising is the one most in the spotlight, but there are others of lesser magnitude which, when added together, paint a less than encouraging picture. But Wolff believes that, as happened for example last year, the team will be able, as the championship develops, to understand the stain by extracting a potential that today remains well hidden behind a rather thick curtain of difficulty.
Pumping must not become the exclusive object of any analysis. Other cars still suffer without performance being affected. The Ferrari F1-75 is the clearest example of living with the annoying phenomenon. At Maranello they have managed to chain it up also thanks to very effective suspensions.
F1 Rear view of the controversial Mercedes W13 They're still working on it at Brackley, which is why Hamilton raced last Sunday with a whole host of sensors on board to collect data that is currently being analysed in depth in the British workshops.
The correlation of simulator and track data, one of the strong points on which Mercedes has built its sporting empire over the past eight years, is causing a few too many headaches for the star engineers who have been unable to provide valid analytical models to predict and, above all, manage aerodynamic pumping before the car actually takes to the track.
F1 Mercedes W13 sidepods of discord The problems are exacerbated by the fact that it is not possible to use the wind tunnel and CFD as required by the new technical regulations. So what has been defined in the factory systems is not reflected on the track. And there's no chance of correcting this by wasting precious quota hours. This aspect of the rules is heavily conditioning the actions of a team that was used to putting up huge sums of money for the benefit of its specialists who could count on almost unlimited working hours to get out of difficulties.
We need a new, more streamlined way of analysing aerodynamic data from the track. A new way of correlating them. A process of understanding that has only just begun and is far from complete. Clearly the fact that the engineers are working on philosophically new cars is an aggravating factor.
There are no longer those well-known cognitive stakes that characterised the F1 cars of the old generation. Venturi effect, 18-inch inner diameter tyres and a whole host of related innovations impose slower reaction times. Will they be compatible with the need to close the gap to the top quickly? We'll find out in the next two or three races.
F1-Author: Diego Catalano - @diegocat1977
