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It’s All In the Details
Mercedes-AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+

Mercedes presents the new W09 as just a refinement of their 2017 world championship winner, but beneath its beautiful skin are two changes that should give the competition plenty of sleepless nights.

It is excellent to be Mercedes AMG these days: four F1 World Championships in a row, and last season the team’s drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas combining for a total of 668 points (Hamilton won his fourth drivers’ championship with 363 points). It’s not surprising that the team has steadfastly followed the “do-not-tamper-with-perfection” course with its 2018 W09 model. Engineers firmly specified the identical wheelbase and a refined (but only slightly recalculated) low rake angle that marked the low-rake/low-drag W08 as unique in 2017, and so it stays for the W09.

The main difference between the W09 and the W08 is in the minute detail; while nothing screams out as “changed” what is visible is how sleek and tight the packaging is.

Amazingly, the team set their 2018 W09 design philosophy after their loss to Red Bull in Malaysia where Ferrari had also been faster.

Lewis Hamilton explains, “We had a very in-depth debrief afterwards,” he said. “Those particular debriefs that we had were significant in making today’s car. And in those debriefs only Valtteri and I talked, really.”

The 2018 W09 reflects those discussions that addressed needed minor adjustments to bring the suspension, roll and ride issues, and some of the floor characteristics into line with the rest of the car’s architecture and response envelop.

Leaving aside the distinct Halo addition, comparing the significant differences between W08 and W09 is an act of frustration. You might invent words like “swoopier” or describe the more flowing body lines or its greater side pod width compared to other 2018 marques, but after that, you’ll stop.

What is entirely new to the W09 are two critical changes we cannot see. First is the eradication of the W08’s “diva” personality; an issue where on specific tracks/track temps or both, all four tyres developed uneven tyre core temperatures that led to overheated rear tyres. Once they surpassed their optimum operation window, the W08 would slide more than usual and struggle for grip in low-speed corners, leaving the team only a tiny setup window.

Nevertheless, Mercedes decided to stick with their low-rake, long-wheelbase concept because the “diva” struggle brought about a significant understanding of the core problems and from that, the minute changes (or parts added) to their existing model that opened the door to a broader range of setups, speed and more drivability.

The second change, however, is the most ominous. While Renault, Ferrari and Honda are burning the midnight oil refining their existing power unit concepts for 2018, Mercedes’ entirely new power unit is set to establish even higher levels of power, efficiency and reliability.

Andy Cowell, Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains, explains. “The amount of change on the power unit for this year is quite considerable and driven by a number of requirements.

“The biggest challenge we’ve got is lifting our durability limit with the challenge of racing just three engines per driver per championship and two ERS systems. That’s a 40 percent increase in the distance that the hardware needs to do for this year compared with last year. We focused on trying to increase the life of the hardware without losing performance.“

Chassis-wise, the most obvious change are the W09’s mailbox-style side pod openings which follow the very influential design style of the Ferrari SF70H. Mercedes alone continues to employ high radiator inlet openings with their high-mounted front suspension it introduced in 2017. Its competitors, on the other hand, combine either high suspension/low inlets or lower suspension/high inlets.

Mercedes believes its design direction gains the upper hand by giving their side pods a comparatively deeper sculpted undercut, helping accelerate the upper-surface airflow on its way towards the back of the car. The faster the flow, the higher the downforce.

Additionally, the W09’s combination of long wheelbase and high wishbones/high rad inlets allows using the open area beneath their high suspension to further boost the speed of airflow around the side pods. The W09 uses lateral fins atop the side guide vanes to pull air up from beneath the suspension and vector it upwards directly into the inlets.

Mercedes has not shown any interest in mounting a small deflection vane atop the new Halo as have Ferrari and the new Sauber Alfa Romeo design. Neither have Mercedes AMG shown any attempt to lower the centre of gravity height increased due to this massive new appendage.

Perhaps knowing of the increased power expected from their new 2018 power unit and their “divas” more adjustability-friendly suspension and chassis will offset any tyre performance penalties due to that balance issue.

So as the nearly all-conquering Mercedes-AMG team approaches the start of preseason testing at the newly-paved Barcelona Circuit in a weeks time with a new power unit, they appear confident that their modestly massaged W09 presents another unbeatable member of their growing line of world championship winning creations.

Joining defending champion Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas for 2018 will be GP2 driver George Russell sharing Mercedes’ reserve driver role with Pascal Wehrlein alongside his DTM duties.

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