The current Formula 1 world champions Mercedes presented their 2018 racer at Silverstone.
Valtteri Bottas was the lucky driver to experience the W09 at a cold and overcast day at the British Grand Prix venue, with Mercedes using one of its two filming days to complete a shakedown.
Bottas will carry out a series of laps in the morning before handing over the car to four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon.
Mercedes officially launch the car with a presentation with a live social media stream.
The four-time world champion team will be the sixth F1 team to launch its 2018 challenger, following Haas, Williams, Red Bull, Sauber and Renault.
The W09 certainly looks the business and it will be fascinating to see what main challenger Ferrari has in store later.
Social media:
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/966633981767815170
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/966640927786897409
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/966641449336000513
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/966651841672105985
YouTube launch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jfxPriIFQI
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he is “not impressed” with the Formula 1 halo cockpit protection device and would remove it with “a chainsaw” if given the chance.
Fans have been vocal in their disapproval of the halo, particularly regarding the aesthetics, ahead of its introduction for this season.
Technical chiefs have spoken of the challenge of integrating the device, with Mercedes technical director James Allison saying the halo needs to be strong enough to withstand the weight of a London double-decker bus.
“I’m not impressed with the whole thing,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff when speaking at the launch of the team’s 2018 challenger at Silverstone.
“If you give me a chainsaw, I would take it off. We need to look after the drivers’ safety but what we have implemented is aesthetically not appealing.
“We need to tackle that and come up with a solution that looks better. It’s a massive weight on top of the car, you screw up the centre of gravity massively with that thing.
“As much as it’s impressive to look at the statistics that you could put a bus on top, this is a Formula 1 car.”
Tests have shown that a standard extraction by marshals, with the driver lifted out still attached to their seat, is straightforward.
But it remains unclear whether the halo will make it more challenging in a more complicated extraction.
While he criticised the looks of the halo, Wolff admitted the device’s introduction means the drivers would be safer.
“The FIA has thoroughly conducted all kinds of tests and possible scenarios and overall, the halo makes it much more safer for the driver,” he said.
“Whether there are scenarios where a driver is trapped, probably these scenarios do exist, but overall it is safer with the halo than without the halo.”
Source: Motorsport.com
News story:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/mercedes-2018-challenger-breaks-cover-at-silverstone.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/world-champions-mercedes-unveil-2018-challenger.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/2/video–watch-live-as-mercedes-unveil-their-new-car.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/43154296
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11200242/f1-in-2018-mercedes-reveal-the-w09
https://www.racefans.net/2018/02/22/mercedes-uncover-new-f1-car-2018/
https://www.racefans.net/2018/02/22/mercedes-dominance-unhealthy/
https://wtf1.com/post/heres-a-look-at-mercedes-2018-f1-contender-the-w09/
Four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is feeling confident that the new Mercedes is not a ‘diva’ like W08. Motorsport.com has the details.
Lewis Hamilton is confident that the new Mercedes Formula 1 car will be more consistent than its predecessor, and stresses that the “work of art” features many changes under the skin.
While the W08 was the leading force in 2017, the car – dubbed a ‘diva’ by the team – struggled on twistier circuits like Monaco.
Hamilton says that both he and teammate Valtteri Bottas had significant input in addressing the weaknesses that surfaced last year, and that the new car won’t favour the driving style of one or the other of them.
“It’s a car that we both pushed and developed through the year last year,” said Hamilton at the Silverstone launch.
“So what we see today is an evolution of both of our driving DNA fused into one. That can only bode well for the team.
“It’s definitely not moved away from me. I’m very, very close to my engineers, so I’m very much on top of that.
“I’m really hopeful that this year we’ve ironed out a lot of the creases. There’s a different aerodynamic characteristic this year compared to last year.
“We’ve taken some of the good from last year, but there were circuits that we went to where we weren’t that strong, so hopefully we’ve found a compromise which will favour a majority of the grand prix circuits.
“Again, some of the suspension, some of the roll issues that we had, some of the ride issues that we had, some of the floor characteristics, those things will be improved quite a lot.
“But everything’s brand new, all the suspension, everything’s been re-done.”
Hamilton, who didn’t see the finished car until he arrived at Silverstone today, was delighted with the job his team has done.
“It’s a work of art, and it’s really just incredible to see.
“I just walked into garage now and they took the cover off and I was staring at it. How did they do that?”
While Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff suggested that he would like to take the halo off the new car with a chainsaw, Hamilton was more positive.
“Honestly I think the team has done a great job to integrate it and make it as nice as it can look. It’s something we’ve known for some time now, that it’s coming. I think after a few races we’ll forget that it’s even there.
“You often look at the old car and think it’s so dated. This is the new world right now, and I’m sure it’s only the first step of evolution and development for this safety level.
“But it is heavy, the cars are getting heavier. It is a big car, but it’s as streamlined as much as it can be.”
Hamilton cautioned that the extra weight of this year’s cars – with the limit rising to accommodate the halo – will create some issues, and make them less fun to drive.
“I’m going to try and veer off the negativity, but cars are getting heavier and heavier each year. That does obviously affect braking zones, there are various challenges in that.
“Obviously the brakes are always on the limit, they’re not really developing much further than they have been the last couple of years, the technology’s limited in the carbon industry, so that becomes more and more of a challenge.
“I hope the cars don’t get much heavier than they are, but next year a seat and a driver can be 80kgs, so I can be a bodybuilder basically, and get the beach look I want!
“There are parts of the lighter cars and nimbler cars of the past that I like, easier to overtake, easier to manoeuvre in combat, whereas the heavier cars, it gets slower.”