Fast forward to Mercedes and their engineers are going to be facing the same problem, only magnified. If they can more efficiently stall the rear wing than anyone else then they are going to have to space their gear ratios wider than anyone else in orde to take advantage of DRS. This means that when they can use DRS they are going to be flying. On high speed tracks in quallifying they should set the world on fire. Problem is, as all the drivers point out, there are no points given out on Saturdays. Instead, Mercedes are going to have to spend Sundays running around in a top gear that is not as strong as it should be because it is optimised for running with a wide open rear wing. I think Mercedes have come up with a very good idea that is going to be of very
Mercedes have a fancy rear wing this year. The basic way of seeing it is that when they open up their rear wing with DRS, they not only create less drag by creating a smaller rear wing contact patch, they also create less drag by opening up a duct to more efficiently stall the rear wing. It's very clever but I don't think that it will be such a great advantage. For lessons on why it won't be so great we only have to look at Lewis Hamilton in Monza last year. Lewis faced a huge problem in Italy because he had a strong car but when he opened the DRS he couldn't use it properly because it would cause the engine to hit the rev limiter. To use DRS properly, McLaren would have had to widen out the gear ratios which would have meant that when he wasn't using DRS Hamilton's engine wouldn't have been reaching it's maximum performance in top gear.
Fast forward to Mercedes and their engineers are going to be facing the same problem, only magnified. If they can more efficiently stall the rear wing than anyone else then they are going to have to space their gear ratios wider than anyone else in orde to take advantage of DRS. This means that when they can use DRS they are going to be flying. On high speed tracks in quallifying they should set the world on fire. Problem is, as all the drivers point out, there are no points given out on Saturdays. Instead, Mercedes are going to have to spend Sundays running around in a top gear that is not as strong as it should be because it is optimised for running with a wide open rear wing. I think Mercedes have come up with a very good idea that is going to be of very
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TonyI am a race fan. I cannot claim to be an expert on anything, but as a fan I am apparently the most important part of the sport. So I assume everyone wants to hear what I have to say. Archives
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