Analysis
Formula 1 Chinese GP
Bite-size tech: Mercedes W07 brake duct fin
Still the class of the field, Mercedes doesn't have any large-scale updates available in China but the team has made some changes to the front brake duct to improve performance.
Edited: Apr 16, 2016, 12:39 PM
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In Bahrain, Mercedes made some changes to the geometry of the mesh-covered brake inlet, having suffered some issues with Rosberg's car in Australia, when tyre pick-up had impaired the duct's operation.
This meant that Rosberg had to carefully manage his brake temperatures, perhaps using a less than desirable rearward brake bias than he'd like.
Mercedes AMG F1 Team W07 detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The team has also taken to using Teflon spray, something it's been doing on the front wing for some time now, on the upper corner of the brake duct, limiting the chance of discarded rubber attaching to the duct or inlet.
Mercedes AMG F1 Team W07 front detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
For China, Mercedes has made further refinements with a small triangular winglet added in the upper right quadrant, right above the inlet.
Its placement is similar to what we've seen other teams do and correlates to the inlet shape and the fin that's mounted above it as the team looks to control how the wake is shed by the front tyre.
It may also be providing a small timely uplift in performance, owing to the increased tyre pressures mandated by Pirelli in Shanghai, which in itself changes the shape of the tyre and the wake it sheds.
Rosberg ran the solution throughout FP1 and FP2 on Friday, whilst Lewis adopted the solution for Saturday's sessions.
Additional reporting by Matt Somerfield
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